A quiet session at Oxwich. Eighty-six birds were processed, of which sixty were recaptures. The high proportion of recaptured birds is typical of the time of year.
The breakdown was as follows:
|
Species
|
New
|
Recapture
|
Total
|
|
Blackbird
|
|
3
|
3
|
|
Blackcap
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
|
Blue Tit
|
1
|
4
|
5
|
|
Cetti’s Warbler
|
|
2
|
2
|
|
Chaffinch
|
|
2
|
2
|
|
Coal Tit
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
|
Dunnock
|
|
3
|
3
|
|
Goldfinch
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
|
Grasshopper Warbler
|
1
|
|
1
|
|
Great Spotted Woodpecker
|
1
|
8
|
9
|
|
Great Tit
|
7
|
12
|
19
|
|
Greenfinch
|
2
|
|
2
|
|
Reed Bunting
|
|
2
|
2
|
|
Reed Warbler
|
3
|
1
|
4
|
|
Robin
|
|
3
|
3
|
|
Sedge Warbler
|
4
|
4
|
8
|
|
Siskin
|
2
|
5
|
7
|
|
Song Thrush
|
|
2
|
2
|
|
Whitethroat
|
2
|
|
2
|
|
Willow Warbler
|
|
1
|
1
|
|
Wren
|
|
4
|
4
|
|
Grand
Total |
26
|
60
|
86
|
Highlights included a great spotted woodpecker originally ringed in 2013 (among a day total of nine different individuals), some good between year recaptures of various species (sedge warbler, Cetti’s warbler and great tit among them), our first whitethroats of 2019, and a grasshopper warbler.
This led to a quick review of the data on spring captures of grasshopper warbler. Over the past five years we have captured them on the following spring dates:
- 2014: 1 on 3 May
- 2015: 1 on 25 April; 1 on 30 May
- 2016: 1 on 17 April; 1 on 23 April; 1 on 14 May
- 2017: 1 on 22 April; 2 on 28 May
- 2019: 1 on 20 April; 1 on 04 May; 1 on 11 May.
These are pretty consistent numbers. We cannot age them, unfortunately, as both adults and juveniles undergo a full moult on their wintering grounds.
Our annual grasshopper warbler totals fluctuate based on whether a netting session coincides with an influx of autumn passage birds (our peak autumn count is six in a day).
It would appear there are at least two reeling males in the vicinity of the ringing site in 2019, so hopefully the year total will also be swelled by locally-bred juveniles. Breeding has been confirmed in each of the last three years.
Thanks to Heather Coats, Keith Vaughton, Val Wilson, Jo Conway, Alex McCubbin, Richard Dann, Amy Schwartz, Colin Baker, Andrew Roberts, Miguel Lurgi and Paul Robinson for company and assistance.
Owain Gabb
15/05/2019
15/05/2019
 |
| Grasshopper warbler (Amy Schwartz) |
