Swale Wader Group

 

Two teams, operating separately and maintaining social distance, caught birds at two sites at Elmley National Nature Reserve and continued through the night with many of the team not getting home until 04:30.

We caught 34 birds comprising:

  • 9 Black-headed Gull
  • 7 Curlew
  • 6 Oystercatcher
  • 4 Black-tailed Godwit
  • 2 Whimbrel
  • 1 Bar-tailed Godwit
  • 3 Dunlin
  • 1 Ringed Plover
  • 1 Spotted Redshank

The last time we caught a Spotted Redshank was in 1969!

All the birds were adult and many were moulting. The summer plumage Bar-tailed Godwit had not started moulting and looks like a bird of lapponica race which breeds In northern Scandinavia east to the Yamal peninsular.

BATGO lapponica 20200722Bar-tailed Godwit, potentially of the lapponica race

SPORE 20200722Spotted Redshank

Ringing Sessions