CES starts at the Lake for another year, nest boxes checked, and a recent Canada Goose recovery

As we start our 44th year of monitoring through CES, our 500th visit will be completed in a few weeks time. The weather for the end of April was not very good, with dawn rain forecast for Sunday 28th (the start of the CES season). But this changed on Saturday evening so Gareth opted for the first opportunity to make a start (with help from Jerry and Jake). The first couple of hours were quite productive, but when the sun broke through at about mid session this slowed down. The morning ended with a respectable 31 + (20) - in fact our highest ever first session catch, and included a decent variety of migrants - Cettis Warbler 1 + (1), Willow Warbler 2 + (3), Chiffchaff 5 + (5), Blackcap 4, Garden Warbler 2 + (1), and Pied Flycatcher 1. As this was the only ringing undertaken in April it brought the YTD ringing total to 184 by the end of the month.

male Pied Flycatcher by Jake Cohen

Gareth made a first check of some of our nest boxes - those in the shelter belt had single Pied Flycatcher and Redstart nests, while those at Cathedine held at least 3 of each species (though not all nests had full clutches yet). Peter and Alan J did the remaining boxes on Tuesday 7th - and found 7 Pied Flycatcher and a Redstart at Sorgwm, a Redstart at rb1, but few nests at rb2 where it was still mainly flooded (though 3 Redstart were singing in the wood).

On Saturday 11th, Gareth (and Jerry helping) completed the second CES visit, for a reduced catch of 6 + (19). Although some birds in the area might have been deterred by sun on the nets, a good proportion of those caught on the first CES visit were caught again.

Canada Goose 5275925 was ringed at the Lake on 26 June 2016, and was found freshly dead at Abergavenny on 28 April 2024 - 2863 days, 21 km, 129 degrees.