Ed Betteridge

A busy start to my time running Carey Ringing Station in Dorset with 1147 birds of 32 species caught in the last fortnight! Highlights have been 527 Sedgies, 157 Gropper, 69 Reed, 15 Garwa, 99 Wilwa, 3 Tree Pipit, 9 Kingfisher and 7 Nightjars!! #ukbirding

A busy morning with 162 new birds trapped at Carey. Highlight was this juvenile Nightjar alongside 93 Sedgies, 25 Gropper, 8 Willows and a Garden Warbler! #ukbirding

Coming to the end of my first week working in Dorset. Not a bad start with over 350 birds ringed including 71 Groppers! And last night got lucky with great flight views of the Purple Heron! #ukbirding
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Another great morning for Grasshopper Warbler with 17 ringed in the Lower Piddle Valley this morning by @edjbetteridge.bsky.social .

@dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social @birdguides.bsky.social

A great start to ringing activities in the Lower Piddle Valley this AM with the first 6 Grasshopper Warbler of the autumn ringed. Last year this site produced 259…..will it be a record breaking year? @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social @birdguides.bsky.social @edjbetteridge.bsky.social

Nice to have my 1st Vagrant Emperor on the Calf of Man the other day, only the 2nd Calf record! #ukbirding

Breeding plumage Laughing Gull viewed from underneath

Breeding Plumage Laughing Gull

Ed and Eleanor watching the Laughing Gull flying over the sea

LAUGHING GULL found by @edjbetteridge.bsky.social this afternoon!

Smart summer-plumage adult, very vocal circling with other gulls for 15mins before heading towards the Isle of Man.

@manxwildlifetrust.bsky.social
@britishbirds.bsky.social
@rarebirder.bsky.social @birdguides.bsky.social

Didn’t expect to have a very vocal LAUGHING GULL fly around above me whilst I went to ring gull chicks on the Calf of Man this afternoon!! The bird stayed around just long enough for others to get there and bring a camera before it headed high north! #ukbirding

I did not expect to flush not 1 but 2 Quails, metres apart from the cliffs on the Calf of Man this afternoon!! Not typical Quail habitat right next to a Herring Gull colony! #ukbirding

📣 NEW BLOG POST! 🦆

We had some great birding highlights throughout May, and the Ornithology Team have been busy following the progress of our breeding birds. Head over to our new blog to find out more... 👇

www.mwt.im/blog/calf-ma...

@manxwildlifetrust.bsky.social

#calfofman #ManxNature

With migration slowing recently on the Calf of Man, I’ve been putting effort into nest finding especially Wheatears with the 100th pulli ringed today!!! #ukbirding

Yesterday the Calf of Man was visited by this stunning white Hen Harrier!!!! The bird spent a short while hunting before gaining a lot of height a disappearing north. What a bird!!!! #ukbirding

WESTERN SUBALPINE WARBLER trapped on the Calf of Man this morning!! #ukbirding @calfofmanbirdobs.bsky.social

Hi Sarah, yes we did catch a drake ringed at Foulney (Jul 19) on the 26 April by dazzling! Amazingly this is the first control Eider to be caught on the Calf and a bit of a surprise with only 18 other drakes ever caught!

Red-rumped Swallow over the Calf this morning! Showed well for around 10 mins circling the Obs, amazingly the 1st Calf and Isle of Man record!! Also Yellow Wag, c20 Spot Fly, Whinchat, Sib Chiff and Swift #ukbirding

Breeding Eiders are starting to pick up on the Calf of Man now with females starting to lay across the island. Slowly getting my eye in to this rather cryptic species #ukbirding

Just like buses! Two French Sedge Warblers trapped today following the Spanish bird the other day!! Amongst a small arrival of Sedgies, Whitethroat and Spot Fly with 2 Whinchats including the 4th of the year trapped and my first Swifts. #ukbirding

Also trapped this morning was a Pied Fly, Redstart, Whinchat, Blue Tit, Siskin, 28 Sedge Warblers and 20 Whitethroat amongst c75 birds.

First Spotted Flycatcher of the year trapped on the Calf this morning had a Norwegian ring!! This is only the 2nd Norwegian Spot Fly to be recovered in the UK following one in 1992 on North Ron with only three UK ringed birds from North Ron/Isle of May being recovered in Norway!! #ukbirding

Also trapped this morning was a Pied Fly, Redstart, Whinchat, Blue Tit, Siskin, 28 Sedge Warblers and 20 Whitethroat amongst c75 birds. Yeah

#ukbirding

Another good night dazzling on the Calf of Man. Starting with a Whimbrel (2nd ever ringed here) and 3 GBB Gulls (2S,4S,4S). Before catching 8 Eiders (6 drakes beating the total ever caught on the Calf), including the 1st ever control!! Also an Oyc and 5 Wheatears.

Nice to have the returning Bonxie back on the Calf of Man and now a regular feature of census. Thought to be it’s 10th year! Hopefully this year it will be the one it finds a mate and breeds! #ukbirding

Quality over quantity today on the Calf of Man with a couple of Gropper, Whitethroat, Lesser Redpolls
and 2 House Sparrow (scarcity here) the ringing highlights amongst a small arrival of Willow Warblers and Blackcaps #ukbirding

#ukbirding

A successful attempt at dazzling the Eider on the Calf of Man last night produced 7 new birds including 4 rather smart drakes!!! #ukbirding

Strong easterlies and rain produced a decent arrival with 60 birds caught in the traps including a rather nice male Whinchat (nfy), a Whitethroat (nfy), 30 Willow Warblers, 5 Chiffs, 8 Blackcaps, 12 Goldfinches (1 control), a Wheatear and 2 Robins

Lots arrival on the Calf of Man recently including a Xbill, Black Red, Tree Pipit, Sib Chiff, 2 Rouzels, Blue Tit, 100’s of Hirundines and good numbers of Phylloscs.

A partially leucistic Ring Ouzel was new in this morning on the Calf of Man with a Black Redstart at the lighthouses and the start of the Greenland Wheatear passage with a handful of birds around recently #ukbirding #manxbirding

A record breaking March for the Calf of Man continues with a vocal Lapland Bunting low north this morning and the first House Martins (2) this afternoon with 7 Swallows! #ukbirding