Ideal ringing conditions at the marsh this morning: a warm day with very little wind and overcast conditions. We put 180 feet of net in the reedbed and a further 160 feet of net in willow and bramble scrub. The results were excellent, with 125 birds of 16 species trapped. The catch was as follows:
| Species | New | Re-trapped | Total |
| Great Spotted Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Wren | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Dunnock | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Robin | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Blackbird | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Sedge Warbler | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Reed Warbler | 15 | 2 | 17 |
| Whitethroat | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Blackcap | 14 | 2 | 16 |
| Chiffchaff | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Willow Warbler | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Blue Tit | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| Great Tit | 6 | 9 | 15 |
| Chaffinch | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Greenfinch | 17 | 1 | 18 |
| Goldfinch | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Total: | 87 | 38 | 125 |
The highlights of the catch were: the first fledged sedge warblers of the year, confirming that while the species appears to be present in very low numbers in the marsh, successful breeding has occurred; a control reed warbler and a good number of fledged juveniles of that species; a good catch of greenfinches, which takes us over the 200 new bird mark; a few fledgling whitethroats; and, consistently far higher catches of blackcap than in 2013.
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| The first juvenile sedge warbler of the year
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One of the great tits trapped showed abnormal colouration of the claws. A photo is below. Any comments with regard to similar observations / how often it is observed would be interesting.
Thanks to Keith Vaughton and Charlie Sargent for company and assistance this morning.
Owain Gabb
20/07/2014
