Ring-necked Duck – Second Record for Stanford Reservoir – or Perhaps Not!

Ring-necked Duck at Stanford

 

Steve Nichols and I have often talked about the lack of Ring-necked Duck records at Stanford, especially given the number of Tufted Ducks and Pochard we get over the autumn and winter. So, with duck numbers down I was delighted when the first bird I got on, in a small group of Tufted Ducks, on Sunday May 3rd was a dapper drake Ring-necked Duck. 

As always, it is worth checking all salient features to remove any doubt of a hybrid. Having rattled off a few record shots, I went about confirming the key features:

• Typical high, egg-shaped head
• Bill grey with white line at the base, broad pale subterminal band and black tip
• Greyish wash to the flanks moving to white at the front

  Same duck, different orientation

I checked the Stanford records and this appeared to be the second for the site, the first being back
in 1978. The late John Cranfield in his “Species Status Comments” in the 'Flora and Fauna' tab on the SRG website references a bird in January / February of 1978 (unsexed) and there is a question mark against it in the species list.
Back in 1978 Ring-necked Duck was a national rarity and required submission to the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC). Having reviewed the 1978 and 1979 issues of British Birds there is no mention of a record at Stanford Reservoir in the accepted or rejected section. I have also reviewed the Birds of Leicestershire and Rutland, the LROS county report and records archive for that year and asked Bob Bullock to check the Northants reports – again nothing listed for this record from any local sources.
So all in all it’s a bit of a mystery. Perhaps an oversight by the observer not to submit the
record (a lesson for us all). The only thing in its favour is that there was an influx of at least
22 birds into the UK between November 1977 and March 1978. However, if I take a purist
approach, BBRC did not receive a description and therefore the 1978 record should be
removed, promoting the May 2026 bird to the first record of Ring-necked Duck for the site.
Chris Hubbard

Return to Ringing in 2026!

 

Jo and Heather taking part in a bit of scrub bashing

After Scrub bashing for the last four months it was great to get back to ringing on the 4th of April. Dawn had already done a session on the Leicester side in late March, catching 10 new birds and 8 retraps just to ease herself back into the swing of things and dust the ringing kit off.

The weather during April has been pretty good and this has been reflected in our best ever total of 272 new birds ringed (our previous best being 213 last year). During this time we also caught 246 birds that we had previously ringed. Of these we had 147 individuals, the best being a nine year old Blackbird, a seven year old Garden Warbler and a six year old Sedge Warbler and similar Whitethroat.

All the way from San Sebastian in northern Spain; a lovely Sedge Warbler

During April we had the first passerine controls of the year, all Sedge Warbler, and all ringed overseas; one from France, one from Jersey and another on the 5th of May from Spain, truly remarkable! Of the 272 birds ringed in April we managed 24 species and of this total only 68 were resident birds that over wintered at Stanford. What's happening to our residents every year? We seem to catch fewer, even with the habitat getting better!

Dave and Mark (from Severn Trent) towing a Tern raft into Blowers Bay

On a brighter note the tern rafts have been refurbished and refloated this last week, so with plenty of Common Terns about we are hopeful of a good breeding season; it would also appear that a pair of Black Headed Gulls have already taken up residence as well, if so this will be a first breeding attempt for Stanford.

MJT 

2025 Annual Report Out Now

 'I used to be a Goldcrest, until I read the SRG 2025 Annual Report', available from: 2025 Report

 

Look what happened to me!

‘I’ll have mine with lots of ice please’

Our sightings officer, Chris H, has been out and about staring at gulls on the water at Stanford. Here he gives us an update on some unusual winter birds:

Freezing conditions over the past week have meant that much of the main water is frozen over. This doesn’t stop the gulls coming in at the end of the day, albeit in smaller numbers, and it also provides the opportunity to check for birds with colour rings. Successes this week include:

Caspian Gull – Yellow Ring XLVH 

 

Initially picked up on Sunday 4th January, the ring proved difficult to decipher due to distance and light. Some video and stills were taken and eventually it was confirmed as XLVH, a German ringed ‘Caspo’ which I last saw at Stanford on January 19th 2024. It has also been seen at Shawell and is a regular returner to Northants often being seen at Naseby Reservoir. It did show much better on the 6th when the ring was easier to read.

Black-headed Gull – White Ring 2AR1
2AR1 has some history with Stanford. I first saw this bird on January 28th 2023 and then again on August 23rd 2024. It was then present in the winter of 2025, on January 10th. Then, just under a year later, it appeared again on  January 6th 2026, I wonder where it has been in between? It was originally ringed at Kingfishers Bridge Nature Reserve, Cambridgeshire on June 25th 2022 and seems to have taken a liking to Stanford.

Common Gull – White Ring XN16   

I first caught a glimpse of this bird on January 5th when I read three digits. A possible scheme was located and Arne Kohler came straight back to say it was probably one of their birds but the code was incomplete. He did give me some confidence that Common Gulls are a creature of habit and he felt that it would come back to the same spot again. I couldn’t find it on the 6th but managed to pick it up on the 7th and confirm the code as XN16. It was ringed at Langenwerder (a small uninhabited island in northern Germany) on June 23rd 2024 and has also been seen at Rutland Water on March 23rd 2025.

Hopefully, more ring reading to come.

Winding Down for 2025

Stanstock was at the end of August, so what have we been up to since then? As it turns out, quite a lot. A total of 32 sessions have been subsequently undertaken, bringing in a total of 5,663 birds. This is largely because September and October are hot months for migratory birds including large numbers of Blackcaps, Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs and many others. For Stanford, rarities might include Dusky, Radde's or Yellow Browed Warblers, or Firecrest, or really any other vagrant. Unfortunately, these didn't actually turn up (yet!) but this is  clearly not for want of trying.

So what have we got recently? Well, the summer seems to have evaporated very quickly, and the winter is really just round the corner. So from now on in, it's migratory Thrushes and thermals on. Here is the group working hard on 09/11/25, quite a productive day, with a total of 59 new birds and 34 retraps. This includes an evening Starling roost organised by AGH, plus birds ringed in the Paddock by DS.

Jo scribing, Heather, Kate, Matt, Adam, Isla and Mark ringing. Sensible clothing much on display... stylish too.  

 

Fieldfare- regular winter visitor

 

Ringing a Redwing... looks like an adult, just a thin smear of white on the tertials. 

New birds were: Starling 22, Redwing 12, Chiffchaff 7, Blue Tit 7, Blackbird 5, Reed Bunting 5, Great Tit 2 and singles of Cetti's Warbler, Dunnock, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Long Tailed Tit, Lesser Redpoll, Reed Bunting, Robin, Song Thrush and Yellowhammer.

So nothing rare, but a representative selection of late autumn birds. It is always nice to finish on a spectacular species, so here is the best from the day:  

 

Male adult Sprrowhawk; it can't be comfortable to be a Blue Tit and to see those claws bearing down on you!

 

Finally, this will probably be the last blog of the year (unless anything exciting happens), so keep an eye out for news of scrub bashing in 2026, and notification of the publication of the annual report on our website.  

 

  

Stanstock VI: Outrageous Ringing!

Readers from previous years will know that Stanstock is our annual celebration of bird migration, ending on the August bank holiday, or thereabouts. Thanks to the kindness of Park Farm we camp out on the railtrack which butts onto Stanford Reservoir and ring for essentially one solid week. This year it actually started early, as MJT was ringing on Friday 15th when a number of us arrived to put up our tents, so we incorporated his session too. Unlike last year, the weather was pretty decent, although typically getting to be quite windy in the afternoons, so we did ring every day! Nets were put up between Safari ride and the Northants Reedbed at Point, a total of 34, although not all were open every day, depending on the wind. Two ringing stations were in operation. 

 Brief relaxation and refreshment for the Railtrack team. 

 

Loafing at the Point with a few birds to ring

 

A grand total of 3,660 new birds were ringed during the week as follows: Blackcap 1397, Sedge Warbler 633, Whitethroat 407, Reed Warbler 366, Willow Warbler 365, Garden Warbler 119, Chiffchaff 109, Lesser Whitethroat 91, Grasshopper Warbler 50, Robin 39, Redstart 18, Wren 18, Blue Tit 17, Reed Bunting 11, Long Tailed Tit 8, Mallard 7, Goldcrest 5, Dunnock 4, Goldfinch 4, Great Tit 4, Coal Tit 2, Mute Swan 2, plus singles of Barred Warbler, Grey Wagtail, Linnet, Moorhen, Pied Flycatcher, Song Thrush (who seem to be having a wretched year) and Wood Warbler.

So, some notable birds, such as:

 Nice juvenile male Pied Flycatcher, only four ringed at Stanford since the dawn of time.

 

Getting rarer, Wood Warbler only three ever ringed at Stanford. Imagine a Willow Warbler that has been plugged into the mains!

Blimey! A first for Stanford! 

This is a first year Barred Warbler. With a wing of 88 mm, in the world of warblers, this is a really big bird; Blackcaps for example have a wing of c. 75mm. 

So that is 2025's Stanstock over, but there are still birds being ringed every week, so do keep track of us via this blog, and look out for the annual report posted by the end of January.  

PMN 

 

Breeding Update

Blimey, it's been hot! The question was, how had this impacted the breeding success of our birds? On Saturday 5th July the stars aligned and the SRG had a good turnout, so we set up three ringing stations; Dawn and Jo in the Paddock, Dave, Peter and Jade at the Point plus Northants reedbed, and Adam, Stuart, Kate and Josh on the Railtrack. First impressions were not great as it was a blowy day, but we persevered. Totals were the best for the year so far, with 167 new and 60 retraps!

As a snapshot of how well our birds are breeding, it was quite encouraging. The following numbers itemise this year's juveniles:

Blackbird 1, Blackcap 21, Blue Tit 23, Cetti's Warbler 3, Chaffinch 1, Chiffchaff 28, Cuckoo 1, Dunnock 2, Garden Warbler 7, Great Tit 11, Greenfinch 2, Lesser Whitethroat 3, Long-Tailed Tit 2, Reed Bunting 8, Reed Warbler 31, Robin 10, Sedge Warbler 4, Whitethroat 12, Willlow Warbler 2, and last but probably not least, our old friends 11 Wren. In addition the Nest Recording Team ringed 7 Common Tern, 1 Stock Dove and 2 Swallow.   

 A grey bird seen skirting the Point and straight into a net! Juvenile Cuckoo, Wow!

 

A fantastic year for ringing Common Tern, well done AGH!

In summary quite a productive year so far, although our resident birds are keeping quite a low profile; no Song Thrush, only one Blackbird is of concern perhaps, and amongst the migrants only two Willow Warblers and four Sedge Warblers seem quite lean numbers, but there is still time to pick up late broods and stragglers before the migrants turn up in force next month. 

 

 Adam, Dave, Josh and Tasker

One final juvenile was blown in courtesy of Jade, welcome Tasker to the group, although it has been noted that you need to work on various aspects of your ringing skills before you get your licence!