About half of Group members were unable to attend (all with very good reasons) and it was heading towards being a very busy day for the remainder, but the usual contingent (plus some new ones) of ringers/helpers from Radipole, Chew Valley and Monmouth meant that there was plenty of help.
First a big thank you to the farmer - Clive Jones, and the canoeists - Tony Griffiths & the Aberfan Canoe Club, Pete Slater and Mandy Mussell, without whose help we wouldn't have had any birds to ring. Chew Valley Ringing Station loaned their catching pen as usual. Sue Parkinson took charge of allocating rings and completed the paperwork, Ron and Jerry took turns to record the retraps. Bob Webber and Alan Ashman did the weighing, while Ron, Gareth, Jeremy, Carlton and Jerry all took a spell in the pen.
The final totals were 204 ringed, and 134 retraps (no other species mixed in) and only a handful of birds got away, the creche of about 50 (mainly goslings with a few adults) were in a separate group and evaded the canoeists. The total of about 400 birds is comparable to 2011 (our last roundup) and well below the peak of about 500 from 2007 - 2009. In recent years some birds have chosen to moult at nearby Talybont Res, which has caused a reduction in the number at Llangorse.
During winter 2011/12 a substantial number of geese were shot at the Lake (24 recoveries in our last Bulletin), and the effect of this may be causing a gradual reduction in the local population. Only future monitoring is likely to shed light on what is happening.
-Jerry Lewis
Birds being ushered into the catching pen on the day:
Jerry maintaining order:
..and here are some additional photos from about 10 years ago:
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