I stayed home yesterday and did a little garden ringing, saving energy for the evening job. At 5pm Ian and I met up with members of North Lancashire Ringing Group for a session at their biggest Sand Martin colony on the River Lune, a location with approximately 600 nest holes in the river bank and where the group has captured over 1000 birds already this year.
The colony is on the other side of the river from the access point so entailed a walk across the river to the opposite bank where, after emptying flooded wellies, we set up shop. If I say that we caught 380 Sand Martins it might explain that the evening was too busy to take many photographs. From an initial breakdown from Richard Du Feu (thanks Richard) the 380 Sand Martins were made up of 293 new birds, 82 recaptures and 5 controls (birds ringed elsewhere). Two of the controls came from Icklesham, Sussex and Merseyside, the others are as yet unknown.
Already this year the group have captured a breeding Sand Martin with a Spanish, Madrid ring and the same bird was recaptured again last night.
Read more about Sand Martins and North Lancs Ringing Group here.
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