CES 4

George completed the session on Sunday 9th June. It was a very quiet start, with hardly a bird for the first hour & a half, but the weather was much improved over Saturday, so he was pleased with his choice of day. It was warm, dry and still, and although he could have done with less sunshine at times, it didn't seem to have affected the catch. The session ended with a heavy shower.

The catch of 13 + (9) was towards the lower end of captures, for this session, for the last 10 years. Although there was nothing particularly unusual, the control male Blackcap (from 2018), was caught for a second time this year, so presumably breeding in the scrub area. Birds ringed elsewhere (controls) are relatively easy to spot at the Lake, as they usually have the ring on the right leg.

A check of the last few occupied nest boxes, added a brood of 5 pulli, and a new adult, Pied Flycatcher. The species mix for the day was - Wren 1 +(1), Robin 1, Blackbird 2 ( both adults ), Dunnock 1 +(1), Blackcap 4 +(4), Garden Warbler 1, Chiffchaff 1, Willow Warbler (1), Reed Warbler 1 + (1), Pied Flycatcher 1 +(1) and 5 pulli, and Goldfinch 1. The whole session was accompanied by the song of our "long lived" Cettis Warbler, patrolling his territory - though he managed to evade the nets.

female Blackcap with a good BP code 3

Adult male Goldfinch - net 7, far end, bottom shelf