Swale Wader Group

 

A team of eight ringers went to Harty on Friday night and successfully caught 22 birds. A difficult night ringing when against earlier predictions we had to cope with heavy rain for over two hours. Fortunately it was a reasonably mild night. To safely cope with these conditions a team member had to remain close to each net to remove any birds caught immediately, which meant getting incredibly wet. The rain eventually stopped and the birds were all able to be ringed outside in pleasant conditions.

The catch was of really good quality and made up as follows:

  • Golden Plover 1 (adult in summer plumage)
  • Grey Plover 1 (in winter plumage)
  • Black-tailed Godwit 1 (adult 'red' male)
  • Bar-tailed Godwit 1 (adult female)
  • Curlew 3 (adults)
  • Whimbrel 10 plus a retrap (all adults)
  • Redshank 3 (2 first years and an adult)

The retrapped Whimbrel was ringed as a first year bird in September 2004 and is the first Whimbrel that we have retrapped. Since 1995 the Swale Wader Group has caught 20% of the full grown Whimbrel caught in the BTO ringing scheme.

Ringing Sessions