After the snowfall on 14 and 15 December, the days with cold and sunny temperatures returned until Friday 21, allowing a resumption of ringing activity which was quite positive at the FEIN Ornithological Observatory in Arosio. The weather then gave way to weather variability with the alternation of clouds, fogs and clearings in northern Italy with some precipitation in the south of the peninsula.
The trend was uneven for temperatures. Christmas day and the following day were characterized by fog accompanied by a light drizzle, but without the intense cold. After the festive break, the ringing activity resumed on 27 December with the development of the wintering project where 20 specimens belonging to 8 different species of passerines were captured and analyzed.
It should be remembered, however, that the week from 17 to 21 December was characterized by a good number of catches equal to 102 specimens belonging to 17 different species of passerines. Among these the protagonists were the finches with the massive presence of the Peppola and represented by Fringuello, Verdone, Siskin, Goldfinch and Frosone, accompanied by representatives of the turdidae family such as Cesena, Tordela, Blackbird, Redwing and the "mythical" Song Thrush .
This last species, which has thrilled the autumn migration season that has just ended, has still peeped into the Arosian structure with 4 specimens, one of which was recaptured and ringed again at the FEIN Observatory on 16 October 2012. A confirmation added to what, for some time , ornithologists maintain that some small contingents of bottacci thrushes choose the peninsula to winter, finding refuge and nourishment there even in the bad season, thus confirming, once again, that it is not a pre-nuptial migration.
Meanwhile, the study activity at the FEIN Ornithological Observatory continues and, finally, it should be emphasized that as of December 28, the 6.136 ringings that took place in 2012 were reached, bringing the total number of birds analyzed in a standardized and continuous form since 1977 to well 189.730.
28 December 2012
ANUU Migrators