A ringing session in late April, and a second in early May 2018 resulted in 133 birds being captured. The combined total from the two sessions was as follows: Species Name New Recaptured Grand Total Blackcap 3 1 4 Blue … Read More
Due to a very small catch during a mid week session at Oxwich, we decided to split the group across two sites. The majority went to Oxwich, with a smaller party heading to Crynant, in the Dulais Valley. The results … Read More
This post has been written by Sarah Davies, a PhD student in Cardiff University. Sarah has been ringing at Oxwich for approximately 14 months, and has been using it as one of the sites for data collection to inform her … Read More
April is an odd month at Oxwich. Blustery wind, rain and sea mist all hamper our efforts, and if we don’t connect with a good passage of finches it can be hard going. During the month we typically capture a … Read More
In order to gain the experience necessary to secure a ringing permit, it is often advantageous for ringing trainees to seek opportunities to go out with other groups. This article has been prepared by Stephen Vickers and Kirsty Franklin summarising … Read More
A short period of fairly settled weather, with light easterly and north-easterly winds, allowed us to get in two sessions. The results are below: Species Name Ringed Recaptured Grand Total Blue Tit 4 10 14 Brambling 5 5 Chaffinch 4 … Read More
A steady morning in a light to moderate north-easterly wind. The catch was as follows: Species New Recaptured Total Dunnock 1 3 4 Siskin 6 5 11 Chaffinch 7 1 8 Great Tit 4 4 Blue Tit 2 6 8 … Read More
A weather-affected catch this morning. The northerly wind resulted in open skies, and it was becoming light by 05:50. We didn’t get the snipe nets up quite in time, as birds were coming into day roost by 05:40. The moderate … Read More
A recent break in blogging has been due to a failure to get to grips with Demography Online (Demon), the new online application produced by the BTO to capture ringing (and nest recording) data. Having now had time to read … Read More
2017 was the fifth year of Gower Ringing Group activity at Oxwich Marsh. The site also hosted the Welsh Ringing Course (in September) for the third consecutive year. Species Totals A total of 3,492 birds of 46 species were ringed … Read More
A typical weather-affected December has resulted in few ringing sessions, but a brief interlude in the wind and rain allowed us to get a session in on the 16th of the month. The forecast of a strengthening north-westerly wind that … Read More
The ringing site at Oxwich Marsh is approximately 500 m from the high tide mark; rides are located in a mixture of reed bed, ruderal and scrub habitats set behind coastal dunes and foreshore. Ringing at the site is often … Read More
Unsettled weather has dominated November to date, and looks set to continue. We missed three consecutive weekends of ringing due to wind and / or rain, and only managed sessions during weather windows on 3, 13 and 19 of the … Read More
A steady second half of the month. Sessions were fitted in around the weather. Totals are shown in the table below: Species Ringed Recaptured Total Jack Snipe 1 0 1 Snipe 6 0 6 Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 5 6 … Read More
The lack of a recent blog post reflects limited activity during what has been a fairly disrupted period of weather. A predominantly south-westerly airflow has resulted in no large falls of birds, and conditions have often been fairly poor for … Read More
A light northerly breeze and open skies was a welcome change to the unsettled, and often very wet weather that had dogged us during the ringing course (see previous post) and in the preceding week. The day had an autumnal … Read More
The 2017 Welsh Ringing Course was held on the Gower Peninsula, South Wales, between Friday 8 and Monday 11 September 2017. The course was led by Kelvin Jones, the Welsh Development Officer for the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and … Read More
A variable forecast, depending on the websites visited, made for a slightly uneasy build up to our weekly attempt to catch roosting swallows and wagtails. In the end, all was well, and the west / north-westerly wind dropped markedly during … Read More