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
|
|
1
|
1
|
|
Chaffinch
|
14
|
10
|
24
|
|
Chiffchaff
|
|
1
|
1
|
|
Dunnock
|
2
|
20
|
22
|
|
Goldfinch
|
3
|
3
|
6
|
|
Great Spotted Woodpecker
|
3
|
10
|
13
|
|
Great Tit
|
14
|
32
|
46
|
|
Greenfinch
|
5
|
|
5
|
|
Marsh Tit
|
2
|
|
2
|
|
Reed Bunting
|
3
|
4
|
7
|
|
Reed Warbler
|
25
|
7
|
32
|
|
Robin
|
3
|
10
|
13
|
|
Sedge Warbler
|
8
|
5
|
13
|
|
Siskin
|
10
|
5
|
15
|
|
Song Thrush
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
|
Swallow
|
7
|
|
7
|
|
Treecreeper
|
1
|
|
1
|
|
Whitethroat
|
1
|
|
1
|
|
Willow Warbler
|
4
|
|
4
|
|
Wren
|
6
|
1
|
7
|
|
Grand Total
|
135
|
126
|
261
|
The highlights were:
- Our first swallows of 2018. These were captured emerging from a roost in the reedbed. Six were juveniles and one an adult. There were some sand martins in with them, but we failed to catch any.
- Two marsh tits. Both were females in main moult and showed re-feathering brood patches. We relied on a range of characters including a pale mark on the upper mandible, a well defined bib, and the characteristics of the cap in determining them as marsh tits. In his 2009 paper in British Birds, Richard Broughton only gave particular credence to the former of these in terms of a reliable separation criteria. As the birds were actively moulting their tails, measurement of the difference in length between the longest and shortest tail feather could not be used to support the determination. It was somewhat reassuring to hear them call on release.
- A good day on reed warblers; our best of 2018 to date.
- A second treecreeper in successive weeks.
A comparison of new birds ringed up to and including 14 July 2018, and for the same period in 2017 is in the table below. Species captured in greater number in 2017 are shown in red type. Singles of stonechat and yellowhammer had been captured by 14 July 2017, but have not been captured during the current calendar year to date and are omitted from the table.
|
Species
|
2018
|
2017
|
|
Blackbird
|
27
|
17
|
|
Blackcap
|
19
|
12
|
|
Blue Tit
|
127
|
58
|
|
Brambling
|
21
|
0
|
|
Bullfinch
|
11
|
8
|
|
Cetti’s Warbler
|
3
|
6
|
|
Chaffinch
|
119
|
54
|
|
Chiffchaff
|
11
|
25
|
|
Coal Tit
|
2
|
2
|
|
Dunnock
|
38
|
16
|
|
Goldcrest
|
5
|
4
|
|
Goldfinch
|
155
|
218
|
|
Grasshopper Warbler
|
4
|
4
|
|
Great Spotted Woodpecker
|
27
|
12
|
|
Great Tit
|
137
|
46
|
|
Greenfinch
|
26
|
40
|
|
Jack Snipe
|
5
|
6
|
|
Lesser Redpoll
|
1
|
0
|
|
Lesser Whitethroat
|
1
|
0
|
|
Long-tailed Tit
|
3
|
5
|
|
Marsh Tit
|
3
|
0
|
|
Nuthatch
|
1
|
0
|
|
Reed Bunting
|
45
|
19
|
|
Reed Warbler
|
71
|
39
|
|
Robin
|
33
|
31
|
|
Sedge Warbler
|
34
|
15
|
|
Siskin
|
169
|
128
|
|
Snipe
|
27
|
22
|
|
Song Thrush
|
7
|
3
|
|
Swallow
|
7
|
0
|
|
Treecreeper
|
3
|
2
|
|
Whitethroat
|
6
|
8
|
|
Willow Warbler
|
15
|
10
|
|
Wren
|
20
|
9
|
|
Grand Total
|
1183
|
819
|
The feeling that productivity is better for many resident species in 2018 than in 2017 appears to be borne out by the greater numbers of most species captured. For some species, such as blue tit great tit, dunnock, reed bunting and siskin, numbers ringed have been substantially higher in 2018 than in 2017. Only goldfinch and chiffchaff numbers appear notably down on 2017, albeit the sustained decline in greenfinch numbers at the site is a cause for concern.
Thanks to the team of Heather Coats, Keith Vaughton, Wayne Morris, Val Wilson, Joanne Conway, Alex McCubbin, Edward O’Connor, Amy Schwartz, Dionne Jenkins and Martin Thomas for their efforts.
Owain Gabb
17/07/2017
Reference
Broughton, R. (2009). Separation of willow tit and marsh tit in Britain: a review. British Birds 102: Pp 604-616.
 |
| Treecreeper (Amy Schwartz) |
 |
| Marsh tit (Keith Vaughton) |
