Controls
Controls are birds ringed elsewhere which we subsequently catch at Rye Meads. We control a lot fewer birds than we get recoveries from those that we ring, but it is always exciting to catch a bird with a strange ring, especially if that ring is from a foreign ringing scheme.
The details can sometimes take a while to come through to us, but here are some of the more interesting Controls whose ringing details have been notified to the Group.
Rye Meads site list increases by one more – a summary of the birds of July – August 2025
First ever record of Black-crowned Night Heron and second ever of Montagu's Harrier helped make this an interesting migration season!
More…Let’s hear it for Coenraad Jacob Temminck’s Stint – a summary of the birds of May-June 2025
A period characterised by dry, sunny weather, but Spring migration generated little excitement until the arrival of our fifth record of Temminck's Stint.
More…Summer visitors trickle in – a review of the birds of March-April 2025
Spring got off to a slow start thanks to blocking weather over Iberia, but our summer visitors arrived eventually!
More…A review of ringing in 2024
We ringed 3,065 new birds in 2024, our best year since 2019. Some species had really good totals, and some really low ones. See our recovery highlights and a full ringing table.
More…When is a Red-crested Pochard like a Wildebeest – a summary of the birds of January-February 2025
Two species achieved their highest counts for 33 and 37 years, and some other regulars didn't show up at all. Read on to find out which they were, and to get an answer to the question in the title!
More…Have I seen a female Scaup at Rye Meads
The last documented Greater Scaup was a male on 16 March 2000, over 25 years ago. Yet most months of the year, female Greater Scaup are reported, sometimes photographed. Those that availed themselves to closer scrutiny have all proven to be Tufted Ducks. How can we tell them apart?
More…