So I got off Bardsey on the 18th after a day's delay due to weather conditions. I was due to leave for The Wash on a wader ringing trip on the 19th. I therefore had less than 24 hours to pick my mum up who had been camping above Porth Meudwy, drop her in Pwllheli to catch the train, drive to Bangor, meet Chris, unpack, wash all my stuff, shower, eat, sleep, dry my clothes, repack and get organised for a week ringing. Again Chris was a major help and I don't think I could have made the turn around without him!
As it was, we were all packed and ready to go by 09:30 on Monday morning and even had time to fit in an enormous breakfast at Mike's Bites before hand.
The next week was spent in Lincolnshire with many Wash wader ringing group members. We tried to catch waders (either by mist net or cannon net) on every possible tide and although the catches were small, we managed a respectable total by the end of the week.
I love wader ringing and these ringing weeks because it gives me a concentrated period where I can really advance my ringing training and meet a lot of great ringers/birders whilst I'm at it. This was my second year at The Wash and I fully intend to go back as often as I can for these week long trips.
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| Gorgeous sunrise on Tuesday morning after a 02:45 start and a failed Grey Plover catch. |
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| Incredible curlew and Bar-tailed Godwit flocks were seen all week. This is only a small one by comparison. |
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| Whimbel (Numenius phaeopus) - The first new species I ringed during the week |
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| Reeve (Philomachus pugnax) - Chris' bird but a real beauty and a total surprise after a long night on the marsh. |
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| Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria) - New species number 2. An incredibly nice bird and well deserved after a hard night on the marsh. |
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| Drying mist nets in the carpark. It looked like some sort of wig convention and cheered me up after another unsuccessful catch. |
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