Our second foreign recovery!

I recived an email from Richard Bonser this morning which began, "I've been on a weekend of gulling at Getlini dump, Riga, Latvia and it seems that I have found one of your birds?"

Latvia?!

I clicked on the attached photo and was delighted when it opened and I was able to confirm that it was one of "our" birds.

Photo by Richard Bonser

2AFD was ringed as an adult male at Antrim in February 2014. It wasn't recorded again until Gareth photographed it at Wakehurst Playing Fields in Ballymena in mid-November. It turned up back at Antrim two days later when it was seen by Paul Lynas and was recorded there throughout the winter until 22 March.

2AFD at Antrim, 16 November 2014
Photo by Gareth Platt

This is a fantastic record for the study and helps add to our knowledge of where birds wintering in Northern Ireland are originally from - one of the key objectives of the study.

Red - Antrim, NI
Blue - Getlini, Riga, Latvia

This is only the second record we've had of a NI colour-ringed bird from outside of the UK, which has made my Monday!

Many thanks to Richard for reporting his sighting and for allowing me to use his photo.