Reed Warbler RAS starts in rb2

Following the prolonged dry spell in April/May very little grass had grown in the fields, so the cows had munched there way through the sedge bed. Even knowing this, Jerry had a bit of surprise when he next visited on 13th June to see that the cows had gone straight through the alder carr woodland and into the lake fringe of sedge/reed. Most of the new growth had been eaten, and the old reed stems were mainly broken and generally trashed (it looked unlikely that many Reed Warbler nests would have survived, but a few birds were still singing). The next morning Jerry returned to set the nets, just 2 in case the cows returned and there was need for a quick exit. After an early setback having to go round the park land to avoid cows in the field (which were a bit "frisky" not having seen anyone for about 8 months), the session turned out ok. Despite using just two nets the catch was a respectable 28 + (6), with a mix of Redstart 1, Reed Warbler 5 + (3) - 1st 3 for the RAS, Backcap 3, Chiffchaff 1, Long Tailed Tit 10 + (1), Treecreeper 5 + (2), and Reed Bunting 3.

Jerry's second session was on Saturday 20th, and another delayed start (this time due to showers at 07.00) but fortunately no cows. Conditions were good but it was a quiet morning with just 9 + (3), made up of Reed Warbler 1 + (3) - 2 more for the RAS, Blackcap 1, Chiffchaff 3, Willow Warbler 1, Great Tit, 1, Blue Tit 1, and Treecreeper 1.

The third session on Saturday 27th saw a return to the more usual 4 nets, with Jeremy and Robin starting the morning, and Jerry taking over later. Catching was still quiet, though new reed growth was providing some cover following the cattle damage. The total was just 13 + (5), made up of Song Thrush 1, Robin 1, Redstart 1, Reed Warbler 2 + (3) - 1 more for the RAS, Chiffchaff 5, Willow Warbler 1, Blue Tit 1, and Treecreeper 1 + (2). The star capture for the morning however was a very smart male Beautiful Demoiselle (safely extracted from the net). It looks like our RAS monitoring (recaptures of adults ringed in previous years) is likely to be a poor year. We are now a third of the way through the six week season, and just 6 RAS birds have been caught in RB2, with no visits yet to the jetty site. This was because of issues with access due to ongoing works to the bird hide and the wooden structure of the jetty being damaged. Jerry, Alan and Peter did however manage to set the site up around these obstacles on the 29th of June which will allow the Jetty to be run, in a slightly different position, this year.