The Swans are on the move in big numbers all over the greater Dublin area. Sightings of our coloured rings can be sent to mute.swan.ring"at"gmail.com. Our project Swans rings are yellow, 4 letters and begin with a C
31st October - Halloween Swan Ringing
It is rare that I post anything to do with my ringing activity on this blog, but today was such fun! A team of 21 of us targeted the Grand Canal in Dublin to Colour Ring Mute Swans as part of our various Swan Projects. We caught and processed 43 Swans. We went early in the morning when they are hungriest and there are fewer people about.
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| The queue for the ringing table |
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| Quietly waiting to be processed! |
30th October 2016
At Sandyford Industrial Estate, it is always worth checking the roofs of the buildings. There were a few Mediterranean Gulls mixed in with the Black Headed and Herring Gulls. Spotted a White Darvic and camera our quickly. Then it did something that I haven't seen in a Med Gull before. Instead of sitting down and roosting, it lifted a leg and promptly went to sleep on one leg with the coloured ring safely out of sight! Anyway the first photo was legible. I haven't see this MEDGU since 2014! Good to see it still on the go as it is over 10 years old
23rd October
This afternoon I went to Booterstown Marsh to see if I could read some Redshanks. I saw a few with coded coloured rings last week but too far away to read. No luck with the Redshanks but I did see a CR Godwit!
BLTGO-RL:O//Bm-LL:ON// = Right Leg Orange above knee Below Knee Blue Metal. Left leg Orange over black and nothing below the knee. I have seen this Godwit before but never on the south side of the Liffey. It has been coming to Dublin since it was ringed in Scotland in 2012.
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| Black Tailed Godwit with Coloured Rings |
This morning when reading Swans on The Grand Canal I spotted the Norwegian Black Headed Gull J134. This is the 3rd time I have recorded it at the same location. I don't understand why I didn't record it last year. These birds are usually so habitual.
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| Norwegian Black Headed Gull |
21st October
Today in Sean Walsh Park I recorded 3 Black Headed Gulls. 27H0 from England - as always and 6430814 from Sweden. But the 3rd took my interest. Thick stainless steel with overlap could only be Lithuanian. Camera out and code recorded. The only issue was I never took a photo of the whole bird! HA36.804 was a regular last year as a Juvenile. Nice to see it back as an adult
Received an answer to the aluminium ringed bird on October 10th. I have added it as a post script on that day.
20th October - ID Issue!
Too dark for Herring Gull, too light for lesser Black backed Gull. No red eye ring for yellow legged gull. It is in moult, so white secondaries are visible in flight which is what drew my attention. It's yellow legs does not rule our Herring Gull, but its bill seems too slender and it appears too clean. The wing tips appear to show too much white for a light Lesser Black backed. So what about other species? P10 has not shed yet the mirror is still visible. I haven't worked out the answer yet....
15th of October
Torrential rain this morning and my boys football matches were cancelled. So I went to Howth gull watching and recording. A very successful morning. 0MA was ringed by me July 2013. I had not seen it since April 2014 in Tallaght. Delighted it has survived.
The next one recorded was 0LV. The code suggests that it was only ringed this year.
0MC is yet another new Herring Gull for me. It looks like it is still growing P9 and P10
OAP was also present, making 4 CR Ringed Herring Gulls.
There were plenty of Great Black Backed Gulls around. 3CA was ringed in 2013.
There were 9 CR GBBGU in total. All ringed on Irelands Eye, which is a small Island visible from Howth. They ranged in age from 2AM which was ringed in 2009 up to 3JL which was ringed in 2015.
However, I spotted a "metal only" Great Black backed Gull and successfully photographed it's code. MA01504 is not from a series I have recorded before. I have entered it on IPMR and will receive details in due course. Hopefully it will be an interesting recovery!
The weather picked up and I did my I-WEBS count on the Grand canal. I recorded 15 of my Coloured Ringed Swans during my count. I also photographed the Norwegian Black Headed Gull Green (J134) .
I thought last month it was just passing through, but it looks like it is staying. It was recorded on the same building as last month!
Great day and I also recorded a "new to me" Swan. Metal X3804. This is from a string owned by Richard Collins. I am stunned I haven't seen it before! 30+ rings read and 4 species
10th of October
Today in Sean Walsh Park, I quickly spotted a foreign Metal on a Black-Headed Gull. 6430816 I first recorded in January 2012. I wasn't expecting it back for at least another week! Then I spotted another metal on an adult and this one poised a real challenge. Unable to read anything with Bins, I took my camera out. The ring is so worn, the address is illegible, it is also upside down. Before I got the full code it flew. It looks like one of the old Latvian Rings, 30239 is all I got. I will try tomorrow, however it is not in my database so it may be just passing through!
I received a definitive answer to this ring today from Mr Black Headed Gull Frank Majoor. My thanks for his prompt reply as always. It is Dutch from near The Hague
This is aluminium Arnhem ring series 3.X02.XXX
I think the first X must be a 6. Then ringed as nestling 2003
Reeuwijkse Plassen.
All the best,
Frank
That would make the code still incomplete 3.602.39X - 1 digit short. 13 years old. I hope it turns up again
8th October - New Black Headed Gull
My lack of posting photographs of Coloured Ringed birds in Dublin has not been due to my lack of field work. The Mute Swans have been taking up all my "birding time". Today while recording the Swans arriving onto the Grand Canal I did spot yet another new Black Headed Gull and remarkably it is another of the Brewood Ringers Project in the English Midland. I have only sent the report.
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| Juvenile Blackheaded Gull 2BXT |
Once again my camera is full of photos of just legs and rings. All of Swans! Our coloured rings can be read while under water
Mute Swan CACC was ringed last year as a Cygnet in Tymon Park. It's first movement was to the Lime Kiln Lake in Tymon Park (0.5Km) before moving on to Broadmeadows Estuary for the Summer (21Km). It is now back on the Grand Canal 4Km from where it hatched.
5th October
In my local Park, Sean Walsh Park there is still only one regular Coloured Ringed Black Headed Gull. The metal ringed Juvenile EL65898 is still present. Unfortunately I have to submit my sightings to the BTO by IPMR. I do a submission to my Club Secretary evey 4 - 8 weeks. He does a club submission every 4-8 weeks and then the BTO does it's research which takes another 4-8weeks. I will be lucky to know the origin of a metal ring in 4 months time.
2nd October
Colour Ringing Mute Swans.
As a club we have been busy Colour Ringing Mute Swans. At this time of year it is a rush to get them ringed at their natal sites. We will ring the ones we miss on the Canals etc, but it is far more interesting if we know who the Pair and the siblings are. We exceeded the 30 in the Project criteria but we were hoping to get to 50 cygnets. We are at 48 Cygnets this year and another try tomorrow in Kildare to make the 50. However the earliest Cygnets are already on the move. Those hatched at the Stadium in Sean Walsh Park are already causing havoc by moving into another territory in the same park. Two un-ringed Cygnets are already on the Canal.
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| CAXV |
