The Lincolnshire Bird Club

On October 29th last year, Mid-Lincs Ringing Group member James Siddle caught a first year German ringed Kingfisher at Saltfleet Haven. We have just received notification that it was ringed as a nestling on June 28th last year at Aken near Magdeburg (51 51N 12 3E)in the old German Democratic Republic (beyond the "Iron Curtain"!). I had a look on Google Earth to see it was an inland site near the River Elbe. This is quite a remarkable control in that the bird travelled 819 kilometres (about 500 miles) and is an astonishing example of post juvenile dispersal. This is what makes the long hours and early mornings worth it - well done James.

In the same mailing we were informed that a Green Sandpiper which was a fresh road casualty at Stainfield near Bardney on November 20th last year had been ringed as an adult at Driehoek in Northern Holland (52 33N 4 37E) on July 1st 2006. The moral of this story is to always check dead birds for rings!

Further information from the BTO regarding the Kingfisher is that it is only the 5th German ringed bird to be reported in the UK. With regards to the Green Sandpiper, there have been fewer than 50 recoveries involving Britain and Ireland. This bird is the first Dutch ringed bird recovered in the UK and only the third foreign ringed recovery - the last was in 1973. This is ample proof that it pays to check all dead birds for rings!

There can't be that many Green Sandpipers RTA either!

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Andrew Chick
Website: http://www.forktail.co.uk/