The birds of 2025

 I usually don't bother with a review of the year, but as my most recent forays into the lesser visited parts of the Circle (farmland north of Umberslade and around Shelfield Green) proved pretty dire I thought I'd give it a go.

My strategy for the year was to concentrate on 1km square bashing in winter and summer, and switch to Morton Bagot and Earlswood during the more potentially exciting spring and autumn periods.

Morton Bagot had its moments but failed to deliver anything new for the Circle, or indeed the site. However, it is still my main patch and there were some decent birds there. Back in January and February the Hawfinch influx of the previous autumn provided regular opportunities to see up to two birds there.

In fact Hawfinches were also seen in Winyates (where the above shot as taken), and Studley Churchyard among other places.

Spring at Morton Bagot produced a Whimbrel and a record count of 12 Avocets. That species even went on to make a breeding attempt (the first for Warwickshire) due to the low water-levels although the attempt was abandoned when the farmer who owns the land flooded it to ensure his cattle didn't go thirsty.

After the breeding season, migrants started trickling back. These included a Wood Sandpiper, a long-staying Garganey, and in November a Pink-footed Goose. 

My final score for the site was 113 species. To these could have been added Spotted Flycatcher, Woodcock, and Turtle Dove seen, caught or heard by others. And don't get me started about the mystery warbler heard calling in November.

The three Circle ticks I saw in 2025 all came from Earlswood, and were all twitched. So I owe a debt of gratitude to the birders contributing to its Whatsapp Group. In chronological order the birds in question were two juvenile Little Stints in September, a Brent Goose in October, and a Scaup in December.

In fact, at the time of writing, the Scaup is still there, some I'm hoping it will remain into next year to give my 2026 year an early boost.

Other notable species I travelled to see at Earlswood included Ruff, Little Gull, Ring Ouzel and Black Tern. I don't keep an Earlswood list, but Birdtrack tells me my site list was 104 species. I missed a number of birds during the year including Twite (the rarest species seen this year), Mediterranean Gull and probably others I can't bring to mind.

The dominance of Morton Bagot and Earlswood is demonstrated by the fact that there were only five birds on my final Circle list (140 species) which I didn't see at either site. They were Cetti's Warbler, Little Owl, Redstart, Gadwall, and Woodcock. 

Why do I waste my time wandering around the rest of the Circle? Well for a start I enjoy the challenge. I've also got the bit between my teeth having decided from the outset (in autumn 2021) to visit every single square kilometre. One thing I don't generally share with this blog are the little paper maps I add to after each visit, but to give you an idea this is my progress to date.

I'm sorry its low tech (no tech would be more appropriate), but my IT skills are practically non-existent. I live in south-east Redditch which is at the centre of the Circle. The purple 1k squares are all the ones I've recorded birds in during winter since 2021 (the grey ones are places I've been in summer but not winter) and the white ones remain to be bagged.

Bring on 2026.

Wednesday December 24 - Earlswood Lakes

 Do you know, as I was typing the words "I don't think I'll be posting anything more this side of Xmas" a little voice inside me said "don't tempt fate". Or maybe it should have been well done for tempting fate.

Because this morning, as we awaited the arrival of family for a pre-Xmas present exchange, my Whatsapp pinged to say there was a Scaup at Earlswood. I was of course stuck...for a few hours.

By early afternoon I was free to go, and thankfully the bird did not want to spoil Xmas.

This was only the sixth for Earlswood, the last being in 2017. I hadn't seen any of them. It is a female, and judging by the vermiculated grey feathers on the mantle, perhaps an adult. It just goes to show that, even in December, a burst of easterlies can blow in something special.

I just had time for a quick march around Engine Pool, and so was able to find a 1st w Common Gull and count 28 Snipe on one of the rafts.

Also, with the sun out at last, a Fieldfare posed for me (admittedly behind vegetation). 

It's a bit better than trying to photograph a silhouetted dot at the top of a tree, which is what I usually end up doing at Morton Bagot.

Once again, Merry Xmas everyone.

Tuesday December 23 - Clowes Wood

 This morning the dice was rolled and told me to try Clowes Wood. Another grey cloudy morning was probably not ideal for visiting a tract of mature woodland, but I reminded myself that there were historical records of Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Firecrest, and (in summer) Wood Warbler for this wood. Maybe I'd get lucky.

I only had an hour or so to spare, and predictably my only woodpecker was Great Spotted Woodpecker, and my only 'crest a Goldcrest.

In fact my best birds were a pair of vocal Marsh Tits, but they were being disturbed by a couple of dog-walkers and their five barking dogs, so I barely got a view of them. 

Anyway, I don't think I'll be posting anything more this side of Xmas, so seasons greetings to everyone who reads this blog.

Sunday December 21 - Morton Bagot

 Before I get to today's effort, I'll just mention that yesterday I visited a raised area of pseudo-parkland in Redditch between Woodrow and Greenlands. The views across the Greenlands suburb were quite nice, but I barely troubled the scorers. The most noteworthy sight was probably a count of about 70 Goldfinches.

Today the weather decided to revert to cloudy and grey as Dave and I met for another bash at Morton Bagot.

We got off to a decent start when a rather small immature Peregrine flew by, giving us brief palpitations before we discarded the possibility of it being a Merlin. After that it was all a bit  quiet. We established that there were definitely two pairs of Stonechats on site, and estimated 50 Linnets with a smaller number of Redpolls in the new growth forest which now occupies the ridge field.

The flash field was being disturbed by a quad-bike in an adjacent field, so we only saw 18 Teal plus 14 Mallard on small pool currently occupying the HOEF scrape field. Fieldfares, Redwings, and Siskins were assessed as totalling 40, 50, and 30 respectively. Mind you our ability to count was tested when a flock of Lapwings circled in the distance. We decided on 62, but I took a photo to count the dots later.

It turned out that, on zooming in, there were at least 85 birds in this shot. So not only can we not find rare birds, we can't count either.

Tuesday December 16 - Cookhill area

 The wandering resumed this morning with a return visit to a lay-by west of the village of Arrow. Previously I had headed east along the south side of Old Park Wood on the Ragley Estate. This time I went north-west along a footpath skirting the west side of the wood.

The estate is known for its love of "sporting interests", and it wasn't long before I ran into a whole lot of cannon fodder, aka Pheasants. There were well over 100 of them, quite a sight to behold. The Pheasant cover they emerged from contained a few Chaffinches but was otherwise a bit disappointing.

Some of the Pheasants

Once I reached the main road I was crossing the county boundary from Warwickshire to Worcestershire, and found a footpath which ran west beside a very impressive garden in the hamlet of Cookhill. The most interesting feature was a garden pool large enough to support several Mallard and Canada Geese, which I saw, and also Coot and Moorhens which I did not. The owner was friendly and told me what she had seen this year.

I was able to add to her garden's list because I heard a Brambling calling from the trees on the other side of the lake. Unfortunately it slipped away before I managed to actually see it.

Sunday December 14 - Morton Bagot

 A mild sunny morning at the patch. Dave had arrived before me, but hadn't seen much. This was to set the tone for the rest of the visit,

Our most unexpected find, I wouldn't call it a highlight, was finding a long dead Tawny Owl in the metal barn near Stapenhill Wood. Other than that it was business as usual, 58 Lapwings, 23 Teal, a Red Kite, a Peregrine, two Stonechats, and most of the other species we'd expect to find here in December.

The Lapwing flock

One disappointment was being unable to find any Jack Snipe (or Snipe) in the marsh. 

Thursday December 11

 There's no denying it, December has failed to deliver anything out of the ordinary this week. 

On Tuesday I braved the rain, visiting Blythe Valley for an hour before the showers pepped up, and then calling in at nearby Earlswood before a particularly heavy shower caused me to give up.

The bit of the Blythe Valley which is in my Circle included some dense spinnies in which I could imagine a Yellow-browed or a Pallas' Warbler accompanying the Long-tailed Tit flocks I sifted through. In my dreams.

At Earlswood I met John Oates, dripping wet, on the trail of a darker-mantled Herring Gull. We considered whether it might be the bird I struggled with during the spring, or perhaps it was a northern Herring Gull race argentatus. Either way it didn't show especially well before the rain pepped up and we both headed home. 

possible Northern Herring Gull

This morning, in much more benign conditions, I explored Outhill just a mile or so east of my house. It was pretty tame bird-wise, with nothing more interesting than a Red-legged Partridge, a calling Bullfinch, and a small flock of Fieldfares.

However the views towards Redditch were pretty nice.

Fieldfare

Morton Bagot - Sunday December 7

It was a dull grey morning with a forecast of rain arriving. Dave opted for Marsh Lane, leaving me to try to make the best of what promised to be a pretty dull day.

On such occasions you need to come up with a plan to make things happen. I met Tony at the old pool field. He emerged clutching a large net, having been attempting to catch Jack Snipe. His plan had borne fruit, flushing three and catching and ringing one of them. I chose not to make my own attempt as I was sure those Jack Snipe needed a rest.

And anyway I had my own plan. Having noticed more than usual on the drive in, I decided to log Blackbirds. I didn't say it was a very good plan. But perhaps it was, because my final score of 23 Blackbirds just beat the previous record for the site.

The flash field contained a healthy population of 78 Teal, the largest total this year, but apart from some Mallard there was nothing else.

Some of the Teal in the gloom

On the return journey I spotted a single Stonechat, and then decided to gird my loins and plunge into Stapenhill Wood. This produced a Marsh Tit, at least 10 Siskins, and maybe 50 Redwings. Unfortunately no definite Woodcock were flushed.

A less overgrown part of the wood

Back home I timed my arrival to coincide with a visit to the front garden of one of the local Blackcaps.

Not such a gloomy day after all.

Saturday December 6 - Earlswood Lakes

It was looking like ending up a very disappointing week, but today Earlswood came to the rescue. Although there has been a Water Rail lurking near the stump feeder at the southern end of Terry's Pool for some time, my visit was inspired by a pair of Egyptian Geese reported by John Chidwick to be standing on one of the rafts on Engine Pool.

I arrived in time to see them. This is a naturalised species, its appearance locally, though annual, is usually brief. Earlswood seems to be the hotspot, and there had been one here in the first half of the year. However, that had been seen at dusk and was gone the next day, so this was my first chance of 2025.

It was tempting to sex the grey one as female and the browner one as male, but from reading up on them it seems that variability is typical and not necessarily an indication of gender. It does seem likely that they were a pair anyway. 

Since my last visit about a month ago the lakes have filled up with water and there is no longer any semblance of a muddy edge. The Tufted Duck flock has burgeoned to 30 birds, there were three Goosanders, and I counted 14 Snipe on the raft with the Egyptian Geese.

I gave the Water Rail fifteen minutes, but it didn't appear. Meanwhile the Egyptian Geese flew off towards Windmill Pool and may have left altogether.

Earlier this week my wandering took me to Upper Bentley, 36 species and no highlights, and on Thursday to Hob Hill, 25 species with no special birds but a nice view towards Beoley.

Sunday November 30 - Morton Bagot

 Another frosty, sunny morning, another stroll around the patch. We got off to a decent start, spotting a Kingfisher at the dragonfly pools. To the best of my knowledge there are no fish in the pond, so it was probably wasting its time.

Kingfishers tend to become scarce here in winter

That was probably as good as it got. A distant accipiter which flew into Bannams may have been an immature male Goshawk, but we weren't completely sure.

We accrued three Stonechats, flushed a Snipe (but didn't walk across the pool field), and counted an impressive 70 Lapwings at the flash field.

Most of the Lapwings (I couldn't quite get them all in)

In the field beyond them was a sizeable flock of Starlings, some of which later flew into the trees under which we were hiding. 

Starlings are actually quite attractive in winter

The nearest flash was partly frozen and so only 19 Teal and the usual drake Wigeon were using it today.

Tony caught a Jack Snipe during the week (maybe the one we flushed last weekend). On the whole things remain very quiet.

Norgrove Court - Thursday November 27

 I was rather pleased when my random lottery picked Norgrove Court for this morning's visit. An actual pool to visit, admittedly a small one, but I was quite optimistic. 

I quickly spotted a Little Egret, three Little Grebes, and a Kingfisher. I also met one of the owners (I think), a chap called Ben. He seemed pleasant enough and was very keen to tell me about an Osprey which paid a visit in early October. He said it had been seen by his brother and possibly photographed by Emily, who today was installed in a photographic hide on the opposite bank. I would have liked to have met her and seen the shot, but I don't think she'd have appreciated me strolling up to her hide. 

Little Egret

Little Grebe

Green Woodpecker

I headed north of the pool, vaguely following the course of Swans Brook. 

I hadn't actually walked through the woodland because the footpath appeared to be outside its edges, but shortly after I had crossed this rickety little bridge I heard what turned out to be a dog-walker and springer spaniel. He emerged from the wood and we exchanged a nodded greeting. It turned out he'd done me a favour because a minute later a Woodcock  flew over my head from the fields. I'm guessing he had flushed it and it was now returning to its preferred roosting site in the wood. By the time I had returned to my car an hour later I hadn't seen anything that could beat it.

Tuesday November 25 - Old Park Wood

 This morning's jaunt was down to Old Park Wood which forms a part of the Ragley Estate, and is on the southern edge of my 10k Circle. There was a footpath running along its south side, but everywhere else was strictly out of bounds and the estate staff patrol it regularly looking for trespassers.

It was bright and sunny, and it wasn't long before I found a mixed flock of finches and buntings in a game strip alongside the footpath. About 100 of the finches were Linnets, and the rest were Chaffinches and Yellowhammers.

Some of the Linnets

Any delight in finding this flock was tempered by the fact they were just outside my Circle. Its just as well I didn't find anything rare in with them.

Considering how restricted I was, I was pretty pleased to log a Woodcock, a pair of Marsh Tits, and a Red Kite during my hour and a half visit. None of them posed for the camera.

Old Park Wood

Newman's Plantation

I couldn't help wondering what I might have had a chance of finding if I'd been able to gain full access to the impressively large Old Park Wood.

Sunday November 23 - Morton Bagot

 Morton Bagot is settling down for winter. Dave and I wandered around this morning and saw birds we expected to see, and little more. I would say that the patch's wintering bird population comprises about sixty to seventy species at a push, and we saw forty of them today.

Of course you are unlikely to see all the birds present in a couple of hours, so to brighten the experience it is preferable to see at least some of the harder to find ones. Thus our star bird was probably a Jack Snipe which I kicked out of cover in the scrape field. Typically it rose silently from close to my wellies and landed again about twenty metres behind me. Too quick for a photo, and I was not about to disturb it again.

We also saw three Red Kites (Dave had them in the air together), three Stonechats which may well attempt to spend the winter here. Any prolonged cold snap could be disastrous for them as they are highly insectivorous. There were still 55 Teal and a Wigeon on the nearest flash, and two Common Gulls (unusual here)* flew south.

Goldfinch and Stonechat

A flock of 180 Woodpigeons flew over Bannams Wood, but more unusual was a group of about sixty feeding in the leaf litter at the edge of a sheep field next to the Morton Brook. When the land here was all agriculture, pre-HOEF, we used to see thousands feeding on recently tilled land. 

One other slightly unusual sighting related to at least one Grey Wagtail. They do turn up every autumn, but rarely remain later in the winter.

Finally, the ringers have had a couple of interesting controls. Blue Tits tend not to move very far, but one caught at Morton Bagot on 13 September 2025 was controlled at Kemerton Lake, near Bredon Hill in south Worcestershire on 9 November 2025, a distance of 34 kilometres.

Their second control was a Redpoll ringed on the Yorkshire coast at Kilnsea on October 7 2025, and caught at Morton Bagot just three days later on October 10 2025. Although its tempting to speculate that this bird had originated in Scandinavia, most Lesser Redpolls travel from within the UK, so it is just as likely to have been migrating down the coast before heading south-west to be intercepted by Tony and the team.

*In fact they were my first here this year.

Thursday November 20 - Aston Cantlow

The morning dawned cold and frosty and I headed down to another snippet of land at the edge of my Circle. This time the venue was on the south-eastern edge of Aston Cantlow. I had visited the same square last summer, and I remembered it as being pretty dull.

So I was pleasantly surprised this time that one or two less regular birds were seen. The first were six Lapwings and nine Golden Plovers seen flying some distance away to the south of the village. Although I'd heard a Golden Plover somewhere near Umberslade back in January, these were the first I had actually seen this year.

Pretty bleak and uninspiring

In the photo above, you can just see the edge of a wooded bank which was keepered for Pheasants and therefore private. However, from the footpath I was on, the second decent sighting of the day was visible when a Peregrine appeared from above those trees.

Peregrine

Oddly enough I had seen a Peregrine in the Aston Cantlow area some years before. I couldn't see any particular reason that the species would be here, but maybe there are some pylons in the vicinity. Peregrines love surveying the landscape from those man-made structures.

Tuesday November 18 - Lists

The bulk of today's post relates to yesterday. About mid-afternoon I got a message from Rob W relating to a Snow Bunting along the dam at Upper Bittell. This was a drop everything, jump in the car moment.

On arrival I could see a group of three birders huddled at the far end of the dam, so I hastened to join them. As I'd hoped, Rob, Chris and Josh were still on the bird and so it was just a case of them pointing to where it was.

My thanks go to Rob who found the bird, initially on call, and was kind enough to think of me. Others were called, but a winter's weekday late afternoon is not ideal for most, and no-one else arrived. Chris and I got distracted by looking at Gulls after fifteen minutes, and shortly afterwards we could no longer find the Bunting. Maybe it had gone to roost, or perhaps it had just gone.

So why was seeing it so important? Well it's all about lists. I've kept lists of birds for nearly fifty years. My first was my British List which I was encouraged to compile at University in November 1978. At the time it stood at 143, so I was able to recall seeing (or thinking I'd seen) that many species since childhood. There were some dodgy ones on there; Tree Sparrow, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, and maybe a few more, but in time I saw them for certain.

My first local list was my Bittell List, and from 1978 to the early 2000s I cherished it, and also my Upton Warren List. In all that time there had never been a Snow Bunting at Bittell. The last records were in 1964, and possibly 1969 (one at Cofton Richards in April). So even though my Bittell list is more of a historical thing, I was very keen to add Snow Bunting.

One of the peculiarities of my list making is that many lists have been, if not abandoned, then put on the back-burner as my birding priorities have changed. Nowadays the lists that matter to me the most are my Morton Bagot lists and my 10 k square Circle year list. But if I ever move house for example, they too might be discontinued.

List making can be seen as nerdy, but I would defend it for one reason. It helps you remember what you've seen and focus on what you want to see. Birds on lists matter more than birds seen, for example on a birding trip to Norfolk. They do to me anyway.

Technically, this Snow Bunting might have been within 10 k of my house, parts of the east shore should qualify. But having decided from the outset not to include Upper Bittell in its entirety I will not be adding it to the 10k year list. It's my list, my choice.

Today, I resumed my 10 k wandering. I visited a wood at the eastern edge of the Circle near Wootton Wawen. It had no public access and I did not have permission to be there. This was a shooters wood, Pheasant pens everywhere. Thankfully no-one shot me. The best bird was a Marsh Tit. 

Sunday November 16 - Morton Bagot

 Morton Bagot seemed strangely empty this morning. Not of birds, of people. The ringers had migrated somewhere else, and Dave was not with me. I had the place to myself.

Conditions were ideal really. High cloud with a few sunny spells and hardly a breathe of wind. Redwings were very much in evidence, feeding on hawthorn berries. The hedges seem particularly bountiful this autumn.

All I needed was a decent bird. The heavy rain a couple of days ago had filled up every pool it could find, and was no doubt responsible for the appearance of the bird of the day, a Little Grebe swimming around on the nearest flash.

Little Grebe

This was only the second here this year, and the first I've been able to photograph. The flashes were also home to 33 Teal, a Wigeon and 24 Lapwings.

A Wigeon among the Teal

Other than that it was pretty steady. Redpolls appeared in very short supply until 30 appeared in the birches on my walk back, while the Redwing numbers reached a minimum of 50 birds.

Redwing

It sounds as though winter will be back next week.

Thursday November 13 - Umberslade Park

 I'm starting to run out of square kilometres within the Circle which I haven't visited. But today I picked a new one, being the area towards the west end of Umberslade Park. The downside of this area is that it's a shooting estate with plenty of signs making it clear wanderers would not be welcome. 

I was therefore restricted to a single track which runs bullet straight from the entrance to Umberslade House to Tanworth-in-Arden. The bit I was interested in fell about half way between the two ends.

I like to try target a species within my self-imposed boundary, and it occurred to me that the area might contain Linnets and that I wouldn't be a million miles away from Earlswood, where I had narrowly missed a pair of Twite last month.

Well I managed to find some Linnets, a flock of 43 in fact. However, they were in the middle of an enormous field with only Skylarks for company. I could count them when they flew, but even if I'd been brave and had strode into the middle of the completely off limits field, I couldn't see any other outcome than that they would just fly off to another distant field. Ideally you want Linnets to perch up in a tree so that you can look through them properly.

The only other noteworthy bird, and they are getting less worthy of comment every year, was a Red Kite. 

I did like the fact that it was an adult with a fox red tail, and also that it was photo-bombed by a passing Woodpigeon as I pressed the shutter.

Tuesday November 11 - Shortwood Roughs

 Today I walked along a canal in an area of woodland north-west of Redditch known as Shortwood Roughs. I'm fairly familiar with the area from decades ago when I used to do a BTO Common Bird Census there. Things were very different in those days.

The small area I concentrated on this morning contained just the expected parties of woodland Tits etc, some Redwings, and a few Siskins. At least the autumnal colours were nice.

In fact I saw nothing to top the three Blackcaps which turned up in our garden yesterday. These birds will probably have come from central Europe to winter here, and a November arrival is typical.

The images would probably have been sharper if I hadn't taken them through our kitchen window. It's obviously time I cleaned it.

Sunday November 9 - Morton Bagot

 The morning started on a bit of a bum note. Dave and I discussed the mystery warbler we had heard last week and which I had recorded the following day, and I agreed that I was no longer happy to call it a calling Cetti's Warbler. Unfortunately we also couldn't bring ourselves to identify it as anything at all, except that we were certain it was neither a sylvia warbler such as Blackcap, nor a Wren. It'll have to remain a mystery.

Ironically, a Blackcap was calling from a hedge near where I'd parked, and Tony K later caught three of them. Pretty unusual for November here.

Shortly after we left Tony catching yet more Redpolls, a young guy appeared and admitted to being a regular reader of this blog. Thankfully, he liked it. His name was Derry and he was keen to play us a recording made on his phone here at Morton Bagot in September. He believed it to be a purring Turtle Dove, and it certainly sounded like one. A singing Turtle Dove at Morton Bagot in September? I tried to think of an alternative, and rather lamely came up with the fact that Pheasants can make some odd noises. Unfortunately Derry had only heard the possible Turtle Dove that day, although he had also not seen a Pheasant. 

Birding is as much about hearing birds as seeing them, but it can be a frustrating business.

Derry joined us for a while, but had to decline our offer for him to continue with us for the rest of the morning. This was a pity because about half an hour later the sight of panicking corvids got Dave onto a Goshawk. I managed to see it, probably the adult female we saw last week, just before it disappeared into Bannams. Sorry Derry.

Unfortunately we saw no geese all morning, but the flash field did offer up 10 Wigeon, 55 Teal, 20 Lapwings, and a Snipe.

It's a bit sad really that the wintering Lapwing flock can no longer reach close to a hundred birds we were used to seeing here ten years ago.

Other birds recorded today including a male Stonechat, a Marsh Tit, and a decent flock of winter thrushes. Dave flushed a Jack Snipe which unusually flew off into the distance to the extent that I didn't even see it.

Finally, Tony had had a reasonable morning, showing us a photo of a young female Sparrowhawk he had caught earlier.

Immature female Sparrowhawk - T Kelly

Over the last three days the ringing team caught an impressive 233 birds including seven Blackcaps. 

This is an amalgamation of their results for the last three days:

Sparrowhawk - 2 (an imm male and an ad female)

Blue Tit  - 106 (56) - One of the retrapped Blue Tits had originally been ringed in 2019

Great Tit - 13 (9)

Long-tailed Tit - 2

Blackcap - 7

Goldcrest - 1

Wren - 5 (2)

Redwing - 1

Song Thrush - 1

Dunnock - 4 (2)

Meadow Pipit - 5

Greenfinch - 11

Lesser Redpoll - 57

Goldfinch - 18 (1)

Looking slightly further back, they've had the results of three controlled Lesser Redpolls as follows:

Ringed Cannock Chase, Staffs 8/9/25 controlled Morton Bagot 24/10/25

Ringed Smallfield, S Yorks 12/10/25 controlled Morton Bagot 25/10/25

Ringed Stonehaugh, Northumbria 19/10/24 controlled Morton Bagot 26/10/25

So all three were ringed and controlled on passage southwards, although the Northumbria one relates to a bird ringed last autumn and therefore making a similar journey this autumn.

Fascinating stuff.