Since 2011 GRG have been studying Golden Plovers at Rattery
Head in North East Scotland.
Birds start to arrive in early July, complete their moult and then spend the winter here.
The first birds
arrive in early July peak about the 2nd week of August when there are between
500 and 1000 in the flock, this number remains pretty stable until the end of
September when their numbers increase dramatically with up to 5000 being seen
there.
Birds have been caught and colour ringed with an individual colour
combination to allow individuals to be recognised in the field. Among the birds we caught was a pullus that we had ringed on
the Scottish mountains two years previously and another pullus had its ring
read near Edinburgh the previous year. This gave us a strong hint that at least some of the birds
present on the Scottish coast were in fact Scottish breeders.
Brood of golden plover with one egg still to hatch |
One of the birds ringed in 2011 was then seen on the Outer
Hebrides on the Isle of Harris on the 5 June 2012 again suggesting a
Scottish breeder. This bird has not been seen again.
One of our colour-ringed birds on Harris, June 2012 |
Over the next couple of years from colour marked
individuals from 2011 have regularly been seen again along the same stretch of coastline, suggesting some site fidelity of the birds to their wintering grounds, others
have however never been seen again despite regular searches through the flocks
for colour marked individuals. Many birds have been seen repeatedly.
Then on the 22 January this year DE52076 bird was reported form Curragh Racecourse, Kildare,
Ireland, this had been ringed on the 21 August 2011 at Rattery Head. It had been previously seen at Buchanhaven /Peterhead in August/September 2012, 2013 and 2014.
Golden Plover DE52076 ringed 21 August 2011 at Rattray Head, Aberdeenshire |
So why this bird now decided to move to Ireland after
staying in the north east for the previous years we cannot say, however as the
bird has been seen in the autumn only in the previous years it may have moved
to Ireland every winter. Perhaps future
years will provide more information regarding this bird.
Clearly we have much yet to learn about the movements of
these birds and what initiates the need to move; cold weather can certainly be
ruled out as the winter of 2014-15 in North east has been exceptionally mild.
We intend to continue ringing both pullus and adult birds in
the forthcoming years and will be grateful of any sightings of colour marked
Golden Plovers