A full week in RB2, CES 12, and a Canada Goose sighting in Cardiff

Another run of settled weather (after mid August), allowed some decent coverage in rb2. Starting on Tuesday 20th, Andy had a catch of 34 + (3). On Wednesday, it was a bit quieter for Jeremy (the reeds and boardwalk were wet, and took a while to dry out), who had 27 + (2). It was even quieter for Jerry on Thursday, with just 18 + (1). Although it was a bit breezy, the nets were sheltered behind the wood, so unlikely that the wind depressed the catch. The light rain, that was forecast for mid morning, could be seen over Bwlch, but the Lake remained dry (quite a common feature of the local weather). On Friday, Jerry had a very promising start - the first bird was a Grasshopper Warbler, not caught annually by the Group, and our second of the year. It became very quiet after about 08.30 however, and he ended on 21 + (1). The catch included our second Kingfisher of the year - a young male moving through the wood (same as the previous bird). On Saturday, the catch for George improved a bit (despite the sunny conditions) with 24 + (2). It included our first Swallow of the year (no roosts tried this year yet). During all of these catches, Reed Warbler dominated (and with hardly any retraps, it suggests they are just passing through quite quickly), with numbers of Sedge Warbler in a distant second place.

A nice surprise to finish a session!

George and Rachel returned on Sunday for a second hot/sunny session. There had obviously been a bit of a Sedge Warbler passage, with 19 caught (equaling the number of Reed Warblers), in a day total of 42 + (5). Jerry did Monday, but it was very quiet - misty, everything soaking wet, and few birds moving. After just a couple of hours, he packed up after having caught just 5 + (5). All in all a very useful run of visits to rb2. Although each day catch falls some way below those by Goldcliff R Gp, they can easily be undertaken by a single ringer (whereas a "team" is needed at NWR).

The final CES was also completed on Sunday, by Peter, Alan J, and Ted. The day started slowly due to the forecast cloud not developing, leaving the nets bathed in Sunlight. It also progressed at a slow pace and Peter was happy to hit 20 birds late on in the session, finishing on 18 (5). Not a "vintage" CES session but in keeping with the general numbers caught this year. The Session had plenty of quality however with decent numbers of Chiffchaff and Blackcap, perhaps indicating passage has started for both species. The totals were as follows: Wren 1 (1), Chiffchaff 8, Willow Warbler 1, Robin (1), Blackcap 5, Blue Tit (1), Garden Warbler 1, Bullfinch (1), Song Thrush 2, Blackbird (1).

Canada Goose 5275825 was ringed on 26 June 2016, and its ring was read at Roath Park Lake, Cardiff on 15 August 2019 - 1145 days, 49 km, 174 degrees. The ring was read by Trevor Fletcher, who helped out at this year's roundup, but was not caught at our 2018 & 2019 roundups, and was not seen at Brockhall Quarry last autumn. Chris Wells (who monitors the Quarry birds) reports a large increase in numbers recently - from just over 100 when birds were moulting, to 489 on 12 August. Surprisingly, Roath Park isn't a usual location for "our" birds, and this is only the third to be seen there - others ringed July 1984 and ring read March 1985, & ringed July 2007 and ring read January 2012.