Colour-ringed Sightings from 2010

Over the Christmas/New Year period news of two colour-ringed sightings from 2010 filtered through.


First was a Sandwich Tern seen and photographed on 8th August 2010 on the sand near Little Eye (see photo right) which had been ringed at Forvie National Nature Reserve, near Newburgh, Aberdeenshire in Scotland in 2001.

Second was the Little Egret found and photographed at the South End of the main island on 7th November 2010 (see above left). It was also seen and was superbly photographed on 15th November 2010 (see right and below). This bird (left white F, right yellow U) was ringed as a nestling at Penrhyn, near Bangor, Gwynedd in North Wales on 7th June 2010. These were the first (and are currently the only) sightings of this bird since it was ringed.

These add to an impressive list of colour-ring sightings at Hilbre during 2010 which of course included (but is not limited to) the Canadian ringed Pale-bellied Brent (plus a couple of other Brents), the Dutch ringed Oystercatcher plus sightings of our own ringed Turnstones and Redshank at Hilbre and elsewhere. Details of all our colour-ringed sightings can be found in our annual report. Photos SRW and S Reid (Little Egret above and in flight).