From Cameron Moore...

From Cameron Moore

It has been a long time since I've heard from Cameron Moore, but recently, Cameron sent me three ring sightings.  Cameron lives in the coastal County Antrim town of Whitehead and is keen birdwatcher.  Not only does he cover the Whitehead area, he would also keep an eye out on Larne Lough, and all the way up to Larne as well.  Over the years, Cameron has spotted many less than common species and occasionally spots some birds that are ringed.

When I first met Cameron, he had stopped reporting ringed birds, as he either did not know who to report them to, or failed to receive replies from some ringers.  Ever from that meeting, Cameron now sends me his ring sightings and I try to find the relevant project leads.  Normally every autumn, Cameron would spot a wealth of ringed Terns along the Whitehead seafront, but since 'Bird Flu' struck around the British Isles, very few Terns are reaching Whitehead.

Cameron's latest ring sightings, were all spotted at Ballycarry Bridge on Larne Lough.  When the tide goes out, a large expanse of mudflats are revealed.  On the 8th April, a 2nd calendar year Black-headed Gull was spotted with a Blue Darvic, rung -  TJP9 .  On receiving the sighting, I knew straight away that it was a Polish bird, due to the code starting with the letter 'T'.

The Poles have an online system for reporting ring sightings, but due to a fault in trying to add the location (wrong country and county), I decided to report the sighting by email.  A few days later, I received a reply to confirm the sighting with a link added.  When I clicked onto the link, the ringing details were available, but the finding details still carried the same error as when I tried to submit online (country and county), though Ballycarry Bridge, Larne Lough and the Latitude & Longitude were correct.

Cameron's Black-headed Gull was ringed as a chick, on the 20th June 2024, on Lake Jezioro in north-west Poland.  This was a first re-sighting for this young gull, having flown 1,512 kms / 939 miles (WNW) to reach Larne Lough.  The duration since being ringed, was 9 months and 19 days.

Juvenile Black-headed Gull  -   TJP9   -  Ballycarry Bridge, Larne Lough, Co. Antrim  (08 Apr 2025)

(Ringed as a Chick, on the 20th June 2024, at Lake Jezioro, Wągrowiec, NW Poland)

(Photo Courtesy of Cameron Moore)

On the 14th April, Cameron sent me photos of a Red Knot spotted at Ballycarry Bridge.  This bird had an Orange Flag (type of ring), above a plain White ring on the left leg, and a normal metal-ring on the right leg.  The Flag appeared to be coded, though the digits were not entirely clear.

Without researching the bird, I directed Cameron's sighting to Peter Knight who rings Knots in the Merseyside area of England.  My hunch, was that the bird belonged to Peter, and if not, he would know who to send the sighting to.  A reply soon came back, and this bird was one of Peter's.

He too, was not sure what the code read, but suspected that it was either -  08X  or  09X , with both rings having been used at the same catch made on the 25th August 2024.  Peter took a stab at the bird being -  09X , which was ringed as a juvenile on the Dyfi Estuary on the west coast of Wales.  Asked if possible for further photos, Cameron returned to Ballycarry Bridge the following day, and after relocating the Knot, the new photos revealed -  09X . 

The distance to Ballycarry Bridge from the Dyfi Estuary, is 273 kms / 169 miles (NW), and the duration since being ringed, was 7 months and 20 days.  Peter says that Red Knots nest in Greenland and Canada, but as immatures, they normally remain in British waters over the summer.  My thanks goes to Peter for all of the details.

Red Knot  -  O(09X)W  -  Ballycarry Bridge, Larne Lough, Co. Antrim  (15 Apr 2025)

(Ringed as an Unsexed Juvenile, on the 25th August 2024, at Ynyslas Point, Dyfi Estuary, Wales)

(Photo Courtesy of Cameron Moore)

Whilst trying to relocated the Knot on the 15th April 2025, a large flock of an estimated 112 Black-tailed Godwits had arrived.  Searching through these, one was spotted with a combination of coloured rings on the birds upper legs.  Having received photos, the left leg had a long Orange Ring with three Black Dots, and on the right leg, two plain Orange Rings sat above a plain Yellow Ring.

I have had a 'Guide' to colour-ringed Black-tailed Godwits, but looking through it, I could not find a match for the Long Orange Ring with three Black Dots.  I spent ages online trying to find the relevant project and eventually found an updated version for the 'Guide' I had been using - the old version was dated 2015, the new version 2021 -  PDF.  On page 24, I duly found the correct combination and sent an email to Pierre Rousseau in France.  Pierre replied to say that the bird did belong to his project, and sent me a link to submit Cameron's sighting.  On doing this, I also had access to the bird's ringing and re-sighting history.

O(●●●)-OOY, was caught and ringed, on the 26th September 2022, at Moeze in France.  I do not have permission to go into this birds history, but it normally winters around the Du Teich Reserve in France, and was once spotted during the breeding season in Iceland.  Other than France and Iceland, the Northern Ireland sighting was a first.

The distance from Moeze in France to Ballycarry Bridge, is 1,040 kms / 646 miles (NNW), and the duration since being ringed, is 2 years, 6 months and 20 days.

My thanks goes to Cameron for these three interesting ring sightings, along with his photos.

Black-tailed Godwit  -  O(●●●)-OOY  -  Ballycarry Bridge, Larne Lough, Co. Antrim  (15 Apr 2025)

(Ringed as an Adult, on the 26th September 2022, at Moeze in France)

(Photo Courtesy of Cameron Moore)

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