Wilstone Reservoir March/April 2019

	New	Retrap	Total
Blackbird	2	5	7
Blackcap	22	7	29
Blue Tit	2	5	7
Bullfinch	1	1	2
Chaffinch	1	1	2
Chiffchaff	26	21	47
Dunnock		8	8
Goldcrest		2	2
Goldfinch	1		1
Grey Heron	2		2
Great Tit	4	7	11
Kingfisher	1	1	2
Long Tailed Tit		5	5
Redwing	1		1
Reed Bunting	3	5	8
Reed Warbler	3	1	4
Robin	2	3	5
Sand Martin	1		1
Sedge Warbler	10	4	14
Song Thrush	2	4	6
Treecreeper	3	1	4
Willow Warbler	2		2
Wood Pigeon	1		1
Wren	4	9	13
Total	94	90	184

Following on from my wishful thinking for Cetti's Warblers to survive the winter and to stay on to breed; there has been no sight or sound of them since the 23rd of February.

The first Chiffchaff of the spring was caught on the 3rd March and the first Blackcap on the 24th. The 31st March was a cool, breezy day which brought a small flock of Sand Martins to the large willow tree at the end of net ride ride 1. Fortunately, we did manage to ring one; our first ever spring record. 

A Blackcap ringed on the 24th March provided us with an interesting record. The bird when caught weighed in at 17 grammes, an average size. On the 7th April when retrapped he weighed a whopping 25.1 grammes. This, as far as I can see looking back, is the first instance we have found of a Blackcap refuelling at the site at this time of the year.

April began with an influx of Chiffchaffs and on the 14th the first Reed Warbler. A Redwing caught on the same date is our latest record. On the 18th, Sandra and I ventured out to the heronry and ringed two chicks from the only accessible nest. This year the Little Egrets have started to nest earlier than ever before, not waiting for the herons to finish.

Sandra and Johne heading off to the heronry

A Willow warbler ringed on the 20th, from net 2, was recovered by the West Wiltshire Ringing Group at one of their sites close to Warminster, on the Salisbury Plain, the next day. That's 121km in 22 hours to the south west.

So far we have had four Chiffchaff, five Blackcaps and five Sedge Warblers returning from previous years. Reed Warblers appear to be a bit thin on the ground, let's hope that this doesn't prove significant.

Johne

Reed Warbler (photo by Calum)