Valerie and I did a session in my Crynant garden this morning as I had noticed a good number of Siskins on the feeders. We caught 49 birds of which 37 were Siskins. There are more visiting the feeders than … Read More
It has been a quiet February. The weather has been predominantly mild and fairly damp, and there have been no significant storms or cold spells since the turn of the year. The low productivity in blue tits in 2016 certainly … Read More
A break in the weather allowed us to get a session in. This morning was cold on the marsh, with ice forming just before dawn and coating the stiles (making them treacherous), the gate lock and even the scales we … Read More
The weather in January has been hit and miss, and the forecast has often been inaccurate and subject to short-term change. Frustrating, but it becomes expected on a coastal site in the south-west of the UK. We have only got … Read More
2016 was the fourth year of Gower Ringing Group activity at Oxwich Marsh. It proved to be another good one: group members put in a lot of effort, and were rewarded with some excellent results. A summary follows, and a … Read More
A quiet session in a low to moderate south-westerly breeze. The visibility was good on the marsh, but there was thick fog on the higher ground for the first few hours. The modest catch of 23 birds was as follows: … Read More
It has been a frustrating first half of the month. Forecasts have proven inaccurate, resulting in several last minute call-offs, and wind and rain has hampered opportunities at other times. It was therefore good to be able to get a … Read More
Background Colour-ringing of chough has been undertaken by Tony Cross and Adrienne Stratford in mid and north Wales for over 25 years. Recently this effort has been extended to Gower and to Ramsey Island, Pembrokeshire by Mike Shewring (Cardiff RG) … Read More
A cold morning with very little wind, occasional showers and variable cloud cover. The modest catch of 41 birds was as follows: Species Ringed Recaptured Total Jack Snipe 2 0 2 Snipe 1 0 1 Wren 1 0 1 Reed … Read More
A couple of short sessions in fairly settled weather on 2 & 5 November resulted in a modest combined total of 65 birds. On 2 November the wind was a light easterly, and on 5 November it was from the … Read More
Perfect ringing weather this Saturday morning: overcast with an almost imperceptible easterly breeze. We set nets on a bund across the marsh, through wet and dry scrub and on the edge one of the freshwater pools. The catch of eighty-five … Read More
An almost imperceptible easterly breeze that gradually increased over the morning, open skies and a light frost at the marsh. We set nets across the bund through the marsh, and a second net line in nearby scrub. The catch was … Read More
A slightly stronger than ideal north-westerly breeze greeted us this morning. This is the worst wind direction for the marsh – we have no way of setting nets to escape it. Thankfully, however, it was calmest at dawn, and we … Read More
A couple of sessions on successive days has resulted in quality as opposed to quantity. The wind direction for the last couple of weeks has been easterly / south-easterly, and the weather has been mainly dry, and this was the … Read More
Almost perfect autumn ringing weather at Oxwich today: a very light easterly wind and overcast skies. Occasional light rain meant it was not a ten out of ten in terms of conditions, but it was pretty close. We put nets … Read More
A quiet couple of sessions with few birds in the marsh of late. Hopefully better is to come over the rest of October. Since our last blog post (on 17 September) we have had one evening session, to try and … Read More
An evening roost visit on Thursday and and a quiet Saturday morning session in an initially light but rapidly strengthening north-westerly wind resulted in a total of 167 birds being captured. This total broke down as follows: Species Ringed Recaptured … Read More
The 2016 Welsh Ringing Course was held at Oxwich Marsh between Friday 9 and Monday 12 September 2016. There were ten course participants. These included some relatively inexperienced trainees looking to increase the number of birds and range of species … Read More