At last, some perfect late autumn weather. Slightly overcast for much of the morning, with a very light wind, and becoming warm after a cool start.
The catch of 98 was as follows:
|
Species Name
|
Ringed
|
Recaptured
|
Total
|
|
Blackbird
|
|
1
|
1
|
|
Blackcap
|
1
|
|
1
|
|
Blue Tit
|
18
|
2
|
20
|
|
Cetti’s Warbler
|
1
|
5
|
6
|
|
Chiffchaff
|
8
|
|
8
|
|
Coal Tit
|
1
|
|
1
|
|
Dunnock
|
|
2
|
2
|
|
Goldcrest
|
10
|
|
10
|
|
Great Spotted Woodpecker
|
|
1
|
1
|
|
Great Tit
|
2
|
|
2
|
|
Jack Snipe
|
1
|
|
1
|
|
Long-tailed Tit
|
3
|
|
3
|
|
Redwing
|
1
|
|
1
|
|
Reed Bunting
|
15
|
2
|
17
|
|
Robin
|
2
|
5
|
7
|
|
Snipe
|
6
|
|
6
|
|
Song Thrush
|
3
|
|
3
|
|
Treecreeper
|
1
|
|
1
|
|
Wren
|
3
|
1
|
4
|
|
Yellow-browed Warbler
|
3
|
|
3
|
|
Grand Total
|
79
|
19
|
98
|
The highlights were:
- A good total of Cetti’s warblers, including one ringed in 2014 and another in 2016, and a first winter bird with a pronounced tail bar (enabling confident ageing). More interesting than all of these, however, was a controlled bird. We await the details with interest. We find that Cetti’s warblers carry fat in the autumn, indicating dispersal / short-distance migration. Our last control was from Magor Marsh (Monmouthshire), a distance of 100 km.
- Our first jack snipe of the autumn, and our sixth unique bird of the year. We couldn’t age it, as the tail (which has the most convincing features) was saturated. The bird was carrying significant fat, suggesting it was moving / had recently arrived.
- Six snipe. These included a couple of adults, with uniform feathering across the coverts, a couple of first winters with clear moult limits in the median coverts, and a couple of birds of less certain age. We continue to find ageing them challenging at times.
- Our first redwing of the autumn. The bird was not specifically aged. The tail was intermediate, and the coverts were neither clearly juvenile nor adult. None were heard overhead, and to catch a bird was therefore slightly unexpected.
- Three yellow-browed warblers. The first since October 2016. All were likely to be first winter birds, based on fairly pointed tail feathers. No moult limits in the tail (Demongin indicates that up to ~4 tail feathers may be moulted) were recorded in any of the three birds.
We also paid host to a few small visitors; a group of local little girls (and their mummies) who came to see what was going on. Hopefully they all enjoyed it.
The only disappointments of the morning were not capturing any firecrest (as it is a good time for them), and failing to lure any skylarks (which were moving over in number) into our nets.
Many thanks to the team of Keith Vaughton, Wayne Morris, Paul Aubrey, Martin Thomas, Martin Georgiev, Val Wilson, Amy Schwartz, Alex McCubbin, Bethan Dalton and Dionne Jenkins for company and assistance.
Owain Gabb
21/10/2018
 |
| Yellow-browed warbler (Alex McCubbin) |
 |
| Yellow-browed warbler (Amy Schwartz) |
 |
| Common and jack snipe (Amy Schwartz) |
 |
| Jack snipe |
 |
| Demonstrating how to take measurements on a great tit. |
 |
| More demonstration |
 |
| Redwing (Bethan Dalton) |
 |
| Treecreeper (Bethan Dalton) |
 |
| Ringing team in action |
 |
| Harlequin ladybirds at St Illtyd’s Church, Oxwich |
 |
| Showing the little ones a yellow-browed warbler |
