The Gower Ringing Group has steadily grown over the past couple of years, so despite the absence of a couple of our regular A/C Ringers and a couple more trainees, we still had the resources to cover two sites this morning.  Keith Vaughton, Emma Cole, Phil Mead and I went to Oxwich, with Cedwyn Davies and Chris Newberry heading to Margam Park.

 

Oxwich

The weather at Oxwich was very good until late morning, when the westerly wind began to increase.  It was cloudy, but there was no rain.  In addition to the normal 160 feet of net around the feeders (in scrub on the edge of the reedbed), we put 180 feet of net through the open reeds in a ride used between spring and autumn 2013 for catching reedbed warblers.  We were encouraged to do this by two reeling grasshopper warblers while we were setting up.  In the event, however, 3 willow warblers, a chiffchaff, a re-trap Cetti’s warbler and a dunnock were the only birds caught in the reedbed.  A total of 88 birds was made up of the following:

The highlights of the catch were the first willow warblers of the year, the first blackcap, and good numbers of finches.  The blackcap and a couple of the willow warblers were carrying considerable fat, suggesting either recent arrival at the marsh or that they were staging en route to their final destination.  Re-trapped birds refers to those previously ringed at the marsh and recaptured during the current session. 



We took the nets down at about 11:30 in response to rising wind and an increasing number of ‘same-day retraps.’



 Thanks to Emma, Keith and Phil for an enjoyable morning.

Owain Gabb

12/04/14