So I came across this on the internet…

Posted on the blog of Oystercatcher enthusiast and one of the latest recruits to our ring-reading army, Clare Scott. 

In other news, we’ve been flat out radio-tracking and ring-reading in Dublin since the catches, so apologies that I’m a wee bit slow getting back to folk with the histories of the birds they’ve read. Keep ‘em coming – I will get through the backlog.

Who knew how hard it would be to keep up with eleven radio-tagged waders? Note to self: get satellite tags next time! We’re doing OK though (despite one of the Redshanks giving us the run-around), and will be able to generate some solid science off the back of this. Only managed a handful of ring-reads today at Bull Island: a few of the Sandymount-ringed barwits from last week and two of the Bull Island-ringed Redshanks.

One thousand, seven hundred and twenty two

That's how many we caught!

On Monday 27^th January, a crack team of Scottish cannon netters arrived into Dublin to assist the Dublin Bay Birds team catch and colour-ring some waders. The Scottish team, or Team Awesome^TM, as they (aptly?) call themselves, hit the ground running and went straight out to recce sites in north Dublin Bay. Further recces were carried out the following day, before an evening mist-netting session produced 27 birds. One of which, a Redshank, was released after colour-ringing in a technologically advanced state, with its radio transmitter beeping away as it flew off over the Tolka Estuary and onto Dollymount Strand in the darkness.

Colour-ringed Redshank.
The blue ring represents the the Bull Island south
 lagoon ringing site. Niall Tierney

Wednesday morning saw the team converge on the south lagoon at Bull Island in an attempt to cannon-net some Redshank. As luck would have it, a group of foraging Redshank were flushed from the adjacent driving range by a golfer, and, in an incredible stroke of luck (or more Team Awesome^TM genius?), the birds immediately landed right in front of the net, which was promptly fired. Six Redshank caught. All were colour-ringed and two were selected to be fitted with the two remaining Redshank radio transmitters.

But these catches were merely chump change compared to Thursday’s jackpot…

With the forecast looking good, the wind direction being just right to push the roosting birds into the best catching spot and the mid-morning high tide being just the right height to further corral the birds, it seemed the stars were aligning for a great catch.

We assembled at Booterstown DART Station at 07:00 for a briefing. The large team, which comprised Team Awesome^TM, BirdWatch Ireland staff, NPWS, members of the Irish Midlands Ringing Group, local ringers, ring readers and the Dublin Bay I-WeBS counters, made light work of ferrying the gear out to the spit. As we were cut off by the encroaching waves, and as the tide forced the foraging waders towards their roost, we lay down in the marram grass and the anxious wait began.

Tension mounted as the tide reached its climax. The radio chatter from the firing position was positive - it was looking good. The final instructions were given and red button was pressed! Suddenly, everyone was moving. Legs, that were numb from hours lying on the cold sand, were forced into action to race to the nets to extract the haul. Hundreds of Knots, Bar-tailed Godwits, Dunlins and Oystercatchers had been caught! As the extractors bent to their task, the “runners” ferried the birds to the waiting holding pens where they would be kept calm before ringing. While the Knot and Dunlin were BTO ringed and released, a sample of the Bar-tailed Godwits and all of the Oystercatchers were colour-ringed. Four of each of these species were also fitted with radio-transmitters. In the catch, we had "controls" (birds ringed elsewhere) from the UK, Germany, Norway, Iceland and Holland - watch this space for more info on these birds. Ewan, one of the Scottish team, recognised the ring number on one of the Knot and later told us that he had ringed the bird as a juvenile on the Ythan Estuary in Scotland in August 2009!

In all 1,673 waders were ringed and released on the day - a mammoth effort.

Radio-tagged Oystercatcher "AD" Simon Foster

A much smaller team regrouped the following morning for more cannon-netting, this time on the dropping tide at Merrion Gates. Redshanks were once again the intended targets, and before long, a small group of "smalls" were netted. Saturday followed a similar pattern, and between the showers we managed a small catch of 6 Redshank and 2 Dunlin.

A great week’s ringing, but in a way, the work is only just beginning. There’s no point colour-ringing birds if you’re not going to re-sight them! And there’s no point deploying radio-transmitters if you’re not going to put them to good use! And that’s partly the reason for this blog going up so long after the catches! We have been out and about in Dublin Bay (and beyond) reading the rings and radio-tracking. One of the research questions we have is whether the birds use the same areas by day and at night. Without round-the-clock radio-tracking, this would be very difficult to answer comprehensively, but round-the-clock radio-tracking means that…well, it means that we get no sleep, but more importantly, it means that we can delve even further into questions surrounding how these birds are using Dublin Bay and find out a huge amount about their wintering ecology and behaviour. 

Please make a special effort to get out and about to search for these ringed birds. I always say this, but every ring read is potentially a missing jig saw piece or the start of a very interesting story. I always say this too, but the welfare of the birds is always paramount - this sustained spell of stormy weather and very high tides is already challenging the birds - so it’s vital that you don’t disturb them by getting too close while ring-reading. Please submit your sightings using this page, or by email to ntierney@birdwatchireland.ie

Totals for the week (new/control):

Knot: 915/10

Bar-tailed Godwit: 470/5

Dunlin: 265/4

Oystercatcher: 30/2

Redshank: 16

Turnstone: 3

Curlew: 1

Ringed Plover: 1

Total: 1,701/21

Kilcoole-ringed bird in Waterford

Just a very quick blog today. We have a week of catching attempts (and hopefully some ringing and radio tagging!) ahead of us, so there’s lots to do!

I’ve just heard that one of the Kilcoole-ringed Oystercatchers, which was first noticed on Garrarus Beach, Co. Waterford in December was seen again on the 9^th of January on the same beach. We can’t say for sure which bird this is, as no one has managed to read the inscription, but the red ring on the left leg means that it can only be one of three birds. Who knows where the other two in the brood have gone to?

One of the Kilcoole-ringed Oystercatchers on
Garrarus beach, Co. Waterford. Liam Walsh 

We’ll let you know how this week’s catching goes in due course.

NT

Homework

Happy New Year and welcome to the first Dublin Bay Birds Project (DBBP) blog of 2014. I’d like to introduce myself; I am Ricky Whelan the new DBBP Assistant, I hail from Laois but have spent the last number of years working on bird conservation projects and reserves in the UK. You will see my name from time to time on the blog and may come across me as I carry out fieldwork. Regardless of what the lack of blogs may suggest we have been very busy with the project over the past number of weeks. In addition to completing a suite of core counts and all day watches we are now busy preparing for targeted ringing, catch and mark attempts later this month.

With the aid of a “Catch Team” from Scotland we want to catch and mark a number of bird species that frequent Dublin Bay. We also intend to fit a number of suitable birds with radio tags in order to allow us to radio track them in the coming months. This will allow us to identify key sites being used nocturnally by these birds for example.

We have a huge amount of experience within the team and a vast amount of information gathered on the habits of the Dublin Bay birds, saying all this, a considerable amount of prep work needs to be carried out before any catch attempts. I say “attempts” as catches don’t always go to plan, there is a vast amount of variables that may upset plans. The first thing to consider is that these are wild birds and we can’t predict 100% what sites they will use on any given day. If we get the location right there is a number of things that can hamper plans. For instance it only takes one disturbance event to flush all the birds from the catch site such as a jogger or a hunting bird of prey perhaps.

In order to give ourselves the best chance of a successful catch we collect as much information on each potential catch site as possible and how the birds use them. We record the bird’s positions at various tidal states, how they respond to disturbance, weather conditions etc, all this will allow us to make sound choices when choosing target sites.The recent and upcoming high tides have already ruled out certain locations.

Dublin Bay - A lot of ground to cover!

All the homework and preparatory will continue over the coming weeks, it hasn’t been all that bad, the weather has been unseasonably mild so all day watches have been made that bit easier! Other benefits of being out and about Dublin Bay on all day watches is that occasionally something a little bit special might fly past. This week BWI staff managed to find a Ross’s Gull a very rare visitor that normally calls North America home, breeding in the high arctic there and in Siberia.

Ross's Gull, an unusual visitor

So please keep your eyes peeled for our already colour ringed birds throughout the marshes and recreational pitches around Dublin Bay. Be sure to contact us with any sightings of colour ringed birds and hopefully in the coming weeks there will be many more new colour ringed birds joining them.

See March 2013 blog post regarding “Cannon Netting” and our past successes with this catch method. For additional information on bird ringing check out the BTO (British Trust of Ornithology) webpages at:

http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/ringing/ringing-scheme

It’s important to mention that all members of the ringing team are licensed by the BTO and The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) here in Ireland.

Ricky Whelan – New DBBP Assistant

Wanted: First winter Oystercatcher who goes by the name “LV.”

This bird is wanted regarding a series of stabbing attacks on cockles in the Tramore area. LV (1) was ringed by members of the Dublin Bay Birds Project (DBBP) team in Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow in July and was last seen on Newcastle beach, Co. Wicklow in August, sporting the colour rings.

This photo of LV was taken during routine reconnaissance shortly after ringing. Ornithologists believe that LV, having undergone a partial post-juvenile moult, has changed considerably in appearance since then.

LV (right) pictured at the Breaches, Kilcoole,
Co. Wicklow on 8th July Niall Keogh

It was initially thought that this serial cockle killer may have absconded on a southward migration, possibly to France, but yesterday evening, thanks to a tip off from a member of the public, ornithologists have learned that LV is still at large in Ireland.

Birdwatcher, Clare Scott, who encountered LV on Garrarus beach, near Tramore in Co. Waterford on Wednesday, told ornithologists:

“It was only when I saw the blog that I decided to report the sighting.”

Kilcoole-ringed Oystercatcher, possibly "LV" Clare Scott

An eye witness at the scene managed to snap this photograph of these three suspected mussel murderers, thought to be accomplices of LV, as they fled.

Oystercatchers on Garrarus beach, Co. Waterford Clare Scott

A BirdWatch Ireland spokesperson stated that ornithologists “are following a definite line of enquiry” regarding the ecological requirements of the birds.

A source close to the DBBP stated that a sting operation, code-named “cannon-net”, is being planned for 2014, when a number of waders will be apprehended and fitted with radio transmitters in order to keep tabs on their movements and activities:  

“This radio tracking work will allow fine-focused observations at an individual scale, which will be used to support conclusions drawn from observations of larger flocks.”

The source added:  

“Surveillance of these (radio-tagged) birds will allow their ecological requirements and any threats they face to be investigated. It will also allow us to track these birds during the hours of darkness … when it is thought that they exploit different foraging areas.”

More information on this case will be posted to the BirdWatch Ireland Facebook and Twitter pages as it comes to light. Members of the public are encouraged to remain on the lookout for colour-ringed birds and to report any sightings to ntierney@birdwatchireland.ie

Justin Timberlake, Hen Harrier and Health & Safety on Sandymount Strand

Apologies for the title of this post, but it is inspired by a post on the excellent Little Tern blog from way back in the breeding season.  The wardens, as a result of either sun stroke or just general eccentricity, decided to give pet names to the birds that were breeding in and around the Little Tern colony in Kilcoole.  And while reading Oystercatcher rings on Sandymount Strand the other day, I realised that I had taken a leaf out of their book - I’d started naming the Oystercatchers according to their two-letter inscriptions! My rationale is that it saves me taking out my notebook between every ring read: when the rings are coming thick and fast, it’s more efficient to remember a few in your head and then pull out the notebook (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!).

Oystercatcer "DJ" Colin Corse

So JT, HH and HS were just three of the 29 rings I managed to read in about forty minutes at low tide on the northern part of the strand. That shows how readable these rings are, and therefore how much information we can learn from these colour-ringed birds. With so many of the Sandymount Strand Oystercatchers ringed, we have an invaluable opportunity, and perhaps even a duty, to get some science out of the re-sightings, and the more re-sightings we get, the better the science will be. We now have over 450 re-sightings logged in the database and have re-sighted 90% of the birds. Over time, we will be able to piece together the ecological story of how these Oystercatchers are faring in their winter home, and the more re-sightings we get, the more informative that story will be. I know I'm labouring the point, but I really can’t stress enough the importance of reading these rings! So please get out there with the camera or scope and make your birding count.

…What I can stress, though, is the importance of not disturbing the birds when reading the rings. Mid-winter is a tough time for these birds, as they work hard to gain sufficient reserves to stand them in good stead for the rest of the winter and into next season. Any disturbance caused by ring-readers is another straw on the camel’s back. Every time they are forced to take to the air, they are both losing valuable foraging time and wasting valuable energy. And you know what happens if the energy budgets don’t balance at the end of each day….

The additive effect of human disturbance on wader 

over-winter survival as a result of a reduction in calorific

 intake and an increase in energetic expenditure

 during avoidance behaviour. 

Thankfully, with a telescope or a camera and decent light, you can easily read the rings without disturbing the birds, which is the whole point of colour-ringing after all.

Apart from seeing some of the regulars, it was good to catch up with CN, IN and IX, who hadn’t been re-sighted since February. It’s good to know that these three are still knocking around. 

The wing of a Song Thrush, but the weight of three

We had an interesting capture at our wader mist netting session in Dublin Bay the other night – a Little Grebe! 

Some people call them Dabchicks (which happens to be the only bird name to have the first three letters of the alphabet occurring consecutively!), Shakespeare called them Dive-dappers, but I prefer Ducky-divers. Anyway, I flushed one while setting up the net at dusk, but I didn’t think for a second that we would be ringing one later on.

Grebes are fascinating birds: they build floating nests, which they cover with vegetation before leaving, carry their chicks on their back and pluck their own feathers and feed them to their young! And they’re quite interesting birds in the hand too.  

Little Grebe in winter plumage Clive Timmons

The short wings look like they are just about capable of dragging the rotund body from the water to splatter along the surface, but the legs and feet really are something to behold. They are disproportionately large, and placed well back on the body. While this makes them good swimmers and expert divers, it also makes them very ungainly on land. This, coupled with their small wing area, means that they are unable to take off from land. The tarsi are laterally flattened and have serrated hind edges, the front toes are separately lobed, and the claws are flat and nail-like. Another interesting feature is the tail: a bunch of wispy feathers that are no more than a token of a tail.

So you wouldn’t expect these short-winged, plump, almost tailless birds to be seasoned travellers. And you’d be right, they’re not, but check out this map of the journey of a Latvian Little Grebe. He was ringed on the nest in Latvia in June 1983 and was shot in Lancashire in January 1985 after travelling a (straight line) distance of 1,653 km! 

Recovery map for a Latvian Little Grebe
that turned up in the UK

I know I mentioned wader mist netting at the top of this post. Not much to report just yet, but watch this space...