Cape Wrath Capers!

Tuesday, June 25th 2019

Sporting their matching green wellies, some members from the Swaledale Ringing team are exploring the coast on the most North Westerly tip of Scotland. They are on a ringing expedition to the MoD bombardment ranges in Cape Wrath. Today they have been ringing Sand Martins in the sand dunes.

The Sand Martins are caught using mist nets which are placed in front of the dunes (in between poles) in order to catch the adults as they fly to and from their sandy burrows.

The team have ringed plenty of birds so far although some, such as these Buzzard chicks, appear to be a bit 'late' this year and are too small to be fitted with a BTO ring. At least they have a surplus supply of food to help them grow.

Kittiwake are also 'behind' compared to previous years with many of the adults still on eggs.

The list of species ringed is extensive and includes Cormorant, Heron, Sand Martin, Common Tern, Black Headed Gull, Herring Gull and Skylark (shown below).

Tonight, the ringers are catching Storm Petrels and will be working throughout the night (it is only dark for a couple of hours at this time of the year), photographs to follow later in the week. In the mean time, here is a photo of Jack in a tree, captions on a postcard please!

(0) Comments:

There are no comments for this blog post yet. Why not start the discussion? - use the form below:

Back to Top

Help Support Foxglove

Friends of Foxglove

The Friends of Foxglove Covert is for those individuals, families and organisations who would like to support the reserve through an annual membership subscription. Friends receive a regular newsletter and invitations to attend our various activities and social events.

More Details

Upcoming Events

Access to the Reserve: OPEN with limited access

Monday 18th March 2024 |

The reserve is now open, although again with limited access.

Visitors will be able to access the reserve with the use of key fobs provided at the pass office upon entrance to the camp, or will be provided entrance and exit through the access gate by an officer from the camp Guard Room. In this case visitors will need a mobile phone to call the Guard Room when they wish to exit the reserve.

Please be aware that due to these circumstances, entering and leaving the reserve might take a little longer than usual.