COMMON TERN ringing in Buckinghamshire in 2009

Common Tern Ringing in Buckinghamshire 2009

College Lake
23 Chicks ringed - BTO ring on left leg, black over white colour ring on right leg
8 large chicks not ringed and 3 chicks too small to ring

3 x scrapes with 2 eggs and 1 x scrape with 3 eggs

This is similar to last year when we ringed 26 chicks plus there were another two that were too big

Wilstone
13 chicks ringed - BTO ring on left leg, black over white colour ring on right leg
5 small chicks

3 scrapes with 3 eggs, 3 x scrapes with 2 eggs and 1 scrape with 1 egg and one of the small chicks

This is up on last year when 7 chicks were ringed and there were 2 small chicks, 2 dead chicks and 4 x scrapes with 2 eggs in each

Little Marlow
22 chicks ringed - BTO ring on left leg, light blue over yellow colour ring on right leg
6 eggs; 4 dead
Highest number ringed in the last 7 years

Calvert BBOWT
8 chicks ringed - BTO ring on left leg, white over orange colour ring on right leg (apparently the orange is difficult to see at a distance)
2 very small chicks

6 x scrapes with 3 eggs, 1 x scrapes with 2 eggs, 1 x scrape with 1 egg and 1 x scrape with 5 eggs!!

Last years attempt was aborted due to a hole in the wire fencing on the raft.

All sites were visited in the same week and a second visit made to Wilstone the following week
Although you might expect the colonies to be more or less at the same stage, these results suggest that College Lake and Little Marlow are the favoured sites which are colonised first, with Wilstone and Calvert a little way behind.

Please report any sightings of these or previously ringed Terns to myself (Calvert/Wilstone/College Lake), Mick McQuaid (Little Marlow) m.mcquaid@sky.com or Mike Collard (scheme co-ordinator) badgersinbucks@btinternet.com

We would like to thank Nancy Reed for allowing us to ring the terns at College Lake and for the help she and the assistant warden Stacey Hewitt gave us with ringing the chicks.

Also thanks to Tim Watts for assisting with the Calvert ringing effort and those folks involved with the Little Marlow ringing effort.

Mick A'Court
Secretary
Tring Ringing Group