Wing-tagging Buzzards

On Thursday night me and Moxey headed out to meet one of our farmers on his land to ring a brood of Buzzards. We first ringed Buzzards at this site last year and this time around, we were joined by Steve Binney of the Merseyside Ringing Group so that the youngsters could be wing-tagged as part of a study that he is doing in Wirral, Merseyside and now, SW Lancs.

Buzzard chick being fitted with the BTO ring

Last year we managed to ring two chicks, but this year, the adults have managed to raise three and by the cache of rats in the nest, they aren't struggling for food. Once the chicks were down on the ground, they were fitted with a BTO ring on its right leg and then passed to Steve for wing tagging. Each wing tag carries a number and the specific combination is determined through the coordination of a national programme of wing tagging. 

Wing tag being fitted

Chick complete with wing tags

The combinations of tags used are:

Left: Purple '0', Right: Green '0'

Left: Purple '1', Right: Green '1'

Left: Purple '2', Right: Green '2'

It will be interesting to see over the coming months and years where 'our' Buzzards get to. We have a further two Buzzard nests that we have found and that are accessible, so we hope Steve will be able to join us and get those chicks wing-tagged too! A big thanks to Steve for coming over!