Regular readers will know that the Waveney Bird Club visit us every Thursday from April to October to run their popular Bird Ringing Demonstrations, weather permitting. These events are free, and do not need to be booked.
At these events, specially trained ringers, following strict guidelines set out by the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology), set up rows of special nets in which they catch small birds. After carefully extracting the birds from the net, they quickly take various measurements - age, sex, weight, length, wing length, state of moult, amount of fat on the body, etc, before fitting a tiny metal to the bird's leg. Each ring has a unique number, so if the birds are caught again, either at Minsmere or elsewhere, then the BTO can record further important information about the bird's movements and longevity.
Although the ringers usually catch common birds, such as Blue Tit, Robin or Chiffchaff, they will occasionally something more unusual like this Firecrest
Over the years, this has allowed us to confirm that Nightingales and Whitethroats, for example, can return to the same bush two, three or even five years in a row.
Of course, with such tiny rings, it's only possible to read the ring numbers if you can catch the bird again - or find it dead. Therefore, with bigger birds scientists often fit larger coloured plastic rings engraved with a series of letters or numbers. These rings can be read in the field, allowing us to learn much more about the life histories of these birds. Recently, such colour rings have revealed some fascinating stories of long distance travel and longevity. I'll pick out just some of these stories below.
Perhaps one of the most exciting discoveries has been a ringed Stone-curlew that was first ringed at Minsmere in 2007 and has returned for its 18th year! Like many waders, we know that Stone-curlews can be long-lived birds, but evidence of exactly how long is limited, so such sightings prove to be really value. Stone-curlews are migrants, so this bird will have flown to Spain or North Africa every winter, returning the following spring, making its longevity even more notable.
Another wader for which we've had some interesting data is Black-tailed Godwit. We know that most of the birds that visit Minsmere are from the Icelandic breeding population, but sightings are few in such a sparsely populated country. However, with large flocks passing through the UK every year, some of the colour-ringed godwits do get reported regularly from UK wetlands, including Minsmere.
One such example was first ringed as an immature bird on the Humber Estuary in East Yorkshire in December 2018. Since then it has been seen regularly at various sites around North Norfolk, The Wash and back on the Humber, as well as here on the Suffolk coast. It was seen at Minsmere in April 2024, and again last week. It was also spotted in Iceland in June 2023, also 1500km from where it was ringed, where it was presumably breeding.
Black-tailed Godwit by Les Cater - this one is not ringed
We've also had many interesting reports of well travelled gulls. A Mediterranean Gull ringed in the Netherlands in 2023 has subsequently been seen in various locations in France, and was displaying on the Scrape over the weekend. A German ringed Black-headed Gull seen at Minsmere last week has also been spotted in Worcestershire, so may have wintered in western Britain and paused here on route back to the Germany, while another Black-headed Gull that was ringed on the Thames estuary has also been seen on the Scrape, and a third had been ringed in Denmark. One of the Caspian Gulls at Minsmere was ringed even further away, in the Czech Republic.
Black-headed Gull by David Naylor
Perhaps even more interesting is a Great Egret that has been seen at many sites in Yorkshire over the past three years, with brief visits as far away as Lothian in Scotland, Northumberland, west and south Wales, before turning up here at Minsmere last September. It was spotted again at Island Mere last week.
Finally, a White Stork flew over Minsmere on Monday. Photos suggest that is bird was ringed, although the ring details could not be recorded. However, we suspect that this may have come from the reintroduced population in Sussex. Similarly, the recent White-tailed Eagle came from the Isle of Wight reintroduction project, and both species are likely to be seen more frequently in Suffolk once those populations increase.
This week's White Stork by David Walsh