Wader & Waxwing Weekend.

This weekend Craig & I joined our mate Chris, along with his ringing group (SCAN) for some wader ringing along the north Wales coast. A totally new experience for me & Craig as we've never really been involved in wader ringing.

Friday evening was spent mist netting at Llanfairfechan catching 104 new birds & 13 recap or controls.

Snipe - 1

Knot - 2

Curlew - 6

Oystercatcher - 20

Dunlin - 42

Redshank - 28

Lapwing - 4

&

Starling - 1

Saturday morning we set a cannon net near Bangor harbour, catching 66 Redshank, which consisted of new birds & a number of retraps or controls.

And this morning we set a cannon net near Aber Ogwen for Redshank. 250 were on the pool, however they were spooked by something and unfortunately didn't return in numbers, so we packed up & called it a weekend.

Back in Bangor (where we were staying with Chris) Zac Hinchcliffe alerted us to a flock of around 40 Waxwings. Chris made arrangements to meet Kelvin back in Bangor & soon we had a net up and caught a single bird.

** I've since heard that Kelvin & Chris have managed to catch more Waxwings in Bangor (along with a few Robin & Blackbird!) Hopefully the ringing of these birds will help in understanding the movements of this attractive winter visitor in the UK.**

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Thanks to the following people for making us feel welcome & for allowing us to be involved - Chris Bridge, Steve Dodd, Richard de Feu, Kelvin Jones and David Coker.