Thursday 4 August 2011

The World's most expensive Sandwiches?

With a maximum count of nearly 200 Sandwich Terns in the Dyfi Estuary recently it was time to head to the point with some wader nets and see what the tide would bring.  On 2nd August myself and Jane set 3 60 ft nets on the shingle, a time-consuming operation as the nets have to be secured to mountains of piled boulders so that the guys don't pull out once the sand gets wet. Satisfied that the nets were grand we sat back to listen to the restful sound of Sandwich Tern played very loudly through my sound system. As the hight tide (and 500 oystercatchers) approached expectation built! Thankfully all but a few of the oystercatchers departed leaving the nets to their intended targets. As the water surged under the net, in near perfect weather conditions, we started to catch the first few terns and by the end of the evening had caught 7 new Sandwich Terns.  A major downside to the evening was the premature end to catching caused by the submergence of one very expensive sound system into the Irish Sea! The sounds of my disapproval could be clearly heard in Aberystwyth! I must send a note to the ringers forum letting everyone know not to drop iPhones into salt water (or any water for that matter!!).

Never to be deterred a repeat visit the following night was more productive with another 9 new and two control Sandwich Terns, 2 Sanderling and 2 Oystercatchers and thankfully my already replaced, brand new iPhone stayed remarkably dry!


Juv Sandwich Tern having a quick shake before the off!

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