A beautiful warm morning at Oxwich, with a light south-westerly breeze and clear skies. Nets were open between 06:00 and 11:30, during which time we trapped 88 birds. The breakdown by species is shown in the table below: Species New Re-trapped … Read More
Heather Coats was joined by Phil Mead this morning on Friday the thirteenth in sunny Llanelli. The table below reflects the number of juvenile birds (out of the total of 28 birds) wandering through the scrub. Species Adult Juvenile Retrap … Read More
Yesterday the weather was unexpectedly better than anticipated. We had the odd gust of wind and it remained overcast for most of the morning. We had 39 birds in all, the best catch this year, made up mainly of juvenile … Read More
A steady session in calm, overcast conditions that were ideal for ringing. The wind was very light for the few hours after dawn, but then gradually strengthened from the south-west. We erected 160 feet of net among scrub on the … Read More
We thought we might have mixed fortunes with the weather this morning, the forecasters were all different so we really were not sure what to expect. Because we have other commitments with other CES and RAS in the week we … Read More
A late change in the weather forecast allowed us to fit a session in this morning at Oxwich. The rain held off until around 11:45, and an early moderate north-westerly breeze gradually lessened. The number of birds captured (45) was fairly typical of … Read More
Oxwich Marsh A beautiful day at Oxwich. Virtually windless for the first few hours, bright, sunny and warm. While the weather conditions were very pleasant, they were not ideal for ringing however, as the nets became more visible in the … Read More
It was CES 2 yesterday and we usually compare the results from each CES with the corresponding one from the previous year. This naturally gives us a quick indication of what is happening or not happening as the case may … Read More
In a previous blog I talked about our Constant Effort Site (CES) at WWT Llanelli. A RAS is another programme initiated by the BTO and it means Retrapping Adults for Survival. Its aim is to catch or re-sight at least … Read More
As the weather at the weekend had been dominated by strong south-westerly winds, we had been unable to get a session in at Oxwich. With the weather settling down, however, we managed to get in a quick visit to the marsh before … Read More
Despite a gusty south-easterly wind, the net rides in the scrub were relatively sheltered, although the nets in the reedbed were moving a little too much to suggest we would catch much in there. In addition to 180 feet of net in the reeds … Read More
It’s that time of year again, the start of the CES (Constant Effort Site) season at the WWT National Wetland Centre in Llanelli. There are 9 WWT centres in the UK. The CES is just one of many programmes initiated … Read More
This blog today is in two parts. The first being the results of our session at Oxwich Marsh and the second being a training session of the groups trainees. Oxwich One could say that the ringing conditions this morning were … Read More
A strong easterly wind gradually dropped off over the morning. However, the residual gusts clearly limited the catch, as in 4.5 hours we failed to capture any reedbed (or other) warblers, and the only nets to return birds were those around … Read More
As there had been an influx of migrants over the previous few days, we decided to try and put out a bit more net than usual. In addition to 160 feet of net in scrub / around the feeder, we put … Read More
The Gower Ringing Group has steadily grown over the past couple of years, so despite the absence of a couple of our regular A/C Ringers and a couple more trainees, we still had the resources to cover two sites this morning. … Read More
I joined Heather Coats this morning for a short introductory ringing session with Phil Mead the Group’s new trainee. A six metre and a nine metre net were set in a dog-leg near the feeders which we hoped would draw … Read More
A poor forecast for the weekend meant some last minute arrangements were made to try a Friday session. The wind was a light south-westerly, and overhead cloud resulted in conditions that were not far from ideal. As has been typical of recent … Read More