An excellent start to the day, with a mist over the marsh, no real breeze and overcast skies. While the mist rapidly dispersed, the wind did not pick up for a few hours. We had anticipated lower numbers of … Read More
It was still, cloudy and warm at dawn, which was ideal for ringing. A south-easterly wind rapidly picked up, however, and we were forced to take down a number of nets by 10:00. Despite this, the catch was very good, … Read More
Just a few nets were set in the valley in what proved to be breezier than expected conditions yesterday and while only a few birds were captured at least we’re now under way. Lesser Whitethroat provided a little bit of … Read More
A morning session on 9 September and an evening roost on 10th September. Both were completed in good, relatively still, conditions. The combined catch was as follows: Species New Re-trapped Total Sparrowhawk 0 1 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker 0 1 … Read More
note wing moult The final session of the autumn at Llanrhidian (before transferring to Nitten) was a bit of a non-event with just 28 birds being trapped, the only real highlight being a Water Rail which flew into the top … Read More
A dull, overcast, windless but warm start to the day provided ideal conditions for catching birds. Unfortunately no-one told the birds to be in the marsh, and the overall result was similar to recent sessions in terms of numbers, albeit with local … Read More
A very bright and warm day. The wind picked up mid-morning, but had died off by the afternoon. As a result we were able to do both an early session in the scrub, reed bed and fen meadow, and to … Read More
Early mist over the marsh rapidly cleared, and from just after 07:00 the day was warm and sunny. The catch of 91 birds was made up as follows: Species New Re-trapped Total Tree Pipit 3 0 3 Wren 1 2 … Read More
A rather quiet morning with 34 birds trapped, Acro‘s represented by just 7 Reed and 4 Sedge. It seems likely the majority may have moved south during the recent persistent north-westerlies? A rather splendid Treecreeper was perhaps the highlight of … Read More
We managed to complete CES 12 having been rained off last Tuesday. The conditions were good and we had a total of 14 birds, slightly up on last year. Ten of the birds were juveniles including a Blackcap, 2 Chiff … Read More
A gentle westerly breeze, and a damp morning that rapidly became warm and sunny. Due to limited personnel, we only put up nets in two of our normal trapping areas; the reed bed and the ‘fen meadow.’ In total … Read More
Two more Green Sandpipers were netted in the first hour of light today before the rain arrived. juvenile (nice and fresh!) adult (in wing moult) Also an adult male Kingfisher [KF] ringed at Oxwich on the 9th of this month … Read More
This Green Sandpiper was the highlight of the 42 birds trapped on Sunday, bringing the totals for Llanrhidian over the last 4 weeks as follows: New Rec/Con Blackbird 4 1 Blackcap 17 Blue Tit 8 Bullfinch 1 … Read More
A bright sunny morning. Net rounds were excellent until the north-westerly wind picked up at about 09:30, after which it was very slow going. In addition to 520 feet of net in reedbed edge / young willow scrub (160 feet), reedbed … Read More
Despite blustery conditions all day, the wind was forecast to die down in the evening. We had been waiting for an opportunity for some time to try and catch some (barn) swallows at Oxwich, as it was clear that birds … Read More
A bright start to the day, and few birds in the first few nets rounds didn’t bode well, especially as the wind was forecast to pick up from the west late morning. However, by around 08:00 it clouded over, and … Read More
We were hoping to fare better than last year when we had the lowest number of birds ever on our CES – 3! It was a good day with low wind and broken cloud and the first bird was a … Read More
The weather forecast had been touch and go all week, but in the event it was warm and sunny at Oxwich with a westerly breeze that gradually strengthened over the morning. Although the wind may have influenced the size of … Read More