Cruzinha (Richard Dann) For the last 20 years, Heather Coats, who heads the Gower Ringing Group, has visited Cruzinha, the A Rocha field study centre on the Ria de Alvor in southern Portugal, to carry out bird ringing during autumn … Read More
The most unusual thing; a forecast that was worse than the weather on site – normally it always goes the other way! We expected a moderate north-westerly breeze, but the conditions were a lot calmer. It was sunny and relatively … Read More
A couple of limited net sessions this week resulted in a varied catch of 103. The break down was as follows: Species Name Ringed Recaptured Total Blackbird 1 1 Blue Tit 28 4 32 Cetti’s Warbler 5 5 Chaffinch 6 … Read More
At last, some perfect late autumn weather. Slightly overcast for much of the morning, with a very light wind, and becoming warm after a cool start. The catch of 98 was as follows: Species Name Ringed Recaptured Total Blackbird 1 … Read More
A period of unsettled weather in the first half of October culminated in Storm Callum, which raised water levels considerably on the marsh. Given the coastal location of the site, it proved very difficult to get sessions in. We were … Read More
Following a period of unsettled weather that has stretched out over much of the last four weeks, a recent calm dry spell has been very welcome. We have made the most of it, getting in an evening swallow roost, a … Read More
The Constant Effort Sessions at WWT Llanelli took place between 3rd May and 28th August. Results are given below: CES 2018 at WWT Llanelli SPECIES ADULT JUVENILE AGED 2* TOTAL EXTRA NET Great spotted woodpecker 2 0 0 2 Jay … Read More
A light south-westerly wind that strengthened over the morning allowed us to set a fair number of nets, but meant that catches started to decline before mid-morning. A moderate total of 80 birds broke down as follows: Species Name Ringed … Read More
The 2018 Welsh Ringing Course was held on the Gower Peninsula, South Wales, between Friday 7 and Monday 10 September 2018. The course was led by Kelvin Jones, the Welsh Development Officer for the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and … Read More
A quiet roost session followed by a relatively quiet morning. 28 August. We tried to lure in some house martins pre-dusk, but as is often the case, they weren’t at all interested. We then switched our attention to swallows and … Read More
August can be an odd month at Oxwich. The site is very coastal, and numbers of birds vary massively between sessions. We rapidly realised Saturday 25 August was going to be a quiet one. The nets through the reed bed … Read More
A frustrating week, with no ringing possible over the weekend, and only one short session during the weekdays leading up to it, due to poor weather. We therefore set our sights on the evening of Monday 20 August and the … Read More
As is usual at Oxwich (a coastal reed bed with fringing scrub) in late July and early August, the numbers of birds captured has varied widely between sessions. A total of 431 birds have been captured over four visits, albeit … Read More
A third consecutive catch of over 200 birds. As in the previous two weeks we predominantly captured common resident species, supplemented by good numbers of sedge and reed warbler and occasional other long distance migrants. Species Name New Recaptured Total … Read More
Another busy morning during an extended period of warm, settled weather. The catch of 261 birds was made up of the following: Species New Retrapped Total Blackbird 1 4 5 Blue Tit 20 11 31 Bullfinch 2 2 Cetti’s Warbler … Read More
A light westerly wind and open skies made for good conditions for a ringing session. The large number of juveniles around the site the previous week suggested it would be a big day at Oxwich, and we were not disappointed. … Read More
June has been reasonably settled and latterly very warm. It is a busy month for the group, with two Constant Effort Sites and a Recapturing Adults for Survival project on pied flycatcher to run, and so visits to Oxwich have … Read More
A couple of decent sessions (for late May) have resulted in a combined total of just short of 150 birds. This is one of our quietest times of the year, as many birds are on territory, spring passage is very … Read More