Marsworth CES 11 - Willow Warblers passing through.

Marsworth

Nets: 540' 05:45 - 11:45am

Ringers: LL, CMS, GK

A beautiful calm and sunny late summer morning. Claire and I had been down during the week and tried some nets in a different part of the site and caught 40 birds including 7 willow warblers so we knew they were passing though. Even so we were pleased to catch another 13 on Sunday including 2 adults (11 in the CES nets). Other highlights were three juvenile Garden Warblers and 2 new 3J Cetti's Warblers. In contrast to Pete's abundant Blackbirds at Wendover, we still did not catch any. We heard Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Mistle Thrush and Hobby calling in the trees and a large juvenile Sparrowhawk landed briefly on the branch above our heads. Shame none of them went in the nets!
A total of 64 CES birds is above average (ave 48) and brings our total for 11 sessions to 720 against an average of 625. Considering that after the first 6 sessions we were still 7% below average it shows how much the number of young chiffchaff, wrens and now willow warblers have boosted our numbers this year.
Lynne

Species	Row Summary	New Bird	Retrap
Blackcap	6	5	1
Bullfinch	1	1
Cetti's Warbler	2	2
Chiffchaff	15	12	3
Dunnock	1		1
Garden Warbler	3	3
Goldcrest	2	2
Great Tit	5	3	2
Reed Bunting	2	1	1
Reed Warbler	8	6	2
Robin	1	1
Treecreeper	1		1
Willow Warbler	11	9	2
Wren	6	4	2
Totals	64	49	15

Southern Hawker basking

Wendover WTW - CES#11

A beautiful morning – calm, cool and clear – the only thing that was missing was a decent number of birds.  The total of 22 was disappointing, but higher than the previous lowest count for CES#11.   With 1 session to go our total of 53 individual Blackbirds is the highest since 2011 and the ever reliable Bullfinch total of 22 is about par for the course.  A cautious increase in Greenfinch numbers reflects recent experience on garden feeders.  Low Whitethroat numbers have now risen above our historical low and we know that they can show dramatic rises and falls.  A reasonable final session might push 2017 into 7th place out of 10 CES seasons.


Ringers Adam & Pete.

Species	Total	New Bird	Retrap
Blackbird	6	4	2
Blackcap	1	1
Blue Tit	1	1
Bullfinch	1	1
Chiffchaff	1	1
Great Tit	2	2
Greenfinch	3	3
Robin	6	3	3
Whitethroat	1	1

Photo of a Gatekeeper nectaring on Ragwort in the warming Sunday sun.

Marsworth 6th Aug - CES 10 - Reed Buntings return to moult?

Marsworth
540' CES nets
05:30 - 11:30am
Ringers: LL, CK, CMS

Blackcaps were clacking as the nets went up but there was no real sign of many passing through yet although the elderberries and blackberries are ripening. It was quite a busy start with over 50 birds by 8am but then it went quiet as the (unforecast) breeze picked up and the sun hit the nets. However, we finished with 72 which is above the average (57) for session 10. Juveniles made up 85% of the catch and we continue to catch lots of Chiffchaffs, Wrens and Long-tailed Tits. There was a bit more variety this week though with a Lesser Whitethroat and a group of Bullfinch, two retrap adults with three new juveniles.

Species	Row Summary	New Bird	Retrap
Blackcap	5	3	2
Blue Tit	2		2
Bullfinch	5	3	2
Cetti's Warbler	1		1
Chiffchaff	15	12	3
Dunnock	1	1
Goldcrest	1	1
Great Tit	2	2
Lesser Whitethroat	1	1
Long-tailed Tit	9	8	1
Reed Bunting	3	1	2
Reed Warbler	14	13	1
Robin	1	1
Sedge Warbler	1		1
Willow Warbler	2	1	1
Wren	9	3	6
Totals	72	50	22

We also trapped three Reed Buntings, all adult males in moult. One was a new bird and the other two were retraps from 2016 and 2014 but they had not been seen so far this year so we suspected that they have finished breeding elsewhere and have returned to Marsworth to moult. The photo shows the new head feathers with brown fringes replacing the black, worn, breeding plumage - these fringes will wear off over the winter to reveal the black below in time for next spring. 

Male Reed Bunting

New brown fringed feathers replacing the worn black head feathers

Reed Bunting in wing moult - new darker primary feathers growing sequentially out along the wing.

The vegetation was all very wet from Saturday's downpours and quite garish with the Orange Balsam and pink Great Willowherb. The small Willowherb which has still not been 100% identified but is probably epilobium obscurum had produced a seeds.

Orange Balsam Impatiens capensis

Orange Balsam flowerhead

Willowherb sp.(possibly Epilobium obsurum)

Angelica  Angelica sylvestris

Harvestman