Kingfisher's record flight: Polish bird flies 620 miles to Suffolk

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Long distance king: The bird migrated from Poland to escape the harsh winter weather (File photo)

A kingfisher has broken the record for the furthest migration of the species between the UK and the Continent, it seems.
The bird, found at the National Trust’s Orford Ness national nature reserve in Suffolk, is thought to have travelled more than 620 miles from Poland.
While kingfishers are a resident breeding species in this country, a small number migrate to the UK each year from the Continent, probably to escape areas with prolonged freezing conditions in winter, the trust said.

The kingfisher, which had been tagged, or ‘ringed’, in Poland, was caught by members of Landguard Bird Observatory as part of studies at the site.
Experts will now find out where in Poland it had been ringed and confirm the record.
The previous record set by a British kingfisher for migration was a bird ringed in Marloes, Pembrokeshire, and found in Irun, Spain – having travelled 603 miles.
Mike Marsh, volunteer ringer for the Landguard Bird Observatory, said: 'We catch a small number of kingfishers each year at Orford Ness, usually in the autumn, and previously assumed that these had been dispersing juveniles of fairly local origin.

Winging it: The high-flying kingfisher probably landed in Suffolk because it's marshes are an excellent refuelling ground (File photo)

'This will be one of the longest migrations among the kingfishers in the ringing database and we can’t wait to get confirmation of the record from the British Trust for Ornithology and hear about the Polish ringing scheme.'
Grant Lohoar, site manager for the National Trust at Orford Ness, a remote shingle spit on the Suffolk coast, said the length of migration was a great discovery - and one that was only made because the bird had been ringed.
'This highlights the importance of ringing as a tool for conservation which allows us to identify birds as individuals,' he said.
'Orford Ness is a really important stopover site for many migrating birds as they can refuel and rest on the marshes, in the reed beds or on the many lagoons we have here.”

source: dailymail