Sunday 30 July 2017

Marsworth 29th July 2017 - CES 9 - Another wren day and a nice sedge surprise!

Marsworth Reservoir CES 9
Weather: Starting clear but clouding over, breezy WSW
Ringers: LL, GK & AK, CMS
Nets: 540' 05:15 - 11:15am

An excellent session  with 106 birds caught in the CES nets. We were busy from the first net round at 5:30am with lots of chiffchaff, reed warblers and wrens and we quickly realised it was going to continue. With Claire ringing and Gabor continually clearing the nets we kept on top of things although the wren head&bill measurements went by the board! We had the company of Gabor's wife which made a nice change. The species mix was a bit limited, we seem to be short of blackcaps and robins and we did not have any larger birds at all but we did get a couple of new treecreepers and three willow warblers - one adult in full wing and body moult.

The breeding season is still in progress though, we caught some very recently fledged chiffchaff and reed warblers and Gabor found a Sedge Warbler nest in the edge of the reed bed with 4 chicks and with fantastic luck they were just the right age for ringing.
Sedge Warbler brood of four

The long-tail tits were in wing moult and one retrapped lotti was originally ringed in 2011 and not caught since 2012. The Goldcrest that we caught in CES 8 that was just starting head moult was retrapped and it was interesting to see how far his post-juv moult had progressed in two weeks.
The great tit juveniles did not show any sign of post-juv moult yet and are the latest 3JJ great tits we have ever recorded.

The reed bed is very lush and Great Willowherb is growing in the dryer parts, we also found a smaller type of willowherb growing in the rides which has been identified as Short-fruited Willowherb which is less common.

With rain clouds threatening for the last few hours of the session we did not hang around in taking the nets down as soon as the time was up. The first rain drops came as we got in the cars - perfect timing!
Lynne



Species
Row Summary
Control
New Bird
Retrap
Blackcap
5

1
4
Blue Tit
3

1
2
Cetti's Warbler
3


3
Chiffchaff
19
1
13
5
Dunnock
1

1

Goldcrest
2

1
1
Great Tit
3

3

Long-tailed Tit
11

3
8
Reed Bunting
1


1
Reed Warbler
29

20
9
Sedge Warbler
8

6
2
Treecreeper
2

2

Willow Warbler
4

3
1
Wren
20

18
2
Total / ( CES )
CES excludes pulli and an extra net
111/(106)
1
72/(67)
38

Goldcrest photo taken 16th July 

Same Goldcrest on 29th July - post-juvenile head moult nearly complete.


Sedge Warbler nest


Great Willowherb
Epilobium hirsutum


Short-fruited Willowherb
Epilobium obscurum

Friday 28 July 2017

Wendover 27th July 2017 CES#9


CES #9 was completed in overcast conditions, but the wind was much less of a problem than on the last occasion.  The total catch of 37 was below the average (45)and quite surprisingly 43% of the birds were trapped in Net Ride #1, not normally known for its productivity.  Pleasingly Ride #1 produced 2 juvenile Whitethroats which seems to indicate that there has been some breeding on site, possibly in an area not usually used.  For the second session running no Dunnocks were trapped.  Both Chaffinch and Goldfinch put in short appearances and new Blackbirds continue to appear in significant numbers.

Ginny & Pete


SPECIES
Row Summary
New Bird
Retrap
Blackbird
10
9
1
Blackcap
4
4

Blue Tit
6
6

Bullfinch
4
1
3
Chaffinch
3
3

Chiffchaff
1
1

Goldfinch
3
3

Great Tit
1
1

Robin
1
1

Song Thrush
1

1
Whitethroat
2
2

Wren
1
1

Total
37
32
5