The Lincolnshire Bird Club

At 0930 on 12th October 2015 I took a Goldcrest out of a net at Donna Nook bearing a Danish ring. I've just found out that it was ringed the day before - unfortunately we don't know the exact time. Nevertheless a bird weighing 5.0 grams (exactly the same as one 20 pence piece!) travelled 574km in no more than 24 hours - incredible.

so average 15 to 16 mph and if a following wind pretty normal isn,t it Stuart ?
if they took much longer wouldn,t they run out of energy and ditch .

regards John

John,
It's the first time we've experienced such a swift crossing and your speed estimate seems about right. I remember seeing exhausted Goldcrests literally flopping into the sea about a mile offshore whilst sea fishing. Their energy is the fat reserves they can store - the heaviest Goldcrest I've ever handled is 6.7g but birds that are obviously in off can be as light as 4.5g and potentially fatal.

I believe Birklands RG who spent 12 days on the Theddlethorpe site this autumn ringed a good number of GCs
and several were just above 4 gms , I cannot remember for sure but think they had a Danish ringed bird ?.
and I recall seeing dying crests on the strandline many years ago and also finding fresh corpses washed up
a sad sight.

regards and best wishes for 2016 Stuart, John.