In 2014 we really increased the effort at Oxwich, following a year of reconnaissance in 2013. The increase in effort was only possible due to the commitment of the group, which also runs two Constant Effort Sites (at the Wildfowl … Read More
No posts for a while, reflecting a quiet Christmas period in ringing terms, as the weather had not been conducive to getting visits in. When we did, on 28th December, we caught a very modest 14 birds, without any species of … Read More
So far I have received 3 recoveries of Sedge Warblers ringed at Llanrhidian this autumn, let’s hope some are found on their wintering grounds too to extend the picture. Another recovery was received today – a Robin ringed at Nitten … Read More
A break in the weather, as a short-lived band of high pressure moved through, enabled us to get a session in at the marsh. There was a very light north-westerly breeze and open skies. This meant that the nets were … Read More
We didn’t plan to put out nets for snipe this morning, as the overnight forecast suggested temperatures would be very low first thing, and we didn’t want frosted nets (they have to be in place a good couple of hours … Read More
Some nice settled weather with very low wind speed lured us into going out on successive days. On both we deployed limited net: a few 60 foot nets in the fen meadow and a couple of additional 60’s in some … Read More
The weather forecast looked excellent. Very little wind at all for the morning, so the aim was to put out some nets before dawn in a new area of marsh that was being frequented by snipe. In the event there … Read More
Overnight wind and rain were forecasted to subside by dawn, and for once the predictions proved correct. The day settled down to being calm, but cool, and there was very little cloud cover. Due to the fen meadow ride becoming very … Read More
The forecast was for a light south-easterly wind. Unfortunately the wind was nearer moderate and fairly gusty, but at least there was no real sign of rain. The wind clearly limited the catch: the goldfinches around the feeders were very aware of … Read More
The wind had turned northerly overnight, and the morning was still, with an open sky. We had been planning on trying to catch snipe in an area of rushy, partially inundated ground (a couple of hundred metres from the normal net … Read More
The weather forecast suggested that it would be relatively calm first thing, with a light south-westerly wind. In the event it was a moderate north-westerly, which is not far off the worst wind direction for the site. The wind remained … Read More
We managed two sessions this week despite continued unsettled, albeit mild, weather. These took us over 3,000 new birds for the site for the year. The breakdown of species / numbers during the respective sessions can be seen in the tables below (28 October … Read More
A couple of quiet sessions in terms of numbers, predominantly due to the weather which has been unsettled for the past two weeks. On both dates the wind has been an issue, and while we were able to put out most of … Read More
The weather this morning was ideal for ringing: there was no discernible wind for the first couple of hours, and it was overcast and dull. We put 330 feet of net in the fen meadow and 160 feet of net in the scrub. The rate of … Read More
The BBC had predicted strong winds for Saturday and rain for Sunday morning, so it was looking unlikely we would get a session in. Some time on Saturday, however, the forecast changed. The weather was now ideal – the only problem was that … Read More
Another overcast morning with very light winds provided ideal conditions for ringing. We put nets in the fen meadow, scrub and Natural Resources Wales compound: a total of 670 feet in total (albeit the latter nets typically only catch meadow pipits). … Read More
A still cloudy morning. In total we erected just over 600 feet of net. The wind didn’t really pick up, but bird numbers declined rapidly, and by 10:30 we started to take the nets down. The (modest) catch of 60 was made … Read More
On the way to Oxwich this morning there was a lot of fog about which made the journey slow. On arrival it had cleared. Most of the morning was overcast with a little sunshine for half an hour or so … Read More