Today we held a ringing demonstration at Holme Pierrepont for the Friends of the Hook Nature Reserve group. The numbers caught still seemed low compared to previous years, however a relatively high number of juvenile warblers were caught compared to previous visits this year. The low numbers could partly be due to a poor breeding season and lower bird populations in general, combined with the growth of the vegetation at the reserve making it a less favourable site for warblers and for us to catch warblers than when ringing started there. As the breeding season for many species is coming to an end, we used MP3 players playing mixed warbler calls to try and catch more warblers and this was successful.
The final totals were 18 Chiffchaff, 3 Willow Warbler, 10 Reed Warbler, 13 Blackcap, 4 Garden Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Treecreeper, 2 Wren, 2 Robin, and 1 Reed Bunting. The 55 birds made for an enjoyable and interesting demonstration for the group and several other visitors to the reserve.
Thanks to Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust for allowing us to hold the demonstration on the reserve.
Alex T
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