G2WGYY.

Sanderling Marc Heath 

I was very grateful to have been contacted by Mike Hipkin who is the county recorder for West Glamorgan. Mike told me he had found the Sanderling marked G2WGYY which I had seen earlier this year on 26 May at Rossall Point on the Fylde coast. I'm also aware of the report of a marked Sanderling seen in Northhumberland during the week ending 14 December and hope to have some details about this bird in due course. 

Mike had seen the Sanderling at Crymlyn Burrows and goes on to say....'G2WGYY was first caught in Iceland in May 2011 and was seen there again in 2012. It was seen in Iceland again on 19 October 2013. This bird was seen earlier this year on 26 May by Pete Woodruff at Rossall Point, Fleetwood, but not recorded between Pete's sighting and mine. Pete runs a blog and describes his exciting find on the link The Rossall Sanderling.... 

....Please note the directional paths in the figure above are only indicative of movement. Indeed the bird that both Pete and I saw may not have gone back to Iceland at all? Of course further movement of Sanderling will take them beyond Iceland, to the north, and from Crymlyn Burrows, likely onwards further south'.

Mike details more information on G2WGYY and other recent sightings by him of marked Sanderling which is interesting, well worth a read, and includes an account by project leader Jeroen Reneerkens about an adult female Sanderling marked as G5WWGY in Iceland in 2008....All this can be found on the Glamorgan Rarities Committee Website     

My thanks again to Mike for getting in touch with me, and to Marc for the accompanying Sanderling image....I really appreciate it all.