Ringed Oystercatcher

I was up on Foryd Bay near Caernarfon yesterday photographing ringed Brent geese. (a little bird tells me that a couple of eminent CB members were there also a few days ago.. no names mentioned!)

I post this here because of a ringed Oystercatcher I saw with a White Darvic S65 which may be of interest to us in Wales.

I reported the sighting to Alistair Duncan in Aberdeen who coordinates the Oystercatcher ringing project. Here's his response I've just received:


Hello, Emyr. Thank you very much indeed for this sighting of one of our birds.


S65 was ringed, one of a brood of two, on the roof of Gray's School of Art here in Aberdeen on 3 June 2011. You are right about the age but I can't be sure of the sex.With that bill it could well be a female. This is the first sighting of it.


Aberdeen has about 200 pairs nesting on flat gravel covered roofs in the city. Roof nesting is widespread round coastal Europe but in very small numbers. Aberdeen has considerably more than anywhere else. About 25 other towns in Scotland have small numbers. England has about six towns with roof nesting pairs. Only one pair in Ireland, in Cork, and none in Wales that we know of. The bulk of our birds winter in north-west England and north Wales with pairs scattered round other estuaries.


We have been monitoring these roof nesting pairs since about 1986 and started fitting darvics in 1996.


Many thanks again for this sighting and keep looking for more!

Alistair.

Come April/May, check your roofs!

***UPDATE***  I'm staring to get reports from people about Oystercatchers nesting on roofs in Wales. If you know of any records, please let me know and I'll send the information back to Alistair in Scotland (ems11@btinternet.com).