Reed bed ringing August week 4.

The final week of August saw few visits to the reed beds.

On Sunday 23rd, Andy was at the jetty The compacted ground conditions made for a difficult, (time consuming) effort to set the nets, and in a short session he ended with just 3 + (1), made up of Reed Warbler 1, Sedge Warbler 1, and Chiffchaff 1 + (1).

On Tuesday 25th, Jerry was in rb2, but because of the repeated occasional access by cattle, he limited the visit to just two nets, and a "ringing station" set up on the boardwalk (so that the nets, and any approaching cattle could be seen). In a relatively short session (before some forecast light rain arrived) he had ringed 12 birds. The mix was Reed Warbler 7, Sedge Warbler 2. and Chiffchaff 3.

There was then a period of wet weather forecast, more rain than we had seen for the last three months. At the same time, felling of "problem trees" adjacent to the bird hide and its access ramps further limited ringing opportunities at the jetty. Disappointingly, there were no more ringing visits to these two site during the rest of the month.