Marsworth - April 2018- Spring arrives at last!

April ringing 

At the beginning of April we were still suffering with the cold temperatures and lots of rain. On the plus side the high rainfall has filled the reservoir and with the addition of an extra board in the sluice the reed bed is wetter than it has been for three years.  The session on the 6th was quiet with just a few chiffchaff and blackcaps starting to arrive but by the 15th spring was well underway. The site was full of bird song: Blackcap, Sedge Warblers and the first Cetti's Warbler that has been heard for months. A Cuckoo was heard briefly at 6:45am and Common Terns were noisy. We did not put up net "A" because a Blackbird was on 3 eggs in a nest in the Blackthorn halfway down the ride. The nest was not well concealed and sadly when we came back on the 22nd we found the nest had been predated as is the fate of many of the earlier nests before there is more cover available.
Ringing on the 22nd followed a week of exceptionally warm and sunny weather and the Blackthorn was in full bloom.

The first bird out of the nets was a Blackcap with a Paris ring. We also caught three Willow Warblers, one of which had been ringed as a juvenile here last July. Reed Warblers had also arrived, we caught two, both retraps - one was a juvenile last year and the other had been ringed as a juvenile in 2014, so that is three trips to Africa and back already. Our new ringing table was a big success and should give us a bit more of a stable surface for the electronic scales (!).

New Table and new C permit holder!!

A Mallard with her head down led her brood of 6 ducklings quietly through the scrub behind where we sit, unfortunately too small for ringing. A few of the tit boxes had nests half built. Breeding has got off to a late start for many species with only 2 out of 17 out of female birds showing signs of breeding compared 16 out of 16 for the same two weeks last year.

06/04/2018
Blackbird	1
Blackcap	2
Chiffchaff	3
Goldcrest	1
Wren	1
	Total 8
15/04/2018
Blackbird	1
Blackcap	8
Bullfinch	2
Cetti's Warbler	1
Chiffchaff	4
Dunnock	2
Great Tit	4
Reed Bunting	3
Sedge Warbler	2
Wren	4
	Total 31
22/04/2018
Blackbird	1
Blackcap	8
Chiffchaff	1
Dunnock	1
Reed Warbler	2
Sedge Warbler	1
Willow Warbler	3
Wren	1
	Total 18