Late July - RAS ends, a roost, and CES 9

The end of the month saw an unsettled period of weather, with prolonged spells of light/moderate rain/showers, which limited opportunities for netting. Not helped in planning our visits with the weather forecasts changing almost daily. Tuesday 25th was the first decent option, so Andy/Jerry were quick to respond with RAS visits to the jetty/rb2 respectively. Their catches were 13 + (5) and 29 + (11), and although hoping for a larger catch (now that some early migrants were starting to pass through), 7 of the Reed Warbler contributed to the RAS total. The species mix for the day was Wren 2 + (1), Robin 1 + (2), Chiffchaff 4, Willow Warbler 1, Sedge Warbler 7, Reed Warbler 20 + (11), Blue Tit 4, Long-tailed Tit 1, Treecreeper 1 + (1), and Reed Bunting 1 + (1).

On Thursday 17th, a larger than usual team (Peter, Alan, Ruth & Carlton) gathered for another roost. There was thick cloud cover, and although some 2,000 Sand Martin were present the evening catch was poor, comprising just 7 +(1), made up of Cettis Warbler (1), Reed Warbler 1, Chiffchaff 1, Sand Martin 2, and Swallow 3.

Andy and Jerry did CES 9 on Friday 18th, in near perfect conditions - no rain, mainly decent cloud cover, and the breeze only starting to pick up towards the end of the session. The catching was steady throughout, and ended on 30 + (6), just one short of the all time average for this visit (and three more than the recent average). The mix was Kingfisher 1 (flying through the garden), Wren 5, Robin 2 + (3), Blackbird 2, Song Thrush 1, Reed Warbler 4 (1), Chiffchaff 6, Willow Warbler 1 + (1), Blackcap 5, Goldcrest 1, Blue Tit 2, and Bullfinch (1).

This year has been a really successful RAS season for us, with 41 ringed adult Reed Warbler caught, these recaptured birds are used by the BTO to estimate annual adult survival. This year, the last few visits have seen a greater number of re-captures than in previous years, they are indicative of breeding birds moving around the Lake's different reed beds (when they have finished breeding), but the later increased numbers this year may be indicative of a later breeding season. Seven visits to rb2 generated 28 individuals, six morning visits to the jetty 8, and six roost visits a further 5. The years when these adults had originally been ringed were - 2022 (20), 2021 (10), 2020 (1), 2019 (5), 2018 (2), 2017 (1), plus controls (2). The latest annual adult survival rates at Llangorse (estimated by the BTO for 2020/21), were 49% survival for males, and 43% for females. For comparison, the overall survival rates across all Reed Warbler RAS sites were 46% males and 48% females.

By the end of the July, 444 birds had been ringed, making our YTD 982