Belgian 'taiga'

At last. The ringing details for BLB.9200638 have come through. This adult female Brambling was caught in the North Wootton garden on the last day of February last year, 2009.

It was originally ringed as a 2CY female on the 8th March 2006, in a western suburb of Bruges, which was presumably either somewhere within its then wintering area or during its return migration "north" away from its winter quarters.

The species is known to spend subsequent winters in different areas of Europe but many birds traditionally spend the time in a select few Beech forest sites in southern Germany, Switzerland and Austria. When heavy snowfall occurs, they move on to snow-free areas. In some years, birds reach Italy and the former Jugoslavia. They arrive back on the breeding grounds in northern Scandinavia in the last third of May; taiga country!

Distance: 258 km NW.    Duration: 2 years 357 days.