The Welsh Ringing Course took place between the afternoon of Friday 11 September and late morning of Monday 14 September. There were fourteen course participants, whose aspirations ranged between simply gaining more experience, to being assessed for (one of) their … Read More
We put our normal Saturday visit back a day due to the likelihood of excellent conditions for ringing on the Sunday. This proved a good decision, with a very large catch (216 birds). On the Monday we tried our second … Read More
A blustery Saturday, followed by a calm, cloudy Sunday. The Saturday was the main session due to people’s availability. We erected 500 feet of net in scrub (200 feet) and along a dry bund through reedbed with patches of … Read More
When a CES project has been going for 14 years, the ringers have a good idea about what species will turn up in the nets. Therefore it was a surprise to have a juvenile male Green woodpecker for CES 12 … Read More
Another unsettled period of weather drew to a close yesterday. However three days of heavy rain left its mark in the marsh, with water levels in the rides higher than at any time during the preceding winter. Despite this, … Read More
CES 11 at WWT Llanelli The weather was good for ringing on Monday – overcast and calm – however we had the smallest catch this season at 23 birds. The total for the year is … Read More
An extra session to make the most of the settled weather (until today anyway) proved a good decision. Although the catch was modest, probably reflecting the fact that birds have no current reason to stop off at the site when … Read More
A predominantly bright day, with a gradually strengthening westerly wind. In addition to 560 feet of standard nets in a mixture of scrub, reed bed and ruderal (with scattered scrub) habitats, we also put a series of two-shelf nets along … Read More
Friday and Saturday were both calm and mainly sunny at Oxwich. On the Friday we put up 240 feet of net and on the Saturday 620 feet. However the catches were similar in number (104 and 107), suggesting that the … Read More
It was very overcast to start and drizzle threatened but didn’t come to anything. The second half cleared up to a sunny day. … Read More
July was a frustrating month. We lost more days to wind and rain than we might expect in any month outside December to February inclusive, and this at a time when the marsh has been alive with juvenile birds. … Read More
This morning was a cold start, it was more like Autumn than Summer. Our 7 nets were up and ready by 05.45am. Our first round was mainly Wrens and Robins as in previous weeks. This years breeding season seems to … Read More
With the weather forecast looking far from perfect for the Oxwich Marsh site, Heather Coats, Dan Rouse, Phil Mead and I decided to chance a visit to Margam Park (the first since April). The predicted wind didn’t hamper our start … Read More
There were perfect conditions this morning, albeit slightly cooler than previous mornings. With 49 birds, a lot being juveniles the day turned out to be one of the best we have experienced for a while, more like the days from … Read More
RETRAPPING ADULTS FOR SURVIVAL (RAS) The intrepid band of nest box checkers and ringers has finished the RAS study on Pied flycatchers at RSPB Cwm Clydach Reserve for 2015. The monitoring of this … Read More
Heather Coats and I travelled west to embark upon the seventh CES session of the year. Weather conditions were favourable with an overcast sky and no breeze to disturb the nets. The early net rounds each produced a juvenile wren … Read More
Due to a poor (windy) forecast for the weekend, it was decided to try ringing on Friday. This is not ideal, as due to work commitments only a few are typically able to attend and as such, it is only … Read More
Colour-ringing of four of the Gower chough chicks at two locations in 2015 was undertaken by members of the Cardiff Bay Ringing Group. Following liaison with local ringers (members of the Gower RG) and bird watchers / naturalists to determine … Read More