Will and I bagged a good selection of birds at Rawcliffe Moss this morning in a six hour ringing session from 0500 to 1100, with warblers, finches and thrushes caught. We also ringed a brood of young Swallows hatched in a shed near the barn.
Our total caught was 37 birds of 13 mixed species, 30 new birds and 7 recaptures from previous occasions:
New birds:
4 Whitethroat
1 Blue Tit
10 Willow Warbler
3 Sedge Warbler
1 Reed Warbler
1 Dunnock
2 Coal Tit
1 Great Tit
1 Goldfinch
3 Blackbird
3 Swallow (nestlings)
Recaptures:
1 Chaffinch
1 Wren
3 Willow Warbler
2 Whitethroat.
Of the ten new Willow Warblers, five were recently fledged juvenile birds, i.e. 3J in ringer’s parlance with the five adults representing birds on territory but missed in ringing sessions earlier in the season. Likewise the 3 Sedge Warblers we caught, all in breeding condition and staying quiet this morning when we wondered whether they were still in the plantation so quietly did they go about their business. But there is nothing quite like a mist net for finding otherwise secretive birds.
A slight oddity in June but not totally without precedent here was an adult Reed Warbler which could be a refugee from dried out reed fringed ditches and ponds of the local mossland.
We found a further Whitethroat nest with tiny young and whilst all the resident Whitethroats were busy feeding young and moving about the ringing site, we didn’t catch any fresh juveniles.
Sedge Warbler
Willow Warbler “3J”
Reed Warbler
Coal Tit “3J”
Whitethroat
Whitethroat Nest
Other birds seen this morning included 3 Buzzard over the birch wood, 4 Corn Bunting, 1 Kestrel, 4 Reed Bunting, 4 Skylark, circa 20 Goldfinch in small groups and also parties of both Swallows and House Martins feeding over newly cut fields.
Our total caught was 37 birds of 13 mixed species, 30 new birds and 7 recaptures from previous occasions:
New birds:
4 Whitethroat
1 Blue Tit
10 Willow Warbler
3 Sedge Warbler
1 Reed Warbler
1 Dunnock
2 Coal Tit
1 Great Tit
1 Goldfinch
3 Blackbird
3 Swallow (nestlings)
Recaptures:
1 Chaffinch
1 Wren
3 Willow Warbler
2 Whitethroat.
Of the ten new Willow Warblers, five were recently fledged juvenile birds, i.e. 3J in ringer’s parlance with the five adults representing birds on territory but missed in ringing sessions earlier in the season. Likewise the 3 Sedge Warblers we caught, all in breeding condition and staying quiet this morning when we wondered whether they were still in the plantation so quietly did they go about their business. But there is nothing quite like a mist net for finding otherwise secretive birds.
A slight oddity in June but not totally without precedent here was an adult Reed Warbler which could be a refugee from dried out reed fringed ditches and ponds of the local mossland.
We found a further Whitethroat nest with tiny young and whilst all the resident Whitethroats were busy feeding young and moving about the ringing site, we didn’t catch any fresh juveniles.
Other birds seen this morning included 3 Buzzard over the birch wood, 4 Corn Bunting, 1 Kestrel, 4 Reed Bunting, 4 Skylark, circa 20 Goldfinch in small groups and also parties of both Swallows and House Martins feeding over newly cut fields.
Congratulations for the BlogGreetings from creativity and imagination photos of José Ramón
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