Most current ringing (banding) in the county involves members of the Munster
Ringing Group, and all ringing is by qualified ringers holding an appropriate permit from the British Trust for Ornithology
and a licence from the National Parks & Wildlife Service. Ringing activities cover a range of habitats, and include
mist-netting of migrant and other passerines at reedbed, scrub and garden sites, and nestbox ringing of chicks.
Last updated 22 March 2013
Photos - main 'in the hand' photo page
Ringing recoveries:
Storm Petrel (not yet added)
Click above for details of birds ringed in Co Waterford, and later recovered,
or of birds ringed elsewhere and recovered in Co Waterford. Recoveries of metal-ringed birds are dominated by
two species (Storm Petrel and Sedge Warbler) which are targeted by ringers throughout Europe, resulting in many 'controls'
(birds recaptured away from original ringing site and released after ring-details are recorded). Colour-ringed
Whooper Swans (from Iceland) and Kittiwakes (mainly from Dunmore East) have also produced many recoveries to or from Waterford.
But a range of other species have been involved. Lists of recoveries here are incomplete, but will be updated &
expanded - any omissions or corrections will be welcome.
Sources of ring-recovery details for Co Waterford:
- Irish Ringing Report (published annually in the journal Irish Birds).
- Irish Ringers' Bulletin.
- Munster Ringing Group (formerly Tipperary Ringing Group) newsletters and records.
- McGrath, D. 2004. Integrated
Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla monitoring at Dunmore East, County Waterford, 1987-2002. Irish Birds vol.7,
no. 3: 351-360.
- O'Meara, M. 2002. A revised list of the birds of Waterford. Fauna
of Waterford Series, No. 6 - Aves. Waterford Wildlife, Waterford.
- O'Meara, M. 1984. The wildbirds of Decies. Unpublished
manuscript, Waterford City Library.
- Power, J. 2004. Occurrences of colour ringed Black-tailed
Godwits Limosa limosa at a County Waterford site. Irish Birds vol.7, no. 3: 438-439.
- Walsh, P.M. & McGrath, D. 1988. Waterford Bird Report 1976-1986.
Irish Wildbird Conservancy, Waterford.
Waterford bird-ringing summaries: Annual summaries of ringing totals and ring recoveres are available on the British Trust for Ornithology
website's ringing pages for each year back to 2006. Highlights include recoveries in Co Waterford of gulls from Poland, Finland,
Denmark, Sweden and Norway; recoveries of Waterford Sedge Warblers in France and the Channel Islands; a Lesser Repoll
ringed at Brownstown Head in October 2007, retrapped in Suffolk in October 2008 and again in Sussex in November 2009; and
a Teal ringed in Co Down in September 2009, shot at Villierstown in December 2009.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Sedge Warbler, 1st-yr, Belle Lake, Aug 2003 |
What to do if you find a ringed
bird or read a ring number or colour-combination:
Metal rings: If
you find a dead or injured bird bearing a metal ring, send details (date, location & circumstances) to the address on
the ring (e.g. "Brit. Museum London SW7") - if bird is dead, preferably remove, flatten and send the ring also. Or
submit details to the British Trust for Ornithology, who organize ringing in Britain and Ireland and will also pass details
to ringing organizers in other countries (click BTO ring-recovery page). Please do not try to remove a ring from a living bird, if caught accidentally (or injured).
Colour or plastic rings:
For birds with colour rings, neck-bands or wing-tags seen in the field, please record as accurately as you can the colour(s),
code(s), which leg (or wing), whether leg-ring is above or below 'knee', and the sequence of colours (e.g. red above yellow
left, green above red right). A useful website is available to help track down the source of colour-ringed birds, or submit details through BTO ring-recovery page.
Alternatively, submit details of colour-ringed or metal-ringed birds to this website, and information will be forwarded to the relevant
ringing organization or we will attempt to track down the source of the ring (and get back to you).
|
| Reed Warbler in mist-net, Belle Lake, Aug 2004 |
|
|
|
|
|
