Sadly on the following morning circumstances were against us as most of the birds gathered on the beach were disturbed by the headlights of a vehicle belonging to the Environment Agency who were checking the sea defences given the expected tide height. With the tide falling nets were fired on a diminishing group of grey waders most of which seemed to avoid capture. Five Grey Plovers and a Dunlin was never going to be the best catch with a film crew present but one of the Grey Plovers was a retrap which turned out to have been caught on the very same beach by the WWRG in February 1991 and having been ringed as a 6, this makes it at least 22 years old. That winter was particularly harsh with many Grey Plover being found dead so this bird is lucky to have survived to provide an interesting tale for the One Show cameramen. Along with the other Grey Plovers it received a white leg flag so that it may hopefully be seen by WWRG members and other birders, thus building a more complete picture of its movements.
Grey Plover showing black 'armpit'
Grey Plover with unmoulted primary
Plans for mist netting on Saturday evening were scuppered by the high winds buffdeting the East coast so it was decided that we should attempt to cannon net Oystercatchers on the afternoon tide at Snettisham. Two large mesh nets were set and the team retreated to wait for the rising tide to encourage the birds to march up the beach. As thousands of knot drifted lazily south the tide stopped short leaving the Oystercatchers a long way from the catching area. The sunset was amazing and the sight and sound of tens of thousands of Pink-footed Geese spanning the entire horizon was breathtaking and still we waited and waited... Finally the birds were on the move and as they entered the catching area the nets were switched in and the command to fire was issued.
By the time the birds had been extracted, put in keeping cages and the nets lifted from the beach it was darkness that surrounded the team gathered in in the lea of the sea wall. The 'jenny' was fired up and ringing and processing commenced. 106 new Oystercatchers were ringed and 43 retraps processed. It was interesting to note that several birds were still in active moult but considering the time of year it would be likely that this would be suspended. Supper was very well received by all that evening!
Sunday morning saw teams arrive at a number of locations to recce and search for colour ringed birds. The fierce weather that had lashed the East overnight was witnessed by some extremely high tides.
Sunset over Snettisham beach
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