488 recoveries of more than 90 species were received at SAFRING and added to our data bank during the last ringing year. The birds recovered most frequently belonged to two seabird species: 94 Cape Gannets and 68 African Penguins. Below are some of the interesting reports of birds carrying our rings.

The first Gough Island-ringed Wandering Albatross to be recovered in Australian waters off the New South Wales coast, was reported in October 1997. While the great circle distance was 11 465 km, previous recoveries indicate that the bird probably travelled westwards, past Cape Horn across the Pacific to reach the Australian continental shelf.
A Lesser Kestrel ringed in De Aar in the Northern Cape in March 1994, was recovered, by an Arabian Prince, 40 months later near Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This is the first recovery of a South African-ringed Lesser Kestrel in the northern hemisphere. Saudi Arabia lies on the great circle route between South Africa and the likely breeding areas of this species in Kazakhstan.	Lesser Kestrel by R. Denison
African Black Oystercatcher by L. McMahon	A notable new movement record for African Black Oystercatcher, from a bird ringed near Knysna in Western Cape in December 1996 and found injured near Swakopmund in Namibia 13 months later, 1 513 km from the ringing site. The distance actually covered by this bird is even greater as it would have moved along the coastline around the Cape Peninsula.
A Cape Sugarbird ringed in the Karoo, east of Prince Albert, was recaptured at Helderberg Nature Reserve near Somerset West, at distance of 365 km from the ringing site, more than doubling the previous known extent of seasonal movement for this species.	Cape Sugarbird by D. Lewis