I'm outa here!

[Bobbie Ireland]

Little Egret escapes the harsh Irish winter - by quite some distance!

The colonisation of Little Egrets to Ireland and their subsequent success and spread across the country has thrilled birdwatchers and wildlife enthusiasts for the past 20 years.  A colour ringing scheme operated for the past two years in Galway is now providing further fascinating insights into the movements of these birds from their natal colonies.

From a total of 40 birds fitted with colour rings with individual digits, there have already been 12 re-sightings reported from birdwatchers around the country.  The most impressive journey, however, has been that of a Little Egret which was ringed by BirdWatch Ireland staff member John Lusby in its nest last summer in Galway Bay and which was subsequently spotted by a Finnish birder in the Azores in Portugal in October, a trip of 2,133km!  Given the extreme winter weather we experienced, this was probably a wise move.

John Lusby notes: “The Little Egret situation in Ireland is incredibly interesting.  Breeding was only confirmed for the first time in 1997, but since then the population has thrived and their numbers and range are continuing to increase.  The Bird Atlas is showing us just how quickly birds are gaining a foothold in different parts of the country, with new colonies being discovered every year.  Until we started this colour ringing scheme, however, it was impossible to monitor the movements of individual birds and it is quite remarkable that our birds are travelling as far as the Azores.â€�

This work will continue during 2011... Each bird has two colour rings, a black darvic with a letter above the left knee and a yellow darvic with a letter/number above the right knee.  The position of these rings makes them fairly easy to see and read... This study of a pioneering breeding bird, which only started breeding in Ireland less than 20 years ago - and was only proved to breed in county Galway in 2009 - is part of a wider, joint study by both Irish and UK ringers.

(from BirdWatch Ireland)