Male Wheatear with a green colour ring as part of a long term study on Skokholm Island.
Male F22 was the first Wheatear back this year @skokholmisland.bsky.social
He was singing around the Obs on 4 March! He had the entire island to choose from but he chose to set up his territory at the same place as last year. (He’s also not shy of people).
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#birdingWales
There are still new Wheatears being logged for 2025 @skokholmisland.bsky.social,
either new birds in or those who have proved difficult to confirm. Male F62 at the Bluffs and female F37 at Wallsend are two such birds. Two more to add to the survival study data.
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Our previously featured nest-building female appears to have stopped building. She will be laying shortly. The male is rarely more than a couple of metres away - cute? Not really he’s guarding against an intruder stealing a copulation at this key time.
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#ukbirding
#birdingWales
Most of the female Wheatears @skokholmisland.bsky.social are now nest building. The males are vigorous in protecting their territories and are on constant alert for intruding males as the egg laying time approaches.
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#birdingWales
#birds
Despite another windy day our nest-building female is now onto white feathers @skokholmisland.bsky.social
This is usually the final stage of construction so laying in the next day or so (5/6 eggs). Incubation of c12 days so feeding young around 8 May.
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#ukbirding
Great. Thanks.
And despite the 40 mph winds she’s still nest building.
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#birdingWales
#Wheatears
#skokholmisland
Calmer weather had the #Wheatears out and about @skokholmisland.bsky.social. Male A33 is still single this year despite being our oldest bird at 7. Elsewhere a female is nest-building in nest box 7 (the red stones on the right ). Hoping she will complete and lay there soon.
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#BirdingWales
Now the Wheatears @skokholmisland.bsky.social are paired, the males are on constant vigil. Flying round their territorial boundaries to protect their patch, they are quick to challenge any encroaching males with eyes on their female! Here C54 is on sentry duty on North Plain.
Now the Wheatears @skokholmisland.bsky.social are paired, the males are on constant vigil. Flying round their territorial boundaries to protect their patch, they are quick to challenge any encroaching males with eyes on their female! Here C54 is on sentry duty on North Plain.
Most Wheatears @skokholmisland.bsky.social are now paired and are starting to explore potential nest sites together. Male C39 and female H09 are roaming their territory in the general North Plain area where both have bred with different partners for the last few years.
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#BirdingWales
Female C48 & male C91 are paired at Frank’s Point @skokholmisland.bsky.social. Both four years old they returned early to the same territory where they bred in 2024 and paired again.
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There are 42 Wheatear nestboxes @skokholmisland.bsky.social.
Each year they are checked and made good for the season.
There are usually one or two used each year. Bespoke cameras are used if there is an active nest to monitor the nestling behaviour.
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#BirdingWales
More female Wheatears ‘clocked in’ today @skokholmisland.bsky.social
4 birds with colour rings were sighted and photographed and a further 4 were ringed. Female F99 was paired with an unringed male at Winter Pond where she raised 2 broods in 2024 with a different partner.
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#BirdingWales
The Wheatear study @skokholmisland.bsky.social uses colour ringing which allow birds to be identified in the field. Male F22 (pic) has bred in the same area for the last two years. Analysis of these data helps understand survival and spacial aspects of the species’ ecology.
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#BirdingWales
With more female Wheatears arriving daily the number of pairs is increasing #skokholmisland. As are the territorial disputes. After it all settles down in a couple of weeks the birds will end up occupying the same areas as previous years regardless of the individuals.
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#BirdingWales
Wheatears are starting to pair up @skokholmisland.bsky.social
Here male H42 and female H32 are keeping close near North Gully. On The Neck, female H92 is the first of last year’s juveniles to return from her winter quarters.
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#WheatearTales
Male Wheatear F85 is establishing his territory @skokholmisland.bsky.social
In the adjoining three territories there are three other males and a female who were in one of these same sites in 2024. They are incredibly site loyal.
#ukbirding
Welcome to the 9th year of ‘Wheatear Tales’; a diary of the Wheatear colour ringing research project on #skokholmisland via daily posts (previously posted elsewhere). One of our first pairs back are female C56 & male D63 - both 5 years old, exploring their 2025 territory. #ukbirding