An Inspirational new member to our team

Last Thursday members of Northants Ringing Group assembled at Storton’s Nature reserve to conduct some ringing.

Ringing on the south side of the reed bed, the aim being to catch summer migrants as Storton’s hosts many species of summer visitors and possibly the Savi’s Warbler that had caused such a stir over the last couple of days.

We were joined that morning by our young trainee Henry Day and his mum Sophie.
Henry had come along to one of Northants Ringing Group’s taster ringing sessions in late 2025.

He was not old enough to take up ringing, but came along with his mum to experience a session, and see if bird ringing was an option for him.

It became apparent during our initial meeting that Henry was going to take to ringing like a duck to water.

As soon as he was old enough, he applied for his training licence and has attended a number of full ringing sessions at Storton’s, under the supervision of licenced trainer Chris Payne.

Henry spent the morning leaning how to handle and ring  a variety of birds including: Blackcap, Chiffchaf, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Robin and Blue Tit.

Henry has thrived under Chris’s guidance, and he will continue to gain experience at various ringing sites throughout the county.

Henry is a prolific creator of wildlife videos tailored to the younger generation. His YouTube channel  https://www.youtube.com/NaturetasticWH  hosts around 73 videos which is quite impressive for someone his age.

His efforts on social media has also earned him a role as a Junior Ambassador for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust. 

Henry was recently promoting 30 Days Wild on the BBC Breakfast sofa and explained very confidently what the project was all about.

In addition, Henry recently visited the Sand Martin bank at  https://www.wildlifebcn.org   Summer Leys Nature Reserve and filmed the Sand Martins as they flew in and out of the bank, building their nests.

This short film was featured in a recent episode of BBC Springwatch.

When watching Henry promoting various events and projects or telling us about the amazing wildlife in our area, one wonders if he will emulate one of our previous trainees.

Many years ago, we were joined by a young man who wanted to expand his ringing experience, prior to going to university.

That young man was Hamza Yassin who has become an outstanding wildlife photographer and presenter, and now has sell-out talks at venues across the country.

We look forward to many more visits from Henry, a great addition to our Ringing Group.

BTO ANNUAL CONFERENCE 28th February 2026

Several Northants Ringing Group members (and indeed Northants Bird Club members too) attended the British Trust for Ornithology 2026 Conference held at the Mercure Hotel in central Northampton.

Delegates were welcomed with coffee and pastries in the foyer in time for a 10am start to the day’s programme which proved both varied and interesting – something for everyone – from a report on the study of the disease that is causing the decline in Blackbirds to tracking and monitoring Seabirds in Scotland.

In the morning delegates heard from speakers on their work on Nightjars and wintering Gulls; and Katie Phillips from the BTO outlined the upcoming Bird Atlas 2027-31 work, for which we are all invited to sign up to undertake survey work when the time comes.

A delicious vegan hot buffet was served at lunch time during which there was plenty of time to meet friends old and new and share experiences and to visit the stands in the hall – from folk selling their beautiful art work to projects outlining their work and findings.

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Thanks to the amazing skills of John and Nick NRG had a new display-board on our stand – showcasing John Boland and the Storton team’s Water Rail Colour-ringing Project and the nest boxes (some with cameras in or near them) for birds of prey that Chris Payne makes.

After lunch the organisers trialled the ‘speed dating’ concept whereby 6 speakers each took to the stage for just 10 minutes on such subjects as Youth Engagement in the BTO, Heronries in Carmarthenshire, Birds in Green Spaces and the BTO’s various Regional Networks and Grant and Training schemes.

And then, after a short tea-break the afternoon closed with talks about the monitoring of bird populations across the Chilterns and the methods being trialled to boost threatened Curlew populations in the UK.

It was a great day for all concerned. The choice of a venue so close to home was much appreciated by NRG, but delegates from farther afield too found Northampton and its motorway and rail network nice and central to travel to.

BIRD RINGING SESSION AT STORTONS

Bird Ringing session at Storton’s on Thursday 24th October.

A small band of multi layered ringers rolled up just before dawn. Well insulated for a typical October day, but by mid-morning layers were being discarded as the weather was more Spanish than St James.

A total of 58 birds were processed, of 14 different species. Most of the summer migrants have now departed and the mixture of birds was typical of an Autumn/Winters day ringing.

Greenfinch have been having a tough time of late, but on site during the breeding season there was quite a vocal presence of calling males. Today’s Greenfinch’s were all born this year, which could be a sign of a good local breeding season for this finch. 

Details of birds

New                                      Retraps

WREN                  4

GOLDCREST       4

CHIFFCHAFF       3

BLUETIT               7                        9

REED BUNTING  1

GOLDFINCH        6

ROBIN                  2                         1

BLACKCAP          1

DUNNOCK           4

GREAT TIT          2                         7

GREENFINCH     3

CETTI’S WARBLER                      1

MOORHEN          1

WATER RAIL                                2

TOTAL OF 58 BIRDS   14 SPECIES 

We also colour ringed our first Moorhen as part of the National Moorhen colour ringing project. The project is led by PhD student Aurora Gonzalo-Tarodo for the Waterbird Colour-Marking Group.

Despite being common, widespread, and familiar the Moorhen is an understudied species in Britain and Ireland. There is limited information available on its movements at local, national and international levels.  

To address these gaps in knowledge, the National Moorhen Colour-ringing Project is coordinating efforts among a team of ringers and independent ringing groups to mark birds across Britain and Ireland. 

By increasing the number of birds ringed and the number of recoveries and sightings, the project aims to discover the seasonal movements of Moorhen, including local dispersal, spring and/or autumn migration within the UK and overseas and other aspects of their lifecycle such as site fidelity and survival.

 

The first Colour ringed Moorhen at Storton's Nature reserve

processed as an Adult female.