Whilst checking the Spoonbill flock on the DWT Brownsea lagoon for colour rings, I saw an old friend was back in Poole Harbour again: Spoonbill AE. She has been returning for many winters now. The full history of who has reported to the Dutch Spoonbill ringing scheme is a who's who of Poole Harbour Birders. One week later & I managed to get some photos of her.
The ring details of AE are:
- Left leg - Pink on Blue AE & a metal ring
- Right leg - Black on White AE (which now appears to be a yellowish colour presumably down to the age of the ring).
I haven't added in the full history of AE's movements, but here is a summary of her UK movements. Spoonbill AE was ringed as a chick at Schiermonnikoog, Oosterkwelder in Holland on 19 Jul 06. She spent her first winter three hundred miles away around the Somme in France, before returning to Holland. Subsequent winters she was seen at:
- 2007-08: Poole Harbour, Dorset (Kevin Lane)
- 2008-09: Devon and then on the River Tamar in Cornwall in February 2009
- 2009-10: Yealm estuary, Devon, then back on the River Tamar in January 2010
- 2010-11: France in September/October, Dorset a week later (Pete Moore) & River Lynher, Cornwall in December 2010, then back to Devon & Poole Harbour (Bob Mould) in January
- 2011-12: Poole Harbour, Dorset (Pete Moore)
- 2012-13: Poole Harbour, Dorset (Steve Smith, Pete Moore & Shaun Robson)
- 2013-14: No sightings
- 2014-15: Poole Harbour, Dorset (Chris Thain, Steve Smith & Shaun Robson)
- 2015-16: Poole Harbour, Dorset (Chris Thain & Ian Ballam)
- 2016-17: Poole Harbour, Dorset(Ian Ballam, Shaun Robson & Nick Hopper)
- 2017-18: Poole Harbour, Dorset (Nick Hopper)
- 2018-19: Poole Harbour, Dorset (Shaun Robson)
- 2019-20: France in October, then Poole Harbour, Dorset (Terence Thirlaway)
- 2020-21: France in October, then Poole Harbour, Dorset (Shaun Robson)
- 2021-22: Poole Harbour, Dorset (Shaun Robson & Mark Wright) & Needs Ore, Hampshire
- 2022-23: Poole Harbour, Dorset from 12 Oct 22 (Steve Smith & Ian Ballam)
- 2023-24: Poole Harbour, Dorset from 25 Oct 23 (Steve Smith, Shaun Robson & Ian Ballam) & River Lynher, Cornwall on 16 Jan 24
- 2024-25: Poole Harbour, Dorset from 16 Oct 24 (Steve Smith).
Having passed her eighteenth birthday, she is getting on a bit now. A quick search online suggested a good lifespan might be fifteen to twenty years, with the oldest known Spoonbill in the wild reaching thirty years. So with luck, we could see AE returning to Poole harbour for the next few years.