Wanderers return....

We've blogged before how predictable some of our study birds are becoming in terms of their departure / return dates. Today, as expected, 2AAR turned up back at Antrim for the winter. 

2AAR at Antrim, 11 Oct 2015 Photo by Gareth Platt

This bird was ringed at Antrim in 2012 and subsequently seen on breeding grounds in Poland (see here). 

Below is a list of this particular birds return dates to Antrim:

2013 - 20th October

2014 - 17th October

2015 - 11th October

2ACX, which was last seen on the same date in March as 2AAR, also returned this week, suggesting it too breeds on the continent. 

Photo by Gareth Platt

It will be interested to see when / if the two birds recorded in Lithuania earlier this year turn up back on Lough Neagh in coming weeks.