wildfowler.250 Posted January 28, 2013 Report Share Posted January 28, 2013 I was just wondering what numbers/percentage of wildfowl are ringed on a yearly basis? I have a friend who shoots a LOT of geese in a year and he's only ever had 4 ringed birds,(which is a tiny fraction-all were pinks). I've shot one mallard with a ring and that was done because it was released locally by the club,(it was just about 9 years old!). Are most of the birds that are ringed done by countries outside of the uk? Is it usually geese that get ringed or ducks? And which species are generally monitored? Sorry about the 20 questions but would be interested to know the answer. Similarly if anyone has shot many birds with a ring I would be interested to hear what the feedback was Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Mat Posted January 28, 2013 Report Share Posted January 28, 2013 Holbeach Club released something like 200 mallard which are ringed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scolopax Posted January 28, 2013 Report Share Posted January 28, 2013 Very few wildfowl are rung as a proportion of wintering population. Some mallard released by wildfowling clubs are rung every year but to me they are not the same, as they are reared birds and not genuine wild birds. Very few geese are rung these days in comparison to earlier times when there was a concerted effort to ring thousands of Pinkfooted geese by Scott er al. I have shot only a mallard and a teal myself that were rung, and I have seen 2 wigeon in a game larder which were both rung (no one else had noticed), I have also seen a coot and a snipe shot (on different occasions) which were rung. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildfowler12 Posted January 28, 2013 Report Share Posted January 28, 2013 I have shot 1 banded drake mallard to date, it was ringed by Dee Wildfowlers through the BASC ring and release scheme. The information I got from BASC was good (age/locations etc), although the bird was misidentified as a hen when it was released! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted January 28, 2013 Report Share Posted January 28, 2013 I shot a mallard in inland Cumbria which had been rung by wildfowling club on the coast that season and I shot a woodcock in Berwickshire which had been rung in Eastern Russia the previous year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big bad lindz Posted January 28, 2013 Report Share Posted January 28, 2013 I have had 2 ringed greylags mentioned in previous posts on this subject. The information that I got back was breif but with all the information that was required. My first one was ringed about 50 miles away in NW Sutherland and the 2nd was ringed in Orkney which also had a neck ring. All the contact info will be on the leg ring but if you look at the various bird ringing web sites you can also find out info about the neck rings.. BBL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 I was just wondering what numbers/percentage of wildfowl are ringed on a yearly basis? Are most of the birds that are ringed done by countries outside of the uk? Sorry about the 20 questions but would be interested to know the answer. Similarly if anyone has shot many birds with a ring I would be interested to hear what the feedback was I dont know for sure but I feel the numbers ringed annually must vary according financial resources and/or the need for research. Probably the most consistent are the wildfowling clubs under the basc scheme. I have only shot two ringed ducks - a mallard and a teal. Both were ringed (but not shot) in the same year. Both were British based rings - one BASC and the other British Museum. Neither had travelled too far, the teal having travelled the most at about 40 miles, but I was intrigued at gaining even a little insight into the movements of the birds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 (edited) All wild duck in the UK are ringed with British Trust for Ornithology ( BTO ) rings , but some hand reared duck are ringed with BASC| Wagbi rings. 4-5000 wild duck and 1000-1500 geese are rung most years in the UK. In the case of duck most are rung at established long running trapping sites and most geese are caught when flightless ( Canadas \Feral Greylags ) and a smaller number of migratory geese are caught by rocket netting. The number of ducks caught depend more on weather conditions rather than costs as most rings come free from the WWT. The major cost comes from food for the trap ( I used to feed several tons a winter to keep 2 traps running ) and its very labour intensive as the trap has to be fed every day and every day the trap is set the catch has to be delt with the next morning which can take all morning. The majority of ringed duck are mallard , followed by teal and tufted duck most years as they are easy to draw into a trap. Unlike wigeon and pintail which are usualy only caught in a few favoured sites in numbers. Between 1994 and 2005 i ringed about 15,000 waterfowl ( mainly tufted duck , wigeon , teal and pochard which gave roughly 1000 recoveries mainly from Russia , Baltic States ,UK and Holland. The most distant recoveries were from Yensi & Ob Rivers , mid Siberia ( Wigeon ), Black Sea ( Pochard ), Italy ( Wigeon ) and Iceland (Tufted Duck ). With such small numbers of waterfowl ringed unless you shoot close to a ringing station you are not likely to shot many ringed birds. In almost 50 years of wildfowling I have shot one canada goose and 2 shovellers with BTO rings and 1 pintail and half a dozen mallard with WAGBI rings. Wildfowler 12 only the Yanks shoot banded birds , we shoot ringed birds. Edited January 29, 2013 by anser2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jono 4 Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 Been fortunate and had a couple of ringed tufted, A gadwall and a greylag, had a guest out a couple of weeks ago who had a ringed pochard. Jono Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildfowler12 Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 Wildfowler 12 only the Yanks shoot banded birds , we shoot ringed birds. You're as bad as the spelling/grammar police Point taken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildfowler.250 Posted January 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 Cheers for all the help guys. Very interesting I suspected most of the ducks were released mallard. Answer2 that reply was brilliant. Thank you for taking the time to write it all out I might take a snoop on the WWT site to see if I can find more info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aister Posted January 30, 2013 Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 My shooting buddy bagged a greylag with a neck collar and leg ring tonight on our last shoot of the season . Little ****** also got a right and a left of mallard and I never got a shot :mad: not that it matters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildfowler.250 Posted January 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 I don't think I would take that very well either :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guy baxendale Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Only managed the one in nearly 20 years of shooting - a mallard from memory on the foreshore in Southern Scotland. Now that i think about it I don't remember any of my companions having many, possibly any in fact either. Always thought it was more of a North American thing - judging but the amount of rings the pro-hunters adorn themselves with in those videos !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highbird70 Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Gents....a Silly question for you.... What do you with the rings? Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildfowler12 Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 I use mine as a keyring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highbird70 Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 I use mine as a keyring I thought you had to send them away....keyrind sounds good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildfowler12 Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 I thought you had to send them away....keyrind sounds good Not the BASC ones, you just report the number and it yours to keep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highbird70 Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Not the BASC ones, you just report the number and it yours to keep Ty Wlindfowler12 ....another new thing learned today....still a lond way for me. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 There is no need to return the ring. Just the species , ring number , location ,date and a contact adress for you for the BTO to send the details. Indeed its best not to send the ring back as there have been incidents of the rings cutting their way out of the letter in the postal system and all the BTO gets is a letter of where and when it was shot , but no ring number ( which is usless to them ) , so always include a written note on the ring number. Guy , the American banding is financed by the US govenment so money is not a problem so they band many thousands more wildfowl than we do and have a team from the Fish and Wildlife service working on it full time. When I used to ring waterfowl a decade ago every duck ring cost about 50p ( though the WWT used to get a grant and supplied them to me for free ) so when duck are ringed in large numbers the costs can be quite high. Its not so much the cost of the ring itself as staff time dealing with the report and two letters + postage , one to the ringer and one to the finder and the likelyhood of the ring being found that pushes up the cost. In the case of a small song bird its likely that only one or two in every hundred are ever found so the processing costs are low , but around 10-12% of all ducks ringed are recovered by shooting so the BTO has to add the costs of 20 plus letters ( some of those letters may have to be sent abroad with higher costs ) and admin time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildfowler.250 Posted January 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Gents....a Silly question for you.... What do you with the rings? Mark mine are on my lanyard for my goose call Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highbird70 Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 mine are on my lanyard for my goose call I'm getting this visual immage From the Film Predator...where the bad alien had the skulls on his lanyard...lol :whistling: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guy baxendale Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Thanks - The numbers of wildfowl and popularity of hunting in the US is incredible so it doesn't surprise me that the government has a hand in ringing. I was surprised to hear how much goes on in this country to be honest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Only managed the one in nearly 20 years of shooting - a mallard from memory on the foreshore in Southern Scotland. Now that i think about it I don't remember any of my companions having many, possibly any in fact either. Always thought it was more of a North American thing - judging but the amount of rings the pro-hunters adorn themselves with in those videos !! Hello Guy! Not the same name as used on the other place. 4 ringed mallard (ducks) and one ringed teal duck shot between 3 guns on an Essex fresh marsh flight two Sundays ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Thanks - The numbers of wildfowl and popularity of hunting in the US is incredible so it doesn't surprise me that the government has a hand in ringing. I was surprised to hear how much goes on in this country to be honest. Have a look at what Ducks Unlimited have done in the states from the 30's onwards. If only BASC could achieve the same (not that they don't try, and thank whatever omipitetant all power being you pray to, for the Wildlife Habitat Trust (Duck stamp). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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