White-fronted Goose - 2018

Scarce winter visitor and passage migrant.

All records relate to birds of the Greenland race A.a. flavirostris: seven at Marloes Mere 26th Oct, presumably the same as at Dale Airfield 29th Oct, one of which was sporting a neck collar – put on at Wexford in March 2003. 14 at Trevine Common 26th Oct – 16th Nov.

From the Pembrokeshire Bird Report 2018

Tony Fox confirmed the bird at the airfield was CDZ, as seen by Brian and Paul G on Sunday. Tony gave a bit more of his biography and sightings:

This was first autumn male we caught at a place called Hvanneyri in west Iceland on 23 September 2017.  This site is the home of the Agricultural University of Iceland where they maintain a large area of hayfields adjacent to natural wetlands which are a magnet for the White-fronted Geese in both spring and autumn when they pass through.  We are not entirely sure of his parents, as he associated with two other collared individuals V3Y and a bird fitted with a telemetry collar (both adult females when they were caught in the same catch), as well as a unmarked adult that obviously escaped capture on that occasion whilst in Iceland following capture.  You will see on the attached list of all resightings of marked Greenland White-fronted Geese away from Wexford (where the vast majority are marked and resighted) your bird wintered last year on Wexford Slobs (as do many of the geese that stage in Hvanneyri), where it was also seen with the same marked/unmarked associates.  Interestingly, CDZ was not seen at Hvanneyri this autumn, which is somewhat unusual, since as well as being incredibly site loyal to their winter quarters, these geese also tend to use the same spring and autumn staging areas in successive seasons.

Andrew Simms, Pembs Bird Blog

Common Scoter - 2010 ringing recoveries

"Sea Empress" scoter ringing recoveries - what have we learned so far?

Back in those dark days of Feb 1996, some 4,571 common scoters were found dead/dying in and around Carmarthen Bay as a direct result of the "Sea Empress" oil spill. However many oiled scoter were rescued, cleaned and released, even though the sceptics said it was a waste of time - they were unlikely to survive long.

Back in 1996, next to nothing was known of the origins of scoter wintering in the Bay. By ringing the cleaned birds (later released from rehab centres in cleaner waters off the Welsh coast and in southern England) it was hoped that at least something positive would come out of this disaster. So what have we learned so far?

About 70 scoters were recovered shortly after being released around the coast of south-west Wales and southern England. But one unlucky victim was oiled again by the "Tricolor" spill off the Dutch coast in late January 2003 having survived seven years after release (this one was among 60 scoters found oiled).

Now, almost 14 years on, it is interesting to note that there have been three "Sea Empress"-ringed scoter recoveries in Russia (one west of the Urals and two further east in the province of Yamalo-nenets) the most recent of these being found (shot) in June 2009 - thirteen years after being cleaned and then released.

So all the effort put in by volunteers in Milford Haven and around West Wales and elsewhere, to try and help these birds recover from their ordeal, was certainly worth it. More information on the BTO ringing blog from where the following map was borrowed.

Bob Haycock, Pembrokeshire Bird Blog

Chough - 2002 preliminary results of ringing

This article attempts to summarise some of the findings emerging from a Pembrokeshire Ornithological Research Committee (PORC) Chough Study Group project, to examine post-fledging dispersal, survivorship and recruitment of choughs to the local breeding population. The study is based on ringing and re-sighting individually identifiable colour-ringed birds. Two hundred and twelve choughs (14 x 1st or 2nd year birds and 198 nestlings) have been colour-ringed in Pembrokeshire, up to 31st December 2001. So far, this has generated almost 1,000 confirmed re-sightings of many individuals.

Read more -