A near windless overcast day on the marsh made for perfect ringing conditions. We put 660 feet of net across the reed bed and in surrounding scrub.

The catch of 80 birds was an improvement on recent weeks. The breakdown was as follows:

Fledgling great spotted woodpecker

Fledged young of a number of species were captured for the first time in 2016 including great spotted woodpecker, dunnock, stonechat, chaffinch and goldfinch, while fledgling robins, greenfinches and siskins continued to dribble in in small numbers.

Recaptured birds included a male reed warbler initially ringed in 2013 and now captured in each subsequent year including 2016, a returning male chiffchaff initially ringed in 2015 and a couple of goldfinches and reed buntings ringed in 2014.

Fledgling chaffinch

As we are just over half way through the year, it is now a good time to make some basic comparisons as to how 2016 is shaping up. These are heavily qualified: the amount of net that is erected varies according to available personnel and weather, and the net rides currently in use differ from those used in the equivalent months of 2015 and 2014. Notwithstanding this, some basic observations are possible with regard to various species, and we have had feeders out throughout the period which indicates that it is reasonable to compare finch numbers in particular.

To date 937 birds of 39 species have been processed in 2016 (the table below excludes birds that have been recaptured on more than one occasion – there have been 1263 captures in total). The breakdown is as follows:

Unique birds captured 1 Jan – 4 June inc 2014-2016

Most of the warblers that are captured at Oxwich are trapped in the late summer and autumn as birds disperse and feed in preparation for migration. The slightly higher number of sedge and reed warblers to date than during the equivalent period in previous years reflects the fact that we have put more net through the open reed bed in spring and early summer 2016. We have also captured chiffchaff and whitethroat in these nets.  Conversely, Cetti’s warbler territories appear to be further from the nets than in previous years, and we have only captured two birds (both retraps from previous years), and blackcaps, while holding territory locally, are thin on the ground.

Fledgling goldfinch

The most notable differences between 2016 to date and previous years have been in terms of finches. We have captured far fewer greenfinches than in 2015 and 2014, while it has been a good year for siskins, and goldfinch numbers are also up on the past two years at this stage. The changes in greenfinch numbers could be the result of disease (trichomoniasis), but we don’t have clear evidence for this (we capture occasional diseased birds that are released without ringing). It is also unclear what is driving the apparent increase in siskin numbers (for goldfinch the overall total is not markedly different and a couple of weeks of poor weather would likely see the between year results even out).

The other features of 2016 to date have been some nice late winter catches of jack and common snipe, with a water rail making for a welcome bonus – all were trapped in a rushy area near the South Pond. We have had nothing as unexpected as a spring wood warbler in 2016 (this species was captured in 2014), albeit we were not expecting a brambling on 8 April.