Bunny Meadows - 6th October 2012

Back in the UK I thought this weekend would give me the chance to catch up with some bird ringing at Titchfield Haven, but heavy rain overnight, continuing onto Saturday morning scuppered those plans. So after doing a few domestic chores I headed out to Bunny Meadows to catch the rising tide. High tide was at around 14:30 and being a sunny Saturday   afternoon there were lots of people out walking, but there were still good numbers of waders around. The most abundant species was Common Redshank so I started to count them a immediately picked out a colour ringed bird. I was unaware of anyone locally colour ringing this species but text a colleague just in case it was one of his, and got an immediate response. It was, he hadn't ringed many but this bird had been ringed on at Hamble Point, 4 km to the south on 27th March 2011, 18 months previously. 

Eurasian Curlew

Continuing on there were a few Curlew, Eurasian Wigeon, Eurasian Teal, Grey Plovers and a flock of 96 Golden Plover. Having been away for the last few weeks these were the first I had seen this autumn. I spent a few minutes working my way through them just in case there was something different in the flock, but they were all Eurasian Golden plovers.

Eurasian Golden Plovers

My attention was drawn to  a couple of Oystercatchers on the far bank, one adult and one juvenile. The adult was one of the colour-ringed birds I had previously seen tending their newly hatched chick, so it looks like the chick survived. Whilst on the subject of those Oystercatchers, whilst away I heard back from the BTO details of their original ringing, and as suspected they were both ringed at Hamble Point. Interestingly they were both on the same date 29th December 2007, nearly five years previously. Since they were both ringed together I wonder if they were paired up then, and whether Oystercatcher are monogamous?