August week 2 - good "Acro" coverage, and three roosts

On Sunday 8th, fresh back from their holiday in Pembroke, Peter, Alan J & Ted tried another roost. Although it was a bit breezy, they had a decent catch of 31 + (4) made up of Sand Martin 14 + (1), Chiffchaff 7, Willow Warbler 6, Reed Warbler 4 + (2), and Reed Bunting (1). The "hirundine" flock numbered about 300 (mainly Sand Martin) and most of them ended up roosting just east of the jetty, with a Hobby making a late appearance at 21.20.

The forecast was for rain overnight and showers on Monday morning, and late in the evening Jerry opted to try the jetty rather than rb2. The vehicle is close by so there is some decent shelter at the jetty, and the nets are in full view, so even in light rain the birds can be extracted straight away. With the rain not clearing until 7am, this turned out to be a wise move, as it would have been a very miserable morning in rb2. Although the breeze picked up, and the sun came out from about 9, he had a very good catch of 43 + (4) made up of Wren 1, Chiffchaff 4, Willow Warbler 3, Blackcap 1, Garden Warbler 1, Reed Warbler 21 + (3), Sedge Warbler 11 + (1), and Reed Bunting 1. Star bird was a French ringed Sedge Warbler, but it will probably be some time before we get the ringing details, as we are still waiting for this information from a Reed Warbler that Andy caught in 2019.

On Tuesday 10th, Jerry was in rb2, with excellent catching conditions - mainly cloudy, calm (breeze only picking up at the end), and the reeds only "damp" from a morning dew. Catching was steady with a total of 53 + (6), made up of Blackbird (1), Song Thrush 2, Chiffchaff 8 + (1), Reed Warbler 28 + (4), Sedge Warbler 14, and Blue Tit 1. He had another control, this time a British ringed Reed Warbler. In the evening Peter and Alan J tried another roost, but it was a disappointing catch. Although they didn't see the Hobby, it was clearly present and disrupting the roost, so their catch was only 12 birds - Sand Martin 6, Swallow 1, Chiffchaff 3, and Reed Warbler 2.

On Wednesday 11th, Andy was at the jetty, and Jerry was in rb2. Conditions were mainly good again (as per Tuesday), until some drizzle arrived about mid morning. Their respective catches were 33 + (2) and 23 + (3), the higher jetty catch probably a reflection of Andy's earlier start. The mix (for the day) was - Wren 1, Chiffchaff 9, Willow Warbler 1, Garden Warbler 2, Reed Warbler 29 + (4), Sedge Warbler 12, Blue Tit 1 + (1), and Reed Bunting 1.

Thursday 12th saw a change of ringer, with George doing rb2. Unfortunately, his catch was smaller than recent sessions there (possibly because fewer tape players were used), and he ended on 16 + (6), made up of Chiffchaff 3 + (1), Willow Warbler 3, Reed Warbler 9 + (5), and Treecreeper 1. In the evening he joined Peter and Alan J for the third roost of the week. There were good numbers of Sand Martin (300+) and Swallow (100+) still present, but with the usual Hobby (plus a Sparrowhawk) disturbance the catch was just 15 + (2), made up of Sand Martin 10 + (1), Willow Warbler 1, Garden Warbler 1, Reed Warbler 2 + (1), and Sedge Warbler 1. Roost efforts have now taken the year total for Sand Martin ringed to over 200, we have only exceeded this number 10 times previously. The last time in 2004 with the others in the last century.

Jeremy was at the jetty on Friday 13th, with George in rb2 (not put off by his previous poor catch, the risk of light rain for much of the morning, nor by the date). Jeremy had his usual early start to arrive at the jetty at 4.00 in the hope of catching a Grasshopper Warbler, but the conditions were a bit breezy and he caught just 21 + (1) before packing up at 9.30. George, in contrast, had been catching steadily with "Acros" responding to his tape player, when mid morning saw the arrival of a large group of "Phyllosc" warblers, moving through the trees. Despite no "Phyllosc" tape playing they started to be caught in the alder carr nets. Appreciating how many birds there were, George contacted Andy to ask him to come and help, and to collect more bird bags/AA rings from the hut on his way. The session ended with an excellent 89 + (12). The species mix across the two sites was Sand Martin 1, Wren 2, Chiffchaff 37 + (4) - beating our previous maximum day catch for this species, Willow Warbler 10, Reed Warbler 36 + (7), Sedge Warbler 22 + (2), and Blue Tit 2. One of George's Chiffchaffs was a control - an adult in wing moult. There was no sign of any rain, with the BBC weather reports no longer being very reliable, as they appear to have become ultra cautious with their forecasts. Wet weather is generally better than the forecasts, with the Lake being situated in the shadow of the Beacons.

Two pleased ringers! George particularly pleased his two day stint rewarded him with something other than a soaking!