Countryfile's special spring edition to feature Alderney Bird Observatory

Presenter Matt Baker spent a morning helping new Alderney Bird Observatory warden John Horton ring birds.

The observatory was set up at the start of April with the assistance of the new warden. His aim is to prove that Alderney is one of the best spots in the country to monitor the migration of birds in spring and autumn. To date he has rung around 4,000 birds.

To the delight of the warden and film crew, they managed to catch two migrant birds of particular interest. One was a Sedge Warbler that had been ringed in the UK a year or more ago and the other was a sub-alpine Warbler from a net at Essex Farm.

Approximately 3,600 birds have been ringed at Longis since the Abo set up in early April. Warden John Horton said: 'In eight weeks we have caught more migrant birds than most other bird observatories around the British Isles have caught in a year. The number we are getting here is causing a such a stir in the ornithological world that Countryfile rushed to film us in time for their spring special edition programme. We couldn't have asked for better luck when Countryfile was here, in terms of the types of birds we saw.'

So far the observatory has caught 14 birds that were previously ringed in Denmark, Spain, France and the UK.