The Ring Ouzel

A View from the North York Moors

Vic Fairbrother, Ken Hutchinson

• Publisher: Whittles Publishing
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781849954587
• eBook ISBN: 9781849955287
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Zoology
• Index: Biological Sciences

Using vivid extracts from field notebooks and profusely illustrated with photographs as well as paintings and sketches by wildlife artist Jonathan Pomroy, the reader is transported to the beautiful North York Moors National Park. We can share in the excitement as the first Ring Ouzels of the year return from their winter quarters in North Africa, witness their courtship displays, the establishment of territories and the female ouzel painstakingly building her nest and laying eggs. This is followed by the monitoring of the hatching and fledging of chicks and the levels of predation – noted in order better to understand the productivity and sustainability of this vulnerable and isolated population.To hear the song of the Ring Ouzel carrying for a surprising distance across the high moorland in the early morning is one of the many delights of upland Britain. The authors have recorded and analysed both simple and complex songs in their study area and, following comparison with recordings from Scotland, Derbyshire and the Yorkshire Dales, have confirmed the suspected presence of local dialects.Crucially this book is much more than a remarkable record of twenty years' fieldwork as it builds on earlier research elsewhere and relates local findings to the results of other current studies in England, Wales and Scotland. The contraction in distribution and number of Ring Ouzels breeding in Britain, the work of the Ring Ouzel Study Group, the introduction of conservation measures and the potential impact of climate change are all described. Attention is drawn to the first indications of Ring Ouzel decline in Switzerland.As a migrant, the Ring Ouzel faces additional pressures and problems on passage and conditions in their wintering areas in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco are described. The importance of Britain as a stop-over and refuelling area for Fennoscandian birds on passage in Spring and Autumn is stressed. There is still much to learn and the early attempts to track Ring Ouzels on migration from Scotland to North Africa and back are described. This milestone publication brings the Ring Ouzel into sharp focus for the first time.

Table of contents

• 1 THE SPECIES
• 2 RING OUZEL STUDIES
• 3 NORTH YORK MOORS STUDY
• 4 ARRIVAL AND TERRITORIES
• 5 BREEDING HISTORY AT KEY SITES
• 6 BREEDING HISTORY AT KEY SITES: MINES, CUTTINGS AND TRACKSIDES
• 7 BREEDING HISTORY AT KEY SITES: GORGES AND GULLIES
• 8 BREEDING HISTORY AT KEY SITES: SLOPING GROUND
• 9 BREEDING BEHAVIOUR: COURTSHIP AND NEST BUILDING
• 10 BREEDING BEHAVIOUR: EGGS AND CHICKS
• 11 DOUBLE BROODS
• 12 PREDATION
• 13 FOOD AND FEEDING
• 14 COMMUNICATION
• 15 MIGRATION
• 16 POPULATION ESTIMATES
• 17 HUMAN IMPACT
• 18 SHARED HABITAT
• 19 THE RING OUZEL STUDY GROUP