A team of 6 ringers attempted a catch on the flooded fields of the Swale NNR. This involved considerable planning and a huge amount of physical effort somewhat out of proportion for the 13 birds that we caught. The weather was fine with a bright starlit moonless sky and no wind but cold, the pools started to freeze just before the hightide. The calls from the birds present was amazing, with hundreds of Curlew calling from their high tide roost on the saltings, a lot of duck sounds, Mallard, Gadwall, Wigeon and Teal and calls from three species of Geese.
The following birds were caught:
- Oystercatcher 1
- Dunlin 10 (plus a retrap from 2011)
- Knot 1 (an adult)
- Bar-tailed Godwit 1 (an adult female)