26th Feb 2022
A nice end to the season with 9 Brent Geese colour ringed.
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Goose | 9 | 9 |
Small Brent Goose Catch 12th Feb 2022
A slightly frustrating day when the geese seemed to favor the south side of the river. 15 birds in the catching area seemed worth firing on but the wind held the net and we only managed to catch five of them. Full processing and birds all released fine was still positive for a slightly difficult day.
A selection of pictures below.
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Goose | 5 | 5 |
Brent Goose Catch Sat 5th Feb 2022
A great day with two catches taken first very quickly of 29 Brent Geese including one bird which had a non working tracker. This was removed and a new one fitted. This bird had also lost it's colour ring so we were delighted to be able to fit a new colour ring. The second catch was of 10 birds and it was amazing that birds came onto the field as soon as we had left and some even tried to land on the fired net!
Whilst we processed the first catch we let the birds settle and then had to walk them round to get some into the catchting area for the second smaller catch. Two satellite collars were fitted and all birds were colour ringed.
BRAN17 originally CR Green CW re caught today after two years. Old non working collar removed and new collar BRAN18 fitted along with new CR Green GV.
This bird will be able to be followed on the tracking page when we set it up.
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Goose | 38 | 39 |
Methods
The Southern Colour Ringing Group catches Brent Geese using a cannon net, which involves firing a large net over birds feeding on grazed fields or salt marsh.
Once the net is set and the cannons connected, we wait for geese to be attracted to decoys we have put in the field near the set net. When enough geese are in the area and it is safe to do so, the net is fired.
The team of ringers then removes the geese from under the net and temporarily places them in hessian sacks which are stored in a holding area for processing. Birds are then aged and fitted with an uniquely numbered metal ring. Measurements may be taken to help identify the sex of each goose. We also fit colour rings (green rings with white letters and a two digit code) which allows the birds to be relocated without needing to be recaptured. There are many more bird-watchers looking for colour-ringed birds, than there are cannon netting teams, so this greatly improves our chances of understanding the movements of the birds from the Crouch Estuary.
If you see a bird with one of our colour rings, please send details (ring-code, date, location, species) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Ringing totals
2017-2018 winter totals
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Goose | 18 | 18 |
2018-2019 winter totals
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Goose | 14 | 14 |
2019-2020 winter totals
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Goose | 35 | 35 |
2021-2022 winter totals
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Goose | 52 | 53 |
Grand totals
| Species | Ringed | Colour ringed |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Goose | 119 | 120 |