A very light south-westerly wind and warm, cloudy conditions were ideal for ringing. Three different online weather forecasts had made differing assessments of the chance of rain over the morning, but thankfully none materialised.
The catch was excellent. A total of 124 birds (20 species) was made up of the following:
| Species | New | Re-trapped | Total |
| Woodpigeon | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
0 | 1 | 1 |
| Wren | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Dunnock | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Robin | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Blackbird | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Cetti’s Warbler |
1 | 1 | 2 |
| Sedge Warbler | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Reed Warbler | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Whitethroat | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Blackcap | 25 | 0 | 25 |
| Chiffchaff | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Long-tailed Tit |
0 | 1 | 1 |
| Blue Tit | 14 | 6 | 20 |
| Great Tit | 9 | 7 | 16 |
| Chaffinch | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Greenfinch | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| Goldfinch | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Siskin | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Reed Bunting | 3 | 8 | 11 |
| Total: | 83 | 41 | 124 |
The highlight was without doubt the 25 blackcaps. All but one were recently fledged juveniles, with the other being an adult male. Other features were the eleven reed bunting, the first Cetti’s warblers in a little while, a control siskin, and a woodpigeon.
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| Woodpigeon
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The woodpigeon was an adult, but the biometrics were within the zone of overlap between the sexes, so we could not say whether it was male or female. It was a first for Charlie.
Of greater interest was this whitethroat (left). It was a female which was in the process of re-feathering its brood patch, and was only the second of this species to be trapped on the marsh in 2014.
The number of reed bed warblers trapped remained low, with a few reed warblers and a single sedge warbler during the session. The total of new birds in 2014 in now only 15 short of 1000
Thanks to Heather Coats, Charlie Sargent, Keith Vaughton, Wayne Morris, Hannah Meinertzhagen, Julian and Fiona Trevino-Villarreal for company and assistance this morning.
Owain Gabb
28/06/2014
