Hi All,

I was looking for some pics to use in a talk when I came across a pic of an African Spoonbill taken at Abrahamskraal on 24th Sept 2010. I had noticed some time ago that it had a metal ring on BUT had not seen the yellow ring on the left leg above the knee! A yellow "AC" ? I notified the ADU and received the following reply:

Thanks for high res pic. This is great. The spoonbill was ringed as a chick at Intaka Island on 19 Oct 2007, so almost a 3 year old bird. It's amazing, bird 'AH' (also ringed at Intaka on 19 Oct 2007) was also seen at Abrahamskraal by Martie Krog on 5 April 2011 (see story at http://sabap2.adu.org.za/news.php?id=1614). These youngsters seem to be moving around together. I don't recall they were siblings, but they were at nests not more than a few metres apart.

Thanks very much for sending this through. Another piece to the puzzle...

So check your pics even if you cannot see the ring number on the leg, there may be a hidden treasure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Regards,
Brian Vanderwalt