Wilstone Reservoir - August round-up

Wilstone - August 2018

August has flashed by already, as has the Summer.

Four visits were made during the month in generally favourable conditions except for some annoying 

winds on two occasions and rain curtailing the last session on the 26th.

272 birds were ringed with 107 retrap events of 20 species.

Hopes were lifted by a male and female Cetti's Warbler caught on the 5th August but subsequently no

further captures or singing has been forth coming.Willow and Garden Warblers have trickled through 

during the month, 15 and 5.

High water and high winds have meant that we couldn't put up the two outer nets at net ride one, as we usually can do in August. So, the chances of catching either Kingfishers or waders have not been very likely. However by the 26th the water had gone down enough to put them up. To begin with the wind was light but we still didn't catch either Kingfisher or waders.Then ahead of the rain front, promised for the late morning, the winds began slightly stronger. Around about 9am we noticed a large flock of hirundines low over the water and before the rain actually arrived we ended up with

47 House Martins and 6 Sand Martins !

	New	Retrap	total
Blackbird	4		4
Blackcap	51	38	89
Blue Tit	7	5	12
Cettis warbler	2		2
Chiffchaff	23	11	34
Garden Warbler	5	1	6
Goldcrest	2		2
Goldfinch	1		1
Great Tit	4	4	8
House Martin	47		47
Lesser Whitethroat	4	3	7
Long Tailed Tit		1	1
Reed Bunting	2	1	3
Reed Warbler	64	26	90
Robin	6	4	10
Sand Martin	6		6
Sedge Warbler	16		16
Whitethroat	3		3
Willow Warbler	13		13
Wren	12	11	23
Total	262	105	367

House Martin

Photos by Jenny

Marsworth CES 11 - 26th August 2018 - Just In Time

CES nets - 540'
Weather: Calm, cool, clouding over and rain at end
Ringers: LL, GK, CK, KMM

It was our last chance to get CES 11 done so we had fingers crossed that the traditional Bank Holiday rain sweeping in from the west would not arrive early. With four of us there the nets went up quickly and we put an extra net by the stream with a Tree Pipit tape playing. Three Hobbies were chasing each other around over the field behind the reservoir. The first round was very quiet but it gradually picked up and we had a couple of good rounds with Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs, a few Reed Warblers and two juvenile Spotted Flycatchers. Based on local bird reports these are passing through in good numbers at the moment.

The extra net sadly failed to catch any Tree Pipits but did catch a couple of Willow Warblers, two Treecreepers and five Blackcaps and will definitely be put up again.

	Adults	Juveniles	Non CES birds
Goldcrest		1
Chiffchaff		8
Willow Warbler			2
Reed Warbler		4
Blackcap		12	5
Blue Tit		5	1
Great Tit			2
Treecreeper			2
Wren	1	4	1
Robin		1
Spotted Flycatcher		2
Long Tailed Tit		2
Reed Bunting	1
Song Thrush		1
	2	40	13

The rain started as forecast at 10am and we packed up a little short of the full session time but it was a representative session and should be acceptable. The total of 42 CES birds was again below average and we may be on line for our worst CES since 1994; it all depends on our last session next weekend... CES 12 has the widest range in terms of numbers for all the sessions, ranging from 20 birds in 2016 to 109 in 2017... Will this year end with a Bang or a whimper?
Lynne

Marsworth CES 10 - 13th August 2018 - Willow Warblers passing through

CES nets 560'
1st half: Damp, cloudy, calm. 2nd half: Showers, broken cloud, light breeze.
LL, CMS

	Adults	Juveniles	Total
Blackcap	1	11	12
Chiffchaff		10	10
Reed Warbler	1	18	19
Sedge Warbler	1	1	2
Willow Warbler	2	10	12
Blue Tit	2	1	3
Great Tit	1		1
Dunnock		1	1
Wren		3	3
Robin		4	4
Cetti’s Warbler	1	3	4
Treecreeper		1	1
Goldcrest		1	1
Long Tailed Tit	1	2	3
	10	66	76

Hooray!! first time this year we have an above average catch. Claire and I managed to get CES 10 done on Monday as the weather forecast for Sunday had been heavy rain and wind (which did not materialise as it happens). GK helped put up nets before disappearing off to beat the London rush-hour.

We were kept reasonably busy with a steady stream of Blackcaps and Reed Warblers and a nice number of Willow Warblers. Two adult Willow Warblers amongst the yellow juveniles had completed moult and were in fresh plumage. A brood of Cetti's Warblers were in the area of Net 7, a juvenile female and two males by their size with an adult female that did not seem to have started moult. The adult female was a retrap, originally ringed as a juvenile in September 2016 and this is the first time she has been caught since Nov 2016.

The two Sedge Warblers were carrying fat and probably passing though. We caught our first juvenile Dunnock and Goldcrest of the year. There was a heavy rain shower for about 15 minutes at 10:30 and dispite our hopes that this might cause a Redstart or a Spotted Flycatcher or two to drop in, we caught very little after that as the sun came out and the breeze picked up.

Tawny Owl, Jay, Green Woodpecker and Hobby were all heard.

Lynne