The willows get bigger, the scrub diminishes rapidly and the sites productivity is now a shadow of what it was. In the period covered we made 11 visits, getting only 417 total captures. In comparison only a few years ago we would have achieved that total in probably 4 visits. As you would expect species such as Reed, Sedge and Willow Warbler, along with Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat are much scarcer now. The only warblers maintaining reasonable/good numbers are Blackcap and Chiffchaff.
27 July – 31 birds caught, mostly Blackcap and Chiffchaff along with a few Reed Warblers and party of Long-tailed Tits and a few resident species. One of the Long-tailed Tits had originally been ringed in April 2022.
10 August – 51 birds caught, again mostly Blackcap and Chiffchaff along with a few Reed Warblers and a couple of Cetti’s and a few other resident species.
14 August – 33 birds caught, again mostly Blackcap and Chiffchaff but 2 Sedge Warblers were a surprise. Quite unusual to catch any thrush species here nowadays so today was exceptional with 2 Song Thrush and 4 Blackbird finding the nets. Both of the Song Thrushes were already ringed the oldest from 2022.
30 August – 42 birds caught, again mostly Blackcap and Chiffchaff but only 2 Reed Warblers, they have mostly all moved on now.
2 September – 16 birds caught, yes you read right just 16. Perfect conditions, all the usual nets, 4 experienced ringers and five MP3s playing! Just to make things worse, Mariana from the Zoological Society of London had set out from Essex at 0300 to join us to take blood samples from various species to investigate mosquito-borne viruses that affect wild birds such as Usutu virus, which has led to declines in the Blackbird population. Thankfully the majority of the tiny catch we had were Blackcap and Chiffchaff, which are both a target species for testing.
14 September – 62 birds caught, the best catch of the year for the site, amazing after the 16 birds caught on the last visit. Again mostly Blackcap and Chiffchaff, also 2 Cetti’s Warblers and a single Reed Warbler along with a few residents. A Dunnock captured was originally ringed in 2022.
25 September – 56 birds caught. the second best catch of the year for the site and with 2 nets less than usual, bizarre! 5 Blackcaps, 18 Chiffchaff and 1 Cetti’s were the only warblers the rest being mainly tits and a few residents but 2 Lesser Redpoll attracted to the sound lure were the first of the Autumn. A Dunnock captured was originally ringed in 2019.
Kev
No comments:
Post a Comment