mid August, reed bed taping continues, a roost, CES 11, and recent recoveries

High pressure continued for a couple more days, so Andy was in rb2 on Thursday 10th, with Jerry taking over at mid day for a couple more hours. After a damp start, the sun came out, and the breeze picked up from about 8.30, which made the nets very visible and reduced the catch to just 12 birds. The mix was Reed Warbler 6, Sedge Warbler 2, Blackcap 1, Chiffchaff 2, and Willow Warbler 1 (mainly during Andy's time).

Friday 11th was the last day before the weather changed, so Jeremy was at the jetty (a 4.30 start), and in his catch of 21, the benefits of the dawn tapes were a Grasshopper Warbler (at 5.40) and 13 Sedge Warbler. The catching petered out quickly at 8.00 as the wind picked up. Jerry and Jake were in rb2 for a more leisurely 7.00 start (a fairly breezy session) and a catch of 23 + (3). Although only 1 Sedge Warbler was caught (no early tapes to bring them down), the best of the rest were a Whitethroat (at 7.10), Cettis Warbler, Redstart, and 13 Chiffchaff. The full species mix for the day was Wren 1 + (1), Robin 1, Dunnock (1), Redstart 1, Cettis Warbler 1, Grasshopper Warbler 1, Sedge Warbler 14, Reed Warbler 9 + (1), Whitethroat 1, Chiffchaff 13, Willow Warbler 1 and Blue Tit 1.

Grasshopper Warbler at Jetty

Restart at RB2

Whitethroat at RB2

After a short break for adverse weather conditions, Peter and Alan J were back for a roost on Tuesday 15th. With c1,000+ Sand Martin in the flock all was looking promising before things deteriorated when the flock appeared to be reacting to an unseen (Hobby) and only one was caught, plus 2 Reed and 2 Sedge Warblers "pre-roost".

On Wednesday 16th, Rachel and Jerry did CES 11 for a reasonable total of 19 + (13) - 5 birds above the all time mean for visit 11. The misty/foggy start made for slow catching during the first half, which picked up when the sun started to break through. The highest total for a net round was just 10 mins before the session ended. The species mix was Wood Pigeon 1, Blackbird 4, Dunnock (1), Robin (4), Reed Warbler 1, Blackcap 4 + (2), Chiffchaff 2 + (2), Blue Tit 2 + (2), Great Tit 1, Greenfinch 1, and Bullfinch 3 + (2).

recently fledged Woodpigeon

On the same morning Andy was at the jetty. In contrast he had a useful 15 + (2) "Acros" during the misty start, followed by 6 "Phyllosc" when the sun was out (and on the nets). His total catch was a respectable 27 + (2). Thursday 17th was another typical autumnal morning at the Lake - calm misty start with cold/wet vegetation until the sun started to break through. Jeremy was at the jetty for his usual 4.30 start (to set the tapes), and nets set 5.00 - 9.30. The early tapes giving a high ratio of Sedge Warbler in his catch of 22 (no retraps). Jerry was in rb2 for a more leisurely 6.30 - 12.30 session, and the sun breaking through an hour later than at the jetty. His longer visit resulted in a slightly higher catch of 26 + (5). The combined totals for these three reed bed catches were Robin 1, Wren 1 + (1), Sedge Warbler 21 + (2), Reed Warbler 30 + (2), Chiffchaff 12, Willow Warbler 5, and Blue Tit 5 + (2). One feature of the Sedge Warblers were the adults carrying higher fat loads (code E30) than the youngsters (code E10).

Our Pied Flycatcher monitoring has produced two recoveries -

S961457 was ringed as a chick on 6 June 2022 at Cwm Glaisfer, Nr Crickhowell (by Jeremy), and was caught as a breeding female in a shelterbelt box on 8 June 2023 - 367 days, 8 km, 352 degrees.

APV0053 was ringed as a chick on 11 June 2022 at Wigmore Rolls, Herefordshire, and was caught as a breeding female in a Cwm Sorgwm box on 24 May 2023 - 347 days, 48 km, 207 degrees.