On Saturday afternoon a small team from the Wash Wader Ringing Group met at the Old School House to get kit ready for an evening mist netting session at a new site near Gedney in Lincolnshire. We were soon on our way and upon arrival split the netting equipment between two teams and set out across the salt marsh to put up nets in readiness for the high tide later on in the evening. Once the nets were set we headed back to the cars to set up base camp and order a fish and chip supper before returning to the nets with the tape lure systems. At this point darkness had started to descend and one or two birds, all Dunlin, had found the nets. We set the tapes going and went back to base camp to deliver our catch and tuck into the tasty food that had arrived in our absence.
A further two net rounds produced more Dunlin bringing the total to 31 - all new birds. A small team was assembled to process the birds after they'd been ringed. For some people on the trip it was the first time they'd had the opportunity to handle a wader species so the small catch enabled them to become familiar with Dunlin ageing. Fortunately the night wasn't too cold and we were pleased with a small but successful catch at the new site.
Taking biometric measurements from a Dunlin
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