Nets open 5:30 - 11:30
Weather Cloudy, calm and cold (6 deg C), second half warm with passing black clouds.
New
|
Retraps
|
Total
|
|
Sedge Warbler
|
3 (1)
|
3 (1)
|
|
Reed Warbler
|
5
|
2
|
7
|
Lesser Whitethroat
|
1
|
1
|
|
Cetti’s Warbler
|
(1)
|
1
|
1 (1)
|
Willow Warbler
|
(1)
|
(1)
|
|
Chiffchaff
|
7
|
7
|
|
Blackcap
|
4
|
2
|
6
|
Robin
|
2
|
2
|
|
Wren
|
1
|
(1)
|
1 (1)
|
Blue Tit
|
(9 pulli)
|
2
|
2 (9)
|
Great Tit
|
1
|
1
|
|
Reed Bunting
|
3
|
3
|
|
Song Thrush
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
Jay
|
1
|
1
|
|
Total
|
16 (12)
|
21 (1)
|
37 (13)
|
We started the CES season on a cold, cloudy but thankfully calm morning. The cuckoo was calling and the reed bed was alive with reed warblers singing. CMS and GK kindly came and helped put up nets before going off to work at 7:15am, they heard a Tawny Owl hooting by net M but there are only Stock Doves in the owl box again.
The catch was steady throughout the morning. We were pleased with three male Reed Buntings and three Sedge Warblers. Sedge Warblers did very badly at Marsworth last year, hopefully they will have a better year. The mix of species was very similar to CES 1 last year, even down to the Jay that we caught in the same net.
Chiffchaff, Robin, Reed Bunting, Blackcap, Song Thrush and Cetti's Warbler showed signs of actively breeding. While two of the Sedge Warblers and two of the Reed Warblers were still carrying significant quantity of fat and had probably just arrived and could even still be on the move.
Packing up took a bit longer than usual because we were also checking the tit boxes and we caught a few birds in the last round that were outside of the CES time, including a female Cetti's Warbler with a full brood patch that was quickly ringed and released, and our first Willow Warbler.
The tit boxes contained mostly young chicks or birds sitting but we did ring one brood of 9 Blue Tits.
The rest will probably be ready to ring next week.
The total of 37 birds is exactly the long term average for CES 1 (since 1991) but much better than the last two years (21 in 2017 and 24 in 2018 ).
Lynne
 |
| Lesser Whitethroat |
 |
| Jay |
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