Very light northerly winds, meaning the nets were still, and food at the winter feeding station disappearing at a rate of knots suggested we were on for a big catch this week. We were not disappointed, in numbers at least. In … Read More
A still, overcast and cool morning seemed ideal conditions for ringing. Unfortunately no-one let the birds know. We only caught 16 birds in approximately 4 hours. However, as one of the birds was a firecrest, this went a long way to making … Read More
A cool morning with a very light north-westerly wind and broken cloud provided good conditions for ringing at the marsh. This was welcome, as it hadn’t been possible to find a day in the last couple of weeks when conditions … Read More
Decided to bring the net and lamp out from Summer storage and join Charlie Sargent at our Carmarthenshire farm site to see if there were any Woodcock waiting in the fields to be dazzled by our presence. The early wind … Read More
A break in the weather, with the south-westerly winds dropping slightly and the rain holding off, allowed a relatively short session at Oxwich this morning. The wind did pick up after a couple of hours, and the catch was limited by … Read More
Unsettled weather and a forecast of strong south-westerly winds in the build up to the weekend did not inspire confidence that a ringing session would be possible, but in the event the weather was relatively mild. A total catch of … Read More
Heather, Charlie and I joined Chris at Ty’n-y-Caeau near Monknash in the Vale of Glamorgan. We supplemented our regular seventy-eight metres of nets along the hedgerow with a further thirty-nine metres in the corner of the field. There were large … Read More
The weather forecast for the weekend had been changeable for days, and the main concern was that the north-easterly wind would be too strong to allow a session to be held or that it would seriously limit the catch. In … Read More
A good morning at Oxwich Marsh with 81 birds of 12 species caught in overcast, calm conditions. In addition to resident species, reed warbler (5), chiffchaff (15), grasshopper warbler (1), blackcap (4) whitethroat (2) and swallow (23) were captured. One … Read More
Another beautiful day at Oxwich Marsh this morning. Due to the very low wind speed, and overhead movements of pipits, wagtails and Hirundines (barn swallow and house martin) we supplemented the usual nets in the reedbed and scrub with a triangle … Read More
As the weather forecast had been poor right up until last night (when it changed completely), the ringing session at Oxwich Marsh this morning was far better than expected. A light north-westerly wind wheeled gradually to the north and strengthened over … Read More
A pleasant morning with Keith Vaughton and Cedwyn Davies during which we caught a total of 58 birds at Oxwich Marsh. The day started damp and cool, but the north-westerly wind remained light until mid morning, and the sun came … Read More
A light northerly wind, which gradually strengthened over the session and little cloud cover probably contributed to the catch in the Oxwich reedbed dropping off rapidly. Despite 16 birds in the first net round, only 18 were caught in total, and … Read More
Heather Coats and I joined Chris Newberry at Kenfig hoping for more success on CES 11 than we had at WWT’s CES the previous Monday. The weather was set fair with the promise of sunshine later in the morning. Once … Read More
The last time we visited Crymlyn Bog was early spring. Since then we have been actively involved with our CES sites. Crymlyn Bog managed by CCW is the largest lowland Fen in Wales. The nature reserve is surrounded by an … Read More
A very light south-westerly wind and early cloud at Oxwich presented ideal conditions for ringing during the hour after dawn, but as the sun broke through catches per round steadily declined. The nets were taken down at 09:45. The total … Read More
Chris Newberry, Heather Coats and I once again met for a CES session at Kenfig. We supplemented our six 18 metre nets in the pool ride with thirty metres of mist nets in the scrub. The birds weren’t as obliging … Read More