Common tern ringing at Walthamstow Wetlands

Hello, Keeping it Wild trainee Rianna here! Recently, we had the opportunity to observe a bird ringing session at Walthamstow Wetlands. We took the power boat out to the floating rafts where common terns build their nests to ring the young chicks. A metal ring was attached to each chick’s leg by bird ringing expert Paul. The ring has a unique code, which will be used to monitor the population and distribution of common tern. In total 12 chicks were ringed- we even found one chick which still had its egg tooth, a sharp projection at the end of the beak that helps the chick break through the egg!