On Friday an excellent catch of 461 Oystercatchers was made at Heysham Helipad. Of these just 13 carried rings including a bird with an Icelandic ring. Weights and measurements were taken from about half the birds including the extent of moult. The bulk of birds (99%) had more or less completed their main flight feather moult strongly suggesting that the birds roosting at Heysham are in good condition even though large quantities of mussel spat have been removed from their feeding grounds this autumn.
Of the 13 ringed birds 6 were ringed at Heysham between 2001 and 2006. Another was ringed as an immature bird in South Wales in November 2004. The final bird we have details for was ringed as a chick in Northumberland and caught at Heysham in 2001.
On Thursday and Friday sightings of 7 colour ringed Knot were made at Heysham and near naze. Of these 5 were seen last winter and two are new to the bay. All of them have been ringed within the last 8 years on the Waddensea by NIOZ (http://www.nioz.nl/). Please keep an eye open for colour ringed waders as there are very few observers in the bay and provide huge amounts of information about the use of Morecambe bay.
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