Oxwich Marsh Ringing Report 2016 – Gower Ornithological Society

2016 was the fourth year of Gower Ringing Group activity at Oxwich Marsh. It proved to be another good one: group members put in a lot of effort, and were rewarded with some excellent results. A summary follows, and a more detailed report can be accessed through following the link towards the bottom of the page.

In 2016 3,281
birds of 52 species were ringed at
Oxwich. Recaptures from previous years and controlled birds (those initially
ringed at other sites) took the total of unique birds processed at the site to 3,681. Swallow (595) and goldfinch
(479) were the most frequently captured species.

Species totals are provided in the table below.

Table 1. Totals processed at Oxwich 2013-2016 inclusive

No.	Species	2013	2014	2015	2016
1	Sparrowhawk		3		2
2	Water Rail				3
3	Jack Snipe		1	2	14
4	Snipe		11	4	19
5	Woodpigeon		1
6	Kingfisher	1	7	3	1
7	Green Woodpecker			2
8	Great Spotted Woodpecker	3	14	23	21
9	Skylark		2	2
10	Sand Martin		14	8	33
11	Swallow	23	382	399	595
12	House Martin		1		5
13	Tree Pipit		13	3	37
14	Meadow Pipit	8	48	65	14
15	Grey Wagtail				1
16	Pied/White Wagtail			7	44
17	Wren	41	74	96	76
18	Dunnock	17	61	50	39
19	Robin	24	101	68	49
20	Redstart			1	1
21	Whinchat			2
22	Stonechat		6	10	21
23	Wheatear				1
24	Blackbird	14	32	39	29
25	Song Thrush	5	7	18	10
26	Redwing		8	99	42
27	Mistle Thrush			1
28	Cetti’s Warbler	10	28	24	26
29	Grasshopper Warbler	2	6	11	19
30	Sedge Warbler	62	120	145	177
31	Reed Warbler	113	153	159	227
32	Lesser Whitethroat		2	2	1
33	Whitethroat	17	42	34	36
34	Garden Warbler		21	5	16
35	Blackcap	51	300	190	71
36	Yellow-browed Warbler		1		16
37	Wood Warbler		1
38	Chiffchaff	43	140	100	145
39	Willow Warbler	22	94	85	146
40	Goldcrest	20	73	167	106
No.	Species	2013	2014	2015	2016
41	Firecrest	1	3	3	4
42	Long-tailed Tit	17	30	37	42
43	Marsh Tit		2
44	Willow Tit				1
45	Coal Tit		3	7	8
46	Blue Tit	224	393	469	235
47	Great Tit	36	127	153	135
48	Nuthatch			2	1
49	Treecreeper	2	1	7	7
50	Magpie	1	1	1	1
51	Starling		2
52	Chaffinch	30	196	265	208
53	Brambling		1		1
54	Greenfinch	3	355	468	244
55	Goldfinch	3	445	464	479
56	Siskin		62	58	150
57	Lesser Redpoll			7	2
58	Bullfinch	17	19	13	2
59	Little Bunting				1
60	Reed Bunting	40	157	147	117
	Total	850	3564	3925	3681

Statistical comparison between years is not
possible, as the total amount of net, the net rides used, and the number of
visits each month varied depending on the personnel available and the weather
conditions. 2013 was a pilot year, and
only small numbers of birds were captured.

Notwithstanding this, however, we aim to ring in
the marsh twice a week during passage periods and at least once a week at other
times. Where there are very obvious
differences between years, these tend to be apparent. Clear differences between 2016 and previous
years include:

Higher captures of both jack snipe and common
snipe, reflecting both ideal water levels for ringing in marginal vegetation
close to the South Pond during the late spring and autumn periods and greater
efforts to catch them.
Lower catches of blackcap throughout the season.
During peak autumn passage in September 2016 a total of twenty-seven birds were
captured (fifty-five in September 2015; one hundred and ten in 2014) which
emphasises the emerging downward trend. The decrease from the annual total of three
hundred blackcaps captured in 2014 to seventy-one in 2016 is marked.
Far better totals for some autumn passage
migrants including swallow, tree pipit and pied/white wagtails, garden warbler and willow warbler than were achieved in 2015.
These reflect both targeted effort (swallows, tree pipits and wagtails), and
the good catches obtained from the bund nets (the warblers – all of which were
proven to breed).
A more muted late autumn / early winter period
for common migrants than in 2015. Redwing passage over the marsh was less
noticeable, and there were few large catches of goldcrests. This was offset by
excellent catches of yellow-browed warbler (reflecting the record national
influx reported by the BTO), our best year for firecrest (albeit only four
birds were ringed) and the capture of our first genuine Welsh rarity, a little
bunting.
A generally poor or moderate year for many of
our resident species. These included far lower totals of blue tit (poor productivity
was reported nationally) and greenfinch (possibly due to population decline resulting from trichomoniasis) than
in 2015 or 2014, and more modest falls in the number of reed bunting, dunnock
and robin captured.

Willow tit

Other notable results obtained during the season
were the capture of a juvenile willow tit initially heard calling and
subsequently trapped in the pipit triangle, three water rails (all in areas of
tall, inundated rush), and a grey wagtail, all of which were new species for
the site and which take us to 60 species captured at the marsh. Willow tit is
now something of a Gower rarity.

One of three water rails captured at Oxwich in 2016

There were also some notable controls and recaptures. These included:

The recapture of a jack snipe initially ringed on 12 March 2016 in a different
part of the marsh on 29 October 2016. This demonstrated between-winter site
fidelity, as the bird will have assumedly returned to its breeding grounds in
Northern Scandinavia or Russia between being ringed and its recapture.
A sedge warbler ringed at the marsh on 14 August
2016 and controlled at Poole Harbour, Dorset on 28 August, a movement of 175 km
east south-east.
A reed warbler originally ringed at Teifi
Marshes, Ceredigion, in 2011, and captured at Oxwich in April and July 2016. The bird is
a female that breeds on the marsh. It was previously captured in both 2014 and
2015.
A juvenile reed warbler ringed at Oxwich on 22
July 2008 and recaptured on 11 June 2016. The bird was therefore likely to have
been approaching eight years of age at the time it was re-trapped.
A chiffchaff ringed in the Nanjizal Valley, Land’s End,
Cornwall on 13 October 2015 and recaptured on the marsh on 16 January 2016. An
interesting north north-easterly movement (given the respective dates) of 200
km.
A willow warbler ringed at Lagganbeg, Kilniver,
Oban, Argyll & Bute on 26 July and recaptured on the marsh on 14 August
2016; a southerly movement of 535 km.
A goldcrest ringed at Billinge Hill, Merseyside
on 9 October 2015 and recaptured at Oxwich on 20 October 2016, a movement of
237 km in a south south-westerly direction.
A greenfinch ringed on the marsh in October 2015 and found dead at
Fishburn, County Durham on 12 September 2016. A movement of 391 km in a north
north-easterly direction.
A greenfinch ringed by the Gower RG in Crynant
(Neath Port Talbot) in September 2007 and recaptured at the marsh in January
2016. The eight years and four months between ringing and recapture is likely
to make this one of the oldest greenfinches processed in the UK in 2016.
A female goldfinch ringed on the marsh on 25 March
2016, and recaptured at Gleninagh Quay, Ballyvaughan, County Clare, Ireland on
5 April. Between the two dates it had made its way 386 km in a west
north-westerly direction.
A second calendar year female siskin ringed on the
marsh in February 2016 and controlled at Millhousebridge, Dumfries &
Galloway, on 30 April. A northerly movement of 402 km.
A reed bunting ringed at Oxwich (by Barry Stewart) in August 2010 as a juvenile and recaptured in
August 2016, almost exactly six years later.
And finally, a mute swan ring-read in the field (one of the breeding pair at Oxwich this year and not listed within our annual total) had been ringed at Torbay, Devon in January 2010. A movement of 135 km in a north north-westerly direction.

Yellow-browed warbler (Keith Vaughton)

We are extremely grateful to the Gower Society
for providing a second year of grant funding in 2016. Without this grant it would not have been
possible to continue ringing on the marsh with the same intensity as in
previous years, and the data gathered would consequently be far less useful.

We are also very grateful to Penrice Community
Council for a donation to our Group funds in summer 2016. Along with the Gower
Society grant (above) we largely covered our costs during the year as a result.

Nick Edwards (of Natural Resources Wales), who
manages the marsh, has been consistently supportive of our efforts since we
began ringing in 2013. His assistance in the late autumn, putting in a gate at
the end of the bund (to exclude the cattle from the ringing ride) was
particularly appreciated.

Thanks are also due to members of the Gower
Ringing Group who have attended regularly over the course of the year and
provided the impetus and commitment to maintain our efforts. In particular: Heather Coats, Cedwyn Davies,
Keith Vaughton, Wayne Morris, Emma Cole, Darren Hicks, Val Wilson, Paul Aubrey,
Phil Mead, Ben Rees, Lynn Watts and Sammy-Jo Pengelly. Both Wayne and Emma
received their C Permits in 2016 (Wayne’s upgrade only involved the removal of
the restriction on mist netting on his permit).

Finally
thanks to Kelvin Jones for organising the 2016 Welsh Ringing Course, to Martin
Hughes (the independent trainer) for his expertise and taking the time to
travel down to join us, and to Gower Ringing Group members for their assistance
in making everything tick.

Some further photographs are below, and the full report can be found by following this LINK to a page where the PDF’d report can be downloaded):

Owain Gabb

09/01/2017