2015 - CES 5, RB2 1 and an interesting Recovery

Peter and Jerry were at the lake on Friday the 19th of June to do CES 5 and RB2 visit 1 respectively. Andrew also came along to help for most of the session and was kept on his toes as a busy day unfolded. Nearly 100 birds were processed over the course of the day with the CES having its highest catch of the year so far and a total that was only equaled once (CES 12) last year.

Species CES RB2 Total Wren 2 (1) (1) 2 (2) Chiff 7 (1) - - 7 (1) Wilwa - - 2 - 2 Treec (1) 1 - 1 (1) Lotti 14 (4) - - 14 (4) Robin 5 (3) 1 - 6 (3) Blaca 3 (1) 2 - 5 (1) Garwa 1 - 1 (1) 2 (1) Reewa - - 5 (7) 5 (7) Sedwa - - (1) (1) Redst 1 - 1 - 2 Dunno (2) - - (2) Bluti 2 (2) 2 (1) 4 (3) Greti 1 (2) - - 1 (2) Goldf 2 - 1 (1) 3 (1) Bullf 1 (3) - (2) 1 (5) Reebu - - 3 - 3 Blabi 2 (1) - - 2 (1) Grspw - - 1 (1) 1 (1) Totals 41 (21) 20 (15) 61 (36) Total Processed 62 35 97

The set up of the CES made much easier with the installation of new guys by our resident handyman. That work was greatly appreciated at 6am as Peter was rushing round setting up the nets! The CES itself stared very slowly, 3 birds in the first two hours, but soon Peter and Andrew were very busy with three double figure net rounds. Things didn't really slow down until the nets were taken down. Despite this nothing particularly spectacular was caught. Good catches of Lotti and Chiff were undoubtedly family parties with recently fledged young. The bulk of the Chiff being an Adult male retrap with 5 of his very freshly fledged (therefore aged as 1) chicks. All were released together not far from the catching location. The Lotti were similarly interesting with the day total being almost identical to the same CES of two years ago (with the year in between being incredibly quiet all around), however the circumstances were very different. Two years ago the Lotti were all caught, as is often the case at the lake, in one large party in the same net round as moved through the scrub. This year however the various families spent almost the entire morning in the scrub between GN6 and GN7 with birds visible and calling on every net round and small numbers of Lotti caught throughout the morning. Other standout birds included a Blaca with exceptionally heavily bleached coverts, actually appearing like wing bars and giving Peter a bit of a heart in mouth (and panic) moment on his initial glimpse of the bird!

Jerry's session in RB2 was also a very good start to the reed bed season. A decent mix of birds, a steady turnover after a similarly slow start and plenty of time for Jerry to prepare the supplementary board walk and open an additional net lane through shrubs that had grown up over the last 15 or so years along one of the ditches and now seems a busy thoroughfare for birds down a field boundary that joins our Garden and RB2 sites. Jerry's catch was highlighted by the excellent start to the 2015 RAS with the 7 returning Reewa being from 2012 (1), 2013 (2), 2014 (4). With people mooting and preparing for an earlier start at the Jetty this year hopefully our fledgling RAS will go from strength to strength this year. The other fascinating bird from the RB2 visit was the Great Spotted Woodpecker pictured below. This bird was caught at the same time as a female caught earlier in the year (CES 1), possibly two birds chasing each other around. However the new bird showed some odd characteristics, as shown in a couple of photo's below. The Age and Sex was eventually settled on as a adult female, but it is certainly not a typical or straightforward bird.

Please see the below links for the comparative catches in 2014 and 2013:

What a difference a year makes! 

Similar Lotti numbers but different circumstances

An Adult Female (?) Grspw. But note the small number of Red feathers on the nape.

It had an Adult wing, so it was felt it couldn't be a Juv Male just starting it's Post Juvenile moult and therefore had to be and adult Female starting to show some male characteristics.

3, unringed, Reebu today, including this 'stonking' male.

Strange 'marking' on some of the new A rings today

Recovery news:
A recent report of a Canada Goose recovery must be one of the most unusual received by the BTO. Ringed at the Lake on 29/06/03, and reported from Ledbury, Herefordshire on 02/06/15 - 4356 days, 78 deg, 59 km. The location and date must not be particularly accurate however, as the finding circumstances were "bought at car boot sale" - whether this was the bird or the ring isn't known. Jerry has tried to get more details but so far no response.