BIRD RINGING |
Bird ringing (called bird banding in the USA) is administrated in the UK by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), and it is an effective and safe method of studying wild birds. Birds are caught in a variety of nets, or by hand, and many are ringed as nestlings. Individually numbered, lightweight rings are then placed on their legs. The information gathered from subsequent retrapping or recovery of ringed birds gives us a huge amount of information on life expectancy, migration routes etc.
Graham is a BTO Licensed Bird Ringer and Trainer, and he has been ringing birds since 1990. As well as undertaking a lot of general ringing of adult birds and nestlings, Graham is involved in two important national projects.
CURRENT NATIONAL
PROJECTS
Colour-ringing Little Egrets
This species only colonised the UK in the early 1990s and several Ringers across the country are now ringing nestlings each spring in British heronries. The egret chicks are ringed with one colour-ring on each leg, and on each ring there is a letter or a number (see photo). If you see a colour-ringed little egret, please carefully note the colour-ring combination and report it to Graham, or to the BTO, stating where and when you saw it.
Little egrets ringed by Graham in Hampshire have been seen in Wales, Avon and Greater London. There are also several still thriving along the Hampshire coast.
Woodcock
For many years the woodcock has been a mystery bird, with varying numbers resident and breeding, and larger numbers of foreign birds arriving in winter. In the last decade, studies in France have begun to illuminate the secret world of the woodcock, and we have learnt that many of the winter migrants come from Russia and Scandinavia. Sadly our breeding population is diminishing and, in an effort to learn more, the Woodcock Network Ltd (a UK registered charity) has been inspiring British Ringers to go out and catch woodcock. British Ringers are now ringing a combined total of over 600 woodcock each year and Graham is taking part in the study, by ringing woodcock in his region of Hampshire. All of the valuable data collected will be shared with French and Russian Ornithologists, to enable us all to gain a European perspective on this enigmatic wader.