GRC Blog


Welcome to the GRC Recorders pages. This blog provides details on all the relevant news of Glamorgan’s scarcer birds, plus all BBRC & WRP decisions that affect us locally. It will also be used to document the status and occurrence of these scarcer species and we welcome contributions from anyone with photographs, artwork or documentation of rarities past, present and future. The GRC also welcomes all seawatching news from around Glamorgan and news of passage migrants in spring & autumn, uncommon birds in our area and unusual behaviour.


All visitors are welcome. You must first register by sending an email to GlamRC@gmail.com before you can contribute. An invite will be sent to your email address. Blog content will be strictly moderated. Access to pages and downloads are available to everyone. All photographs on this blog remain the property of the originator.
If you would like to use photos, please arrange permission beforehand.


The Glamorgan Rarities Committee, in conjunction with the Glamorgan Bird Club & Gower Wildlife , have agreed to co-operate with the Welsh Ornithological Society in the sharing of bird records & photographs in the interest of keeping accurate records and to promote birdwatching in North, Mid & South Wales.

Saturday 27 April 2013

Colour ringed Sanderling

A colour-ringed Sanderling was in the wader roost at Crymlyn Burrows this evening. Waders certainly seem to be on the move with a Grey Plover at Kenfig river mouth yesterday and 4 Bar-tailed Godwit, c100 Dunlin, c90 Ringed Plover, 300+ Sanderling and a lone Whimbrel along the beach this evening.
I'm still waiting for news on the colour-ringed Ringed Plovers that were noted in the Baglan Bay recently, but I get the impression that news of this bird will be returned much quicker. The International Wader Study Group website explains clearly the process and also other useful bits of information about their projects. The section which explains the code for this bird has been reproduced below. I'm looking forward to reporting back information on this bird very soon and encourage anyone with an interest in tracking ringed birds, particularly Sanderling, to visit the website on the link below.

International Wader Study Group - Sanderling Project

The first letter stands for the colour (Green =G) and the number for the position of the flag, where:

1 - on the left tibia (above the "knee")
2 - on the right tibia (above the "knee")
3 - on the left tarsus (below the "knee") above both rings
4 - on the right tarsus (below the "knee") above both rings
5 - on the left tarsus between both rings
6 - on the right tarsus between both rings
7 - on the left tarsus below both rings
8 - on the right tarsus below both rings

Note that positions 1 and 2 are not used for this project. The letters following the number stand for the colours of the rings (Y= Yellow, R = Red, W = White and G = Green) read downwards on the left leg first followed by the right leg. So G5YRWG has a yellow ring above a red ring on the left tarsus with a green flag between the two rings. On the right tarsus it has a white above green ring.
G4YWWW

3 comments:

Barry Stewart said...

Mark apologies for querying your leg rings again, but is the lower ring on the ring leg definitely not a metal ring? Only it looks slightly silvery to me. Should be an interesting recovery if ringed on the breeding grounds.

Mark Hipkin said...

Sorry Barry, I didn't copy the whole section about the ring placement on Sanderlings, but if you go to the website via the link it states how the metal ring is placed above the knee (can be either leg) with this project. I must admit from the photo I've used the lower right ring looks silvery. I have others which show it more clearly being white. However, this was the best photo I took for showing the green coloured flag. In most of the others it just looks like a green ring i.e. you can't see the tail.
I've had feedback and I hope to maybe illustrate it as a map when I get time, but the basics are it was caught in 2008 on Iceland and it winters in France. It has been recorded in those countries frequently, each year to the present date. It has however, also been recorded twice in the UK including this sighting. The other last April at St. Mary's Island, Whitley Bay.
It's great when the details come back quickly. Many thanks to Jeroen Reneerkens for the prompt reply.

Barry Stewart said...

Interesting life history of what is presumably a Greenland bird. Thanks for clearing up my ring query.