mid July update on Reed Warbler RAS

At last, some cloud cover in the second week of July, and it prompted four more RAS sessions, so timely to do a summary update. On Sunday 7 July, Jerry and Rachel were at the jetty, and despite the good cloud cover, the catch was just 17 + (1). On 8th, Andy tried a second evening visit to the jetty, and had a catch of 16 + (6). The highlight was our first "autumn" Sedge Warbler of the year. During the evening, a group of about 100 school children (plus teachers), were on an evening walk from the Common, which kept Andy busy making sure they didn't get too close to the nets.

On 9th, Jerry was in rb2 for the best catch of the year (so far), with 44 + (16). It included a decent number of Reed Bunting (the most ringed species of the session). Peter arrived later in the morning, and cleaned out the rb2 boxes, he found a Redstart nest from which young had fledged. When the box was last checked, there was only a part nest (other nests had eggs, so assumed to have been abandoned) - obviously a premature assumption. This nest likely accounting for the young Redstart that were caught on a previous visit, and for those birds seen "working" the rb2 ditch fence-line. At lunchtime in the hut, Peter spotted a Polecat at the garden gate, climbing over the fence, and causing several birds in the garden hedge to become agitated.

Decent sized toad found in Grass by our ringing station in RB2

The forecast for 11th was for light rain from the early hours, but because the jetty provides good shelter, Jeremy thought it was worth trying. In the event, there was only one light shower (06.30), and he had a catch of 19 + (2), the best of which was a moulting female Cettis Warbler, and a second Sedge Warbler.

Moulting Cettis Warbler

Moulting Cettis Warbler

Species summary for the three jetty visits - Cettis Warbler 2, Willow Warbler 3, Chiffchaff 6, Garden Warbler 3, Blackcap 1 + (1), Reed Warbler 33 + (8), Sedge Warbler 2, Blue Tit 1 and Reed Bunting 1.

Species totals from rb2 visit - Blackbird 2, Redstart (1), Willow Warbler 4, Chiffchaff 3, Blackcap 2 + (1), Garden Warbler 1, Reed Warbler 11 + (7), Blue Tit 8 + (4), Treecreeper 1, Bullfinch (1) and Reed Bunting 12 + (2). The two retrap Reed Bunting had previously been ringed in August 2017 at the jetty, and July 2018 in rb2. We are still awaiting enough recaptures (from the bird crop sessions), to be able to confirm if most of the birds during the winter are "local to the Lake". Recent catches in rb2 have had higher numbers of Willow Warbler than Chiffchaff, making it reminiscent of the early 1980's - though with much smaller numbers.

RAS summary - we have had 66 captures of ringed adult Reed Warblers, of which 24 individuals have contributed to our RAS data - so target reached (the remaining captures were either ringed as youngsters in 2018, or are repeat captures). Fourteen (of the 24) were caught at the jetty, and the remaining ten were in rb2. These birds were originally ringed in 2014 (1), 2015 (1), 2016 (7), 2017 (9) and 2018 (6). There have been fewer adult Reed Warbler in recent catches, than during the June visits - perhaps suggesting that they may have already left, following a poor breeding season. The "impression" of lower numbers of young Reed Warbler this year would support that view, though with 54 ringed so far, its almost identical to the 56 ringed (by mid month) in 2018 (numbers don't take account of effort).