Ancient Avocet at Cliffe!

colour-ringed Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) Cliffe Pools, 29/4/14

On the 29th April this year, I saw this Avocet (above) feeding on the small pool in the area known as 'coastguards' at Cliffe Pools rspb reserve. Scanning across, with the bird showing comfortably at good range, I noticed the colour rings on its legs (Left: Red/Yellow, R: Yellow) so noted down the pattern and digiscoped a passable photo for my records. I've seen colour ringed avocets at the site before but never succeeded in getting any results from the various online resources.

After similar efforts with this this bird, I was expecting the same outcome so I was pleased to get an email last week which suggested it's history could be traced and requested my photo. Shortly after I received an email from the ringer, John Middleton, with the bird's history which turned out to be very interesting!

It turns out that this bird was ringed on 02/07/1990 at Titchwell, Norfolk, and these are the subsequent sightings:

Seen	Date	Until
Holme, Norfolk	08/08/1990
Havergate, Suffolk	13/08/1990
Funton, Kent	16/12/1990	13/01/1991
Elmley, Kent	09/03/1991
Elmley, Kent	29/04/1991
Elmley, Kent	18/05/1991
Elmley, Kent	25/05/1991
Minsmere, Suffolk	10/06/1991
Havergate, Suffolk	03/11/1991
Havergate, Suffolk	15/11/1991
Tamar, Devon	07/12/1991	27/12/1991
Exe, Devon	28/12/1991
Exe, Devon	02/03/1992
Titchwell, Norfolk	21/03/1992
Snettisham, Norfolk	05/05/1992
Elmley, Kent	??/05/1992
Rushenden, Kent	??/05/1992	??/06/1992
Titchwell, Norfolk	31/07/1992	01/08/1992
Funton, Kent	11/10/1992
Rushenden, Kent	??/05/1993
Funton, Kent	18/09/1993
Titchwell, Norfolk	01/07/1994
Elmley, Kent	06/10/1994	07/10/1994
Blythburgh, Suffolk	30/01/1999
Titchwell, Norfolk	20/03/1999
Snettisham, Norfolk	28/03/1999
Titchwell, Norfolk	30/03/1999
Titchwell, Norfolk	28/02/2000
Titchwell, Norfolk	29/07/2005
Titchwell, Norfolk	17/07/2006
Two Tree Island, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex	11/02/2012
Two Tree Island, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex	10/11/2012
Two Tree Island, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex	11/12/2012
Two Tree Island, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex	26/01/2013
Two Tree Island, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex	25/02/2013

I knew that waders can be long lived but I had to do a double take when I saw that initial date! These records mean that when I saw this bird, it was approaching it's 24th birthday - what a remarkable achievement.

Looking through the list of sightings there are some interesting patterns - particularly the bird's regular movement between North Norfolk and the Thames estuary, after a visit to Devon as a young bird. There are also the three long periods with no sightings.

Amazed with the result, I forwarded it to the BTO for their interest and yesterday had an email from Lee Barber, Recoveries Officer, who was able to confirm the bird and share some further information. This bird was one of a brood, all of which were ringed at the same time and the odd record still comes in. This means it is currently one of the longest-lived avocets ever recorded in the UK. Lee also points out that in 1990 Avocet was still a rare breeding bird (they become extinct in the UK in 1840 and only recolonised North Norfolk in 1947). Projects like this help establish important information about movement, health and other things. The European record for Avocet is currently 27 years 10 months.

Report colour-ringed waders here and here.

Thanks to John, Lee and Raf Vervoort for their help.

A familiar pair of legs

It seems that celebrities were all over Hoo Peninsular at the weekend. I made a quick visit to Cliffe on Saturday afternoon and was pleased to bump into one of its own:

C-ringed Greenshank, Cliffe Pools, 25/1/14

This colour-ringed Greenshank (Tringa nebularia) pictured on the left, was roosting with a small flock of birds at the top of Flamingo pool. That in itself was good to see but with a closer look I spotted the rings and recognised the colour combination - it was a familiar pair of legs. You might just be able to make out the small Green over Orange flags on its left tarsus.

I saw this bird twice last year, when, with the help of another local birder, I was given the ringers details. He was quickly able to confirm that this bird is something of a Cliffe Pools stalwart as it has been returning to Cliffe every winter since 2006. Ringed locally in August 2006, this individual often stays in the area until April before reappearing again in late summer or autumn. Where it goes in the meantime is a guess, presumably it migrates to a breeding site much further north. On its travels it has also made brief stops in Buckinghamshire and Cambridgeshire, but it is its remarkable site fidelity here that makes it a special bird indeed and shows that it clearly finds conditions to its liking. I was really happy to see it back again for another year.

Ruff crossing

Colour-ringed Ruff at Elmley Marshes, Kent, 27/1/13

As I mentioned in a previous post, one of the highlights of a trip to Elmley Marshes recently were the great views of a flock of Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) feeding along the entrance track. Scanning through the birds, I spotted two colour-ringed individuals - the photo above is a record shot of the one nearest me. It's not a great shot but you can make out some detail of the rings, in this case: yellow-top/white?-below (left tarsus) and blue-top/white-below (right tarsus). I'd heard about wader ringing programmes in northern Europe before and a quick check online, via the excellent www.cr-birding.org, pointed me in the direction of Jos Hooijmeijer at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. I sent him this photo and he was good enough to fire an email straight back.

Jos instantly recognised this bird as being from an affiliated ringing programme and this is the information he sent. This is a 3cy male Ruff, first caught and ringed on the 3rd April 2012 in Gaastmeer, Fiskersbuorren (Netherlands) in the vicinity of Lake IJsselmeer. It subsequently moved south west to Gent in Belgium to what looks like an area of well-drained arable land, where it was first spotted in December 2012 before travelling due west across the channel to Sheppey:

 30-12-2012 Gent, Bourgoyen
Belgium 51.03.50 N 03.40.30 E
3-1-2013 Gent, Bourgoyen
Belgium 51.03.50 N 03.40.30 E
5-1-2013 Gent, Bourgoyen
Belgium 51.03.50 N 03.40.30 E
27-1-2013 Isle of Sheppey, Elmley
Marshes United Kingdom 51.22.31 N 00.47.15 E

The arrival on Sheppey seems to correspond with freezing conditions across north eastern Europe and south eastern England has thawed nicely since then so Sheppey would seem a good destination.

Anyway, always interesting to find out where birds have been - looks like another cold snap this week, so keep an eye out for more continental arrivals.

The Tale of a Tufted Duck

They're found across much of Britain, bobbing contentedly on our lakes, ponds and reservoirs year round, largely ignored I imagine, except for in winter when they come under a bit more scrutiny due to their similarity with the slightly more exotic Scaup. But even tufted ducks have a story...like this one, which I came across in Millwall Dock, East London, on my travels this week:

Tufted Duck (f) (Aythya fuligula) with nasal saddle, Millwall Outer Dock, London, 9/1/13

In a flock with twenty or so birds this female stood out instantly due to the distinct reddish band around her upper mandible. Bit of tufty bling perhaps, or something else? Well in this case it's the latter - the band is a 'nasal saddle', a commonly used method of identifying wildfowl ringed in scientific ornithological studies. Each bird's band is unique thus helping plot the movements of individuals and species as a whole. Projects like this help improve knowledge of migration patterns, routes and key stopover/refuelling destinations. For waterfowl and waders, highly visible markers like this are a useful means of identifying internationally important wetland areas these birds may use.

I'd heard about similar sightings of ringed tufties in the East London area before, including an individual ringed in Portugal frequenting the nearby East India Dock Basin NR. A quick internet search and a prompt exchange of emails with a Europe-wide nasal saddle project based in Coimbra, reveals that this is indeed a Portuguese bird and the same bird that has frequented the area recently.

She's travelled a long way to reach East London (approx. 1375km) but seems to like it here and has been reported regularly in the vicinity. She, or to give her proper name - 'female 1red' was ringed LV1732 (Euring code 5) as a juvenile at São Jacinto Dunes Nature Reserve near the town of Averio, 50km south of Porto on 14th January 2011. She stayed in this area until the end of February that year when she began a migration north. She was seen again at Reserve de la Grande Noé in Normandy, Northern France, between 26th March 2011 and 8th April 2011 before departing again. On the 1st of May she was spotted in London for the first time, at East India Dock Basin NR. Since then she has re-located elsewhere, including Hillfield Reservoir in Hertfordshire, but generally remains faithful to EIDB where she appeared again between March-May 2012. It's interesting to note the periods in which she has not been seen - summer 2011, much of winter 11/12 and again summer 2012. She has spent the last 2 springs at the reserve before summering elsewhere and returning for a spell in autumn - perhaps she returns to the continent? (although she has not been recorded back at São Jacinto) Of further interest, sightings also suggest she may have paired with a similarly ringed male as the two have been seen together in the past at EIDB. I wonder where they'll get to next?

So there you go...just another boring tufty?!

Epic Duck: Local girl (with a Portuguese passport)

East India Dock NR is a great little site - check out the blog here.
More on Tufted ducks here and the Portuguese nasal saddle project here.