First "tape" sessions in the reed beds & CES 9

Wed 1st August saw the start of our playback sessions, with Alan L/Ron at the jetty, and Jerry in rb2. A shower of rain (at first light), did not bode well, but it soon passed through, for a calm and mainly cloudy start to the morning, only getting sunny and breezy from about 08.30. Alan played a whole range of Warbler song (including some of his "wish list" species) at the jetty, but Jerry stuck to just Sedge Warbler and Blackcap in rb2. The jetty total was 30 + (3), with the main species Reed Warbler 14 + (3), and Sedge Warbler 9, though the best bird was a Whitethroat. In rb2, the catch was double this, at 59 + (8) - not really surprising as double the number of nets are used in rb2. The main species were Reed Warbler 29 + (5) and Blackcap 17 + (2). Species details for the day were Reed Warbler 43 + (8), Sedge Warbler 14, Whitethroat 1, Blackcap 21 + (2), Garden Warbler 2, Willow Warbler 5,
Chiffchaff 3 and Blue Tit (1).

On Thurs 2nd, Jeremy had an early (5am) start in rb2, for another excellent catch of 49 + (12). Tony was doing CES 9 in the garden, and had a catch of 26 + (7), the highest for this visit since 2014 (when 60 caught). Details of the two catches tabulated below -

	RB2		CES
Species	New	R/T	New	R/T
Blackbird	-	-	8	1
Song Thrush	-	-	3	1
Robin	-	-	1	-
Dunnock	-	-	1	-
Wren	1	-	-	-
Cettis Warbler	-	1	-	-
Reed Warbler	34	10	1	-
Sedge Warbler	1	-	-	-
Garden Warbler	2	-	2	1
Blackcap	4	-	7	3
Willow Warbler	2	-	-	-
Chiffchaff	1	-	-	-
Blue Tit	1	1	2	-
Treecreeper	1	-	-	-
Bullfinch	-	-	1	1
Reed Bunting	2	-	-	-
TOTAL	49	12	26	7

Jerry was back in rb2 on Fri 3rd (doing something special for his birthday !!), and caught 57 + (4). There were no recaptures of birds ringed in the previous two mornings, so plenty of migrants passing through. Species details - Blackbird (1), Wren (1), Cettis Warbler 1 (a recently fledged juvenile), Reed Warbler 25 + (1), Sedge Warbler 20, Blackcap 5, Willow Warbler 1, Chiffchaff 1, Blue Tit (1) and Reed Bunting 4.

On Sat 4th, Andy tried the jetty (with a variety of playback), in ideal conditions, and an excellent catch of 51 + (1) - warbler passage well and truly now in progress. The mix was Reed Warbler 26 + (1), Sedge Warbler 6, Garden Warbler 3, Blackcap 9,  Willow Warbler 2, Chiffchaff 1, Blue Tit 2, Chaffinch 1 and Reed Bunting 1.