Colour ringed Black-tailed Godwit on Skokholm

A colour ringed Black-tailed Godwit found here on 20th April had been seen on the coast to the west of Nantes, France the day before! Having been ringed as a chick in south Iceland in July 2013, this bird was subsequently seen on the Dee in October 2013, at Leighton Moss in July 2014 and April 2015, Cley in October and September 2015, Leighton Moss again in April 2016 and north Germany in August, September and October 2016.

Satellite tagged Greenland Whitefronted Geese on the way back to Greenland.

It was a real privilege for Theresa and I to assist the team with the field work which satellite tagged the Greenland Whitefronted Geese on the Dyfi back in December 2016. A once in a life time experience as BTO ringers, given their rarity wintering in Wales.

Working as part of the GWfG Partnership with funding from the Welsh Government, a greater understanding of the GWfG whilst wintering in Wales can now be achieved, a historic moment in this conservation project. Many thanks to Carl Mitchell, Mick Green and Steve Dodd for sharing their expert knowledge and experience.

Click on the link to read more and monitor the Greenland Whitefronted Geese progress. http://telemetry.wikispaces.com/Greenfront_Wales

Michael & Theresa

Wheatear colour ringing on Skokholm

Today saw the start of a new project on Skokholm, a repeat of the work carried out here by Peter Conder from 1948 and which formed the basis of his monograph on this species. Island regular Ian Beggs is leading the project. Having arrived on the Island this morning, he had already ringed the Sugarloaf pair by this afternoon - only another 19 or so pairs to go. Although we are targeting Skokholm breeders (which are perhaps unlikely to be seen elsewhere in Pembrokeshire), we are also ringing Skokholm youngsters which perhaps will be seen elsewhere, particularly in future years. If you see a green ring inscribed in white then it is a Skokholm bird and the white three digit code will tell us who it is (you will probably need a telescope or a good camera to make out the code).