CES 10, 2nd week August Acro sessions & two early recoveries

On Thurs 10 August, Carlton and Andy were doing the CES visit. The 1st half of the session was very quiet, with the 2nd half (in full sun) a little better.  The catch of 13 + (9) is not our lowest for CES10 however, there have been 10 lower, incl a catch of just 6 in 2002.  The highest for session 10 was 86 (1998).  The species were Wren 1 + (1), Robin (1), Blackbird 3, Song Thrush 2, Blackcap 2, Reed Warbler (2), Coal Tit (2), Great Tit (1), Nuthatch 2 + (1), Greenfinch 2 and Bullfinch 1 + (1).

Jerry was in rb2, and with a full moon only just gone, conditions were good (further north) for Acro migration.  The first two net rounds were busy, and Andy popped down to help.  On the first round Jerry noticed a Grasshopper Warbler on the other side of one net, but by the time he had cleared his side of the nets (10 minutes later) it had escaped !!  Fortunately, two were caught on the second net round.  We don't catch this species annually (38 ringed in 38 years, with max of 7 in 2002) - so two on the same net round is pretty special.  Sophie-Lee joined him later, and the session ended on a respectable 69 + (6), which included 40 Sedge Warbler, and a 3JP Cettis Warbler, confirming at least two successful breeding attempts (although it is likely that it is far more that two) as the timings mean this is almost certainly from a different brood to the bird caught during CES 5 (CLICK HERE), as this bird would have been a 3JJ a few days earlier.

Two Grasshopper Warblers

In the evening, Jerry and Andy (with Peter Leek doing the climbing) ringed a Hobby brood.  Although we caught two Hobby, at jetty roost sessions, in 2001 (one ringed by Jerry in 2000, at a nest Nr Abergavenny), these are the first chicks to be ringed by the Group.

Hobby Brood

The Brood of Hobby were ringed under a schedule 1 Licence 

On Saturday 12th, George and Elinor were in rb2, and Jeremy was at the jetty.  Catches were modest, just 23 + (4) and 25 + (0) respectively.  Reed outnumbered Sedge in both catches, so maybe the overnight rain
showers disrupted the Sedge Warbler migration, the catch not helped (in rb2), by a faulty playback battery. Our YTD catch for Reed has just passed 400 (so heading for a top five year total), and Sedge is almost 150 (top 10).  Two early controls, of our RAS sessions, are juvenile Reed Warblers (ringed at the jetty) that have been caught at Icklesham, E Sussex (296 km, 113 degrees).  S931013 was ringed 20/06, and caught 01/08 - 42 days: while S931081 was ringed 09/07, and caught 05/08 - 27 days.

Jerry was back in rb2 on Sunday 13th, in thick mist - which didn't clear until 9am.  The reeds were very wet, and the constant drip, drip, drip on the ringing table, made for a "miserable" few hours.  The Hobby was heard at 9am, seeming to be as happy as Jerry that the mist was finally clearing.  The catch was small, just 18 + (5), but the first bird needed a quick trip to the hut for an SO ring (our first Kingfisher for four years), and a little later, another Grasshopper Warbler was caught, so a couple of bonuses to compensate.

Totals for the four reed-bed sessions were Kingfisher 1, Wren 3 + (3), Dunnock 2, Blackbird 1, Song Thrush (2), Willow Warbler 3 + (2), Chiffchaff 3, Cettis Warbler 1, Grasshopper Warbler 3, Reed Warbler 51 + (8), Sedge Warbler 60, Blackcap 4, Blue Tit 1 and Bullfinch 2.