22nd February
On my birthday I abandoned my family and went for an hour to the Wexford Wildfowl Reserve. Having failed in previous visits to read a Greenland White-fronted goose neck band, I was lucky this time. There was a flock only 200m from the road. There were other things about such as Bewick Swans, Greylag Geese, Brent and Whooper Swans but a Greenland WFRGO is what I was after. I managed to record 3 and possibly a 4th. Many thanks to Tony Fox in Denmark who co-ordinates the project for a rapid and interesting reply. (Apologies for typo in photos. Wexford Wildfowl Reserve is the correct name.) They are family orientated geese and offspring can associate with parents for many years. This makes them interesting to study.
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| CHH was ringed in Wexford in 2019 |
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| CHN is an associate of CHH also ringed 2019 and expected to be seen near each other |
X4X is why ring reading fun and educational! It was not expected to be at the reserve. It was ringed in Donegal and a first sighting in Wexford. This sighting is classified as "a record of merit"
While looking back through my photos as apparently there are birds with Grey telemetry collars, I spotted in a corner of a frame this collar [Y83]. I have reported it as not a 100% confident read and I am sure I will hear soon if Tony agrees and if he does, the history of these magnificant Geese
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| Greenland White-fronted Goose Y83? |
15th February
Storm Dennis was raging today, but I was at the Bull Island with 30 minutes to spare. So I got soaked and went looking for coloured ringed gulls. I was having no luck when I spotted a CR Black-tailed Godwit. I risked taking the camera out and sheltering the camera behind a bin, took a few photos. Couldn't even check the photos as the rain was near horizontal Thirty meters further on I noticed the same Godwit in among another flock of Gulls. I didn't risk getting the camera soaked again. Suddenly I was seeing double with 2 Godwits sporting these tall triple green rings. Camera out again and with holding it still as possible in the storm tried to record them. I recorded 3 individuals.
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| Black-tailed Godwit GGG/m/RL// |
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| Black-tailed Godwit GGG/m/YN// |
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| Black-tailed Godwit GGG/m/RN// |
A couple of emails as I couldn't find the project on line and these were all ringed at this location in January!
