Oxwich Marsh late September 2018: making hay in the sunshine

Following a period of unsettled weather that has stretched out over much of the last four weeks, a recent calm dry spell has been very welcome. We have made the most of it, getting in an evening swallow roost, a short mid-week morning session and a well attended session on 29 September.

The combined total for the three visits was as follows:

Species Name	Ringed	Recaptured	Total
Blackbird		1	1
Blackcap	44	1	45
Blue Tit	26	10	36
Cetti’s Warbler	3	1	4
Chaffinch	1		1
Chiffchaff	25		25
Coal Tit	1		1
Dunnock	3	4	7
Goldcrest	1		1
Goldfinch	1	4	5
Great Tit	4	1	5
Greenfinch	1		1
Grey Wagtail	1		1
Long-tailed Tit	5	1	6
Meadow Pipit	9		9
Pied/White Wagtail	3		3
Reed Bunting	4	1	5
Reed Warbler	1	1	2
Robin	4	4	8
Sedge Warbler	3		3
Snipe	4		4
Song Thrush	2	1	3
Stonechat	2		2
Swallow	219		219
Treecreeper	1		1
Wren	10	7	17
Grand Total	377	38	415

Highlights have been:

Two first year male stonechats. Both showed clear moult limits in the greater coverts making ageing straightforward.
A steady run of blackcaps. With over 150 now ringed in 2018, this is already the best year for the species at Oxwich since 2014.
A grey wagtail. The bird was tape lured into a pipit triangle. We have struggled to catch grey wagtails this year despite obvious passage. This has probably been due to weather (wind making nets more obvious).
An excellent late autumn swallow session. Of the 219 birds caught, 27 were adults. There was the odd sand martin around, but none featured in the catch.
Relatively late sedge and reed warblers on 29 September.
Four snipe. Observations of common snipe, and one sighting of jack snipe over the past week led to our setting a series of five nets in an area close to the South Pond. This resulted in two snipe being captured coming into day roost around dawn. Two other birds were captured incidentally over the morning; this may have resulted from birds flushed from the intended capture area searching for alternative roost sites elsewhere. There are no cattle in the marsh at present, and the vegetation is uniformly high. It follows that the other net rides present opportunities for snipe at the current time.

We tried taping skylarks on 28 September, as it was clear that birds were moving (west). While we got some interest, with birds circling the nets, none were captured.

It was nice to welcome Ally Bunning and Martyn Roper (from Oxfordshire) to the site on 29 September. As all the trainees had ringed a snipe, Martyn (also a trainee) was able to ring one; a first wader for him.

Thanks to everyone who made it out during the week: Heather Coats, Keith Vaughton, Paul Aubrey, Val Wilson, Sarah Davies, Joanne Conway, Alex McCubbin, Richard Dann, Martin Georgiev, Dionne Jenkins, Lara Bates-Prior and Kathryn Dunnett.

Photos are below.

Owain Gabb
30/09/2018