Belgian Gold!

Yesterday I finally received notification of the ringing details of the Belgian Golden Plover I controlled back on 23rd October 2011 (blue marker). It was ringed at Veurne, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium on 22nd March 2011, 442 km WNW of where it was controlled. Also shown (red marker) is the location of the other foreign-ringed Golden Plover, a Dutch bird, caught at the same location (green marker) in December 2009 which had travelled 596 km.

We are still awaiting our first long-distance record of a colour-ring sighting but amazingly one of the 150+ birds we colour-marked this last winter was found breeding on a moor in Denbighshire proving that at least part of our winter population comprises birds from the small and declining Welsh breeding population. Unfortunately the ring inscription wasn't  read so we don't know exactly which bird it was! Let's hope it returns to the same spot next year and allows closer inspection.

Also included in the last batch of recoveries was a Woodcock ringed near Clun in Shropshire which was killed by a bird of prey at Steinsholt, Vestfold, Norway on 16th June 2012 (1,108 km, 474 days).