Intro Several years have passed since we last provided an update on the Coot colour ringing project and

since then there has been several changes to it. The colour ringing of Coot in North West England

continues, with good numbers of birds being captured & colour marked and providing good numbers

of re-sightings. One of the main developments to note is that the project has now expanded in that

birds are now being colour-marked across the UK by a network of BTO bird ringers.

Winter of 2013-14 saw the start of the expanded project being rolled out and I’m pleased to report

that it’s been a huge success with good numbers of birds being caught & ringed (see ‘winter ringing’

below). One of the advantages of this is that we are now catching birds by more than one capture

method – previously all birds caught during the earlier days of the project were caught by hand.

We’ve now been able to get good numbers of birds caught by other methods such as duck decoys,

duck traps and even by cannon netting!!

Map showing coverage of Coot colour ringing in UK & Ireland. Red spots are locations incorporated into

this study with colour ringing projects (yellow) also being carried out by Radipole Ringing group &

Huddleston & Jackson Ringing Partnership.

Rings One of the other changes is the type of colour rings used to identify individual birds, as the project

has now used up all available colour ring combinations (BTO ring + 3 individual colour rings). All birds

caught from 09/09/2010 onwards have been ringed with a white coded ring (three characters –

letters/numbers e.g. AA4). Some of the ‘white coded ringed’ birds – those ringed at Crompton

Lodges (Manchester), Southport Marine Lake (Merseyside) and Redesmere Lake (Cheshire) have also

been ringed with a single plain colour ring above the BTO metal rings. This is to make the bird more

obvious and to draw people’s attention to the coded ring.

2013/14 - Winter ringing Winter of 2013-14 proved not to be the coldest and this reflected on the total number of Coot

ringed, with spells of mild wet weather encouraging birds to feed on natural food. In the North West

low numbers of birds were ringed – this mainly due to a mixture of weather conditions & availability.

Nevertheless birds were hand caught and ringed at sites in Cheshire, Greater Manchester,

Merseyside and Lancashire. A catch organised by the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust targeting over-

wintering Whooper Swans at Martin Mere allowed good opportunity to colour ring Coot at the site.

Twenty-five birds were captured in the swan pipe at Martin Mere (this being the first time birds

from the North West study having been caught by a different capture method!) which included 23

newly ringed birds & two controls. Many sightings have been well received of these birds from the

network of ring readers at Martin Mere!

Gillian Dinsmore in Scotland has maintained good progress in

colour ringing Scottish wintering Coot with regular trapping at

Linlithgow Loch (27 new birds) and by registering three new

sites to the project. An opportunistic catch of 8 birds on 14th

January 2014 at Airthey Loch on Stirling University Campus (a

location where Coot are usually rather hard to catch at) paid off

with 7 newly ringed birds caught & a controlled bird (GG79067

– CDC) which was originally ringed by the Clyde Ringing Group

on 02/01/13 at Hogganfield Loch, Glasgow. One bird from this

catch (CDF) was sighted 40 days later by Stuart Green at Clatto

Country Park in Dundee – 70km NE.

Andy Rickeard has now been colour ringing Coot in the North

East since 2011 (& ringing Coot with metal rings since the early

90’s) He had a productive winter at Killingworth Lake catching

and colour marking 39 Coot which consisted of 35 newly ringed

birds & 4 recaptures of birds that had darvic rings added. Of particular interest is a bird that Andy

recaptured which had been ringed in 2005 - making this bird ‘8 years & 18 days old’ (since ringing!)

and certainly the oldest bird recorded as part of this study!

Arnold and Chris Zwetsloot and their team of duck ringers at Blunham Lake in Bedfordshire started

to colour ring Coot for the study in 2012. They run a successful wildfowl-ringing programme at

Blunham, which is supported by the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust. With Coot not being a priority

species of this ringing programme, Arnold & Chris were invited to participate in the Coot study in

starting to colour ring any birds they caught. Their baited duck decoy managed to capture 123 Coots

during the winter consisting of 76 new birds & 47 recaptures, providing useful recapture information

on the species as ringers will know that recaptures of ‘hand caught’ Coot are few & far between! In

total the Blunham team have now colour ringed 143 birds at their ringing location.

Jon Middleton got the ball rolling with marking

Yorkshire wintering Coot, registering 3 new sites

to the study. Lee & Rachel Barber continued to

add colour-marked individuals to the wintering

flock at Ellesmere in Shropshire. Steve Christmas

caught & ringed birds in Greater Manchester &

Merseyside including ringing birds at Southport

Marine Lake (now 448 individuals ringed here!)

Steve ringing AZS at Blackleach Country Park,

Greater Manchester on 07/12/2013 with this bird

being seen 71 days later at Wyken Slough in

Coventry – 136km SSE. Towards the end of the

winter Mike Reed started to catch & ring birds in

Hertfordshire. Barry O’Mahony started to colour

mark birds in Cork, Ireland during the winter – this

being the first of it’s kind in Ireland – something,

which we’re really keen to encourage!

An amazing cannon net catch of 40 Coot by Robin Ward, Simon & Jill Warwick and their team at

Nosterfield Local Nature Reserve ran by Lower Ure Conservation Trust in Yorkshire provided the first

batch of birds to be captured by cannon netting! 37 of these birds were colour ringed & it’ll be

interesting to compare re-sightings of birds from this catch, against birds caught by hand! Wilder

birds perhaps!? With thanks to Andy Rickeard for loaning his darvic rings for use on this catch!

Thanks go to all ringers who are involved in the study for catching & colour marking good numbers

of birds. In total 283 individuals were colour marked during winter 2013-14 topping up the overall

total to 1,621 Coot colour ringed.

Photo: Chris Wiltshier

Photo: Jill Warwick

Interesting movements

ASC N 4M 23/12/10 Nr Farnworth, Greater Manchester O 6 Sighted (R) 16/02/11 Nr Farnworth, Greater Manchester (55 days) S 6 Sighted 02/02/12 Straiton, Loanhead, Midlothian (264 km, N, 1 yr 41days) S 6 Sighted 06/05/12 Straiton, Loanhead, Midlothian (264 km, N, 1 yr 135days) S 6 Sighted 27/05/12 Straiton, Loanhead, Midlothian (264 km, N, 1 yr 156days) O 4 Sighted (R) 28/12/12 Nr Farnworth, Greater Manchester (2 yrs 5days) O 4 Sighted (R) 30/12/12 Nr Farnworth, Greater Manchester (2 yrs 7days) R 6M Recaptured 19/01/13 Nr Farnworth, Greater Manchester (2 yrs 27days) S 6 Sighted 20/02/13 River Tweed, Lochend, Tweedbank, Scottish Borders (229 km, N, 2 yrs 59days) S 6 Sighted 22/02/13 Gunknowe Loch, Tweedbank, Scottish Borders (229 km, N, 2 yrs 61days) S 6 Sighted 28/02/13 Gunknowe Loch, Tweedbank, Scottish Borders (229 km, N, 2 yrs 67days) S 6 Sighted 11/03/13 Gunknowe Loch, Tweedbank, Scottish Borders (229 km, N, 2 yrs 78days) 4 Sighted (R) 21/02/14 Nr Farnworth, Greater Manchester (3 yrs 60 days)

Yellow BTO / Mauve Red N 4M Ringed 11/12/10 - Southport Marine Lake Sighted 10/03/13 – Kirkcaldy, Fife (272km) Sighted 11/03/13 - Kirkcaldy, Fife (272km) Sighted 14/04/13 - Kirkcaldy, Fife (272km) Sighted 09/08/13 - Kirkcaldy, Fife (272km) Sighted 07/09/13 - Kirkcaldy, Fife (272km) Sighted 18/11/13 - Kirkcaldy, Fife (272km)

Photo: Andrew Bramhall

Photo: Keith Avery

Selected movements GR25051 N 4 30/11/10 Southport, Merseyside

O 4 Sighted (R) 03/12/10 Southport, Merseyside (3 days)

O 4 Sighted (R) 28/12/10 Southport, Merseyside (28 days)

S 6 Sighted 05/01/12 Herrington, Tyne & Wear (168 km, NE, 1 yr 36days)

S 6 Sighted 18/01/12 Herrington, Tyne & Wear (168 km, NE, 1 yr 49days)

S 6 Sighted 25/01/12 Herrington, Tyne & Wear (168 km, NE, 1 yr 56days)

S 6 Sighted 14/02/12 Herrington, Tyne & Wear (168 km, NE, 1 yr 76days)

S 6 Sighted 03/07/13 Herrington, Tyne & Wear (168 km, NE, 2 yrs 215days)

S 4 Sighted 01/10/13 Herrington, Tyne & Wear (168 km, NE, 2 yrs 305days)

GR25143 N 4 03/12/10 Southport, Merseyside

S 4 Sighted (R) 10/12/11 Ormsgill Reservoir, Cumbria (54 km, NNW, 1 yr 7days)

O 6 Sighted (R) 10/02/12 Southport, Merseyside (1 yr 69days)

O 6 Sighted (R) 10/02/12 Southport, Merseyside (1 yr 69days)

S 4 Sighted 27/12/12 Carr Mill Dam, Merseyside (28 km, SE, 2 yrs 24days)

S 4 Sighted (R) 11/11/13 Ormsgill Reservoir, Cumbria (54 km, NNW, 2 yrs 343days)

GR25458 N 3 20/12/10 Southport, Merseyside

O 3 Sighted (R) 28/12/10 Southport, Merseyside (8 days)

S 5 Sighted 30/07/11 Westport Lake, Stoke-on-Trent (85 km, SE, 222 days)

S 5 Sighted 31/07/11 Westport Lake, Stoke-on-Trent (85 km, SE, 223 days)

S 5 Sighted 11/08/11 Westport Lake, Stoke-on-Trent (85 km, SE, 234 days)

S 6 Sighted 02/02/12 Fairhaven Lake, St Annes, Lancashire (9 km, N, 1 yr 44days)

S 6 Sighted (R) 09/02/12 Fairhaven Lake, St Annes, Lancashire (9 km, N, 1 yr 51days)

S 4 Sighted (R) 24/10/13 Ormsgill Reservoir, Cumbria (54 km, NNW, 2 yrs 308days)

GR51039 N 5 10/02/12 Southport, Merseyside

S 4 Sighted 04/12/12 Thrybergh Country Park, S Yorkshire (115 km, E, 298 days)

S 4 Sighted 07/12/12 Thrybergh Country Park, S Yorkshire (115 km, E, 301 days)

GR51270 N 5 11/02/12 Nr Farnworth, Greater Manchester

S 6 Sighted 26/01/13 The Flash, Welshpool, Powys (110 km, SSW, 350 days)

GR25431 N 5 28/08/11 Pickmere, Northwich, Cheshire

S 6 Sighted (R) 30/01/13 Red Tarn, Keighley, West Yorkshire (74 km, NNE, 1 yr 155days)

S 6 Sighted 15/05/13 Red Tarn, Keighley, West Yorkshire (74 km, NNE, 1 yr 260days)

GR25408 N 4 28/08/11 Redesmere, Siddington, Cheshire

S 6 Sighted 23/02/12 Thacka Beck Reserve, Cumbria (163 km, NNW, 179 days)

S 6 Sighted 24/02/12 Thacka Beck Reserve, Cumbria (163 km, NNW, 180 days)

GR51306 N 4 11/11/11 Linlithgow Loch, West Lothian

S 6 Sighted (R) 18/01/12 Hogganfield Loch, Glasgow (36 km, WSW, 68 days)

O 4 Sighted (R) 14/01/14 Linlithgow Loch, West Lothian (2 yrs 64days)

GR10945 N 3 03/12/11 Killingworth Lake, Tyne and Wear

S 5 Sighted (R) 17/05/12 Big Waters Nature Reserve, Tyne & Wear (6 km, NW, 151 days)

S 6 Sighted (R) 18/02/14 Bowesfield, Stockton-on-Tees (56km, SSE, 2 yrs 62 days)

GR51329 N 4 17/12/12 Blunham Lake, Bedfordshire

S 6 Sighted 21/03/13 Cley Marshes, Norfolk (128 km, NE, 94 days)

S 6 Sighted 25/03/13 Cley Marshes, Norfolk (128 km, NE, 98 days)

S 6 Sighted 26/03/13 Cley Marshes, Norfolk (128 km, NE, 99 days)

S 6 Sighted 02/04/13 Cley Marshes, Norfolk (128 km, NE, 106 days)

S 6 Sighted 30/04/13 Cley Marshes, Norfolk (128 km, NE, 134 days)

GR51342 N 5 28/01/13 Blunham Lake, Bedfordshire

S 4 Sighted 26/07/13 Rutland Water (63 km, NNW, 179 days)

GR44552 N 4 10/12/11 Cosmeston Lakes, nr Penarth, Glamorgan

S 4 Sighted 30/08/12 Bowling Green Marsh, Devon (86km, SSW, 8mnth, 20days)

GR44553 N 4 10/12/11 Cosmeston Lakes, nr Penarth, Glamorgan

S 6 Sighted 02/04/12 Swithland Reservoir Leicestershire (201km, NE, 3 mnth, 23 days

S 6 Sighted 08/04/12 Swithland Reservoir Leicestershire (201km, NE, 3 mnth 29 days)

GR03863 N 3 23/12/10 Cosmeston Lakes, nr Penarth, Glamorgan

(BTO ring only) S 6 Sighted 02/04/12 Worthington Lakes, Grt Manchester (244km, N, 1y, 1m, 11d)

Acknowledgements Thanks to the below people for their help in collating re-sightings & help with catches. Thanks also to Jonnie Fisk for the Coot illustration!

S Addinall P Alker C Ashton

S Atkins K Avery L Bailey

A Baines T Baker S & G Barber

T Barker P Barnes C Batty

L Beaton D Bickerton S Blain

S Bodnar A Booth J Bowen

G Bowman J Bradley A Bramhall

M Breaks D Brook A Brown

T Clare G Clarkson N Climpson

A Clunas C Conroy H Cook

T Coombes A Cooper A Cotton

J Davies S Davies M Davis

S Denny T Disley C Dixon

T Dougall R du Feu J Dunning

S Eaves D Evans C Findlay

D Fletcher P Fletcher S Ford

T Ford K Foster J France

M George N Godden M Golley

D Goulder M Granville S Gray

S Green S Grimshaw S Halliwell

S Hamilton I Hargreaves A Harmer

I Hartley C Hatsell C Hewitt

J Hill Z Hinchcliffe K Hindmarch

J Hogg J Hotchkiss S Huddleston

A Hugo E James T Johnson

A Jones A Jowett J King

P Kinsella J Kramer A Leach

P Leafe B Lee G Lingford

S Lister B Lloyd C Lythgoe

R Mackay K Maidment V Marsden

P Marsh D McGrath I McKerchar

S Menzie J Merot T Middlehurst

M Miles N Milligan K Moir

G Moreton G Morgan S Morris

D Murray D Newcombe M Newsome

M Nightingale J Pagan T Parnell

C Perkins A Pryce B Rains

C Ralston M Rawstron C Redfern

L Reid B Renwick I Reynolds

K Rice T Riden F Rowlands

R Sandham C Schofield K Scott

J Scragg S Seal R Sellers

C Shaw J Sheldon G Simpson

K Singleton P Slade M Smethurst

N Smith D Sneap L Soanes

J Spilsbury J Spottiswood D Stables

T Stevens A Stott D Taylor

A Temple G Thomas R Thomas

J Thorpe R Titman L Tosatti

T Tudor T Vaughan P Wain

D & E Walsh J F Walsh J Walsh

C Waring G Watola S White

D & P Wileman B Willcock G Williams

S Williams J Wilson C Wiltshier

C Winder J Wiseman B Zonfrillo

Movements from

Cosmeston Lake,

Cardiff

Apologies for any accidental omissions

Thanks to Steve Christmas & Wes Halton for commenting

on earlier drafts of this newsletter

Sightings Sightings of colour ringed birds can be sent to Kane Brides at kanebrides@gmail.com all sightings will

be acknowledged with full ringing & re-sighting information of marked birds sighted.

This newsletter maybe freely

circulated.

Kane Brides

03/04/2014