3 wader species on the beach

After 58 Woodcock ringed on upland pastures last winter, a nice change to be on the beach, watching the sunset over the sea.....
Juvenile Dunlins, Ringed Plovers, and this juvenile Curlew Sandpiper ringed -- a nice start to this phase of high tides at night.

Sylvia warblers next

(Lesser Whitethroat on Saturday, Tommy Evans)

We get the feeling that our Aquatics are not going to happen, but we are not giving up.... !
Emphasis now moving to Sylvia warblers, both on the reserve (ces over now) and at Towyn Burrows, our scrubland site nearer the estuary mouth.

Back to the beach...

With waders starting to move, a high tide look at the estuary this morning was calling so we took some spring traps down to Patch for a change.
This was earlier than our first attempt last year when our maximum catches were in October. It was well worthwhile though - 12 Rock Pipits ringed. With only 8 traps, a six bird round just 10 minutes after the previous round was a good result.
No rarities amongst the waders but the Turnstones and Sanderling on the spit make a dazzling attempt tonight look appealing.

TRG goes all weather!

It was good to have three enthusiastic children with us this morning for our last CES session of the year. Apart from one big round at 7am the morning was fairly quiet, particularly the reed bed - 55 new including 16 Chiffs, 15 Blackcaps, 4 Sedge Warblers and 1 Lesser Whitethroat. 16 retraps including 2 Treecreepers.

The weather could have been better but we had a chance to try out our new pop up gazebo to shelter us from showers that threatened all morning. With any luck we might have some hot days next summer and we can shelter us and the birds from the sun.


This was funded by Environment Wales as part of a start up grant.





Our £2 table and chairs have survived another season so until the day that we can afford the luxury of a ringing hut we are not too doing too badly for comfort. The only thing missing was Dawn with her supply of bacon sandwiches!

Aquatic free ...but a thank you

Karen, our latest Trainee, overseeing the drying of bird bags !!!
Steve in the photo, the finder of the recent Long-eared Owl, & Woodchat Shrike on the marsh.
Our ringing effort in the Mallard Run has been helped this season by 2 grants for ringing in this area of the reserve. A grant from the Welsh Ornithological Society directed at the Aquatic Warbler. A grant from Cardigan Town Council for our ringing in this area of the reserve where we are very accessible to interested members of the general public.

Alas no Aquatic Warbler ....yet !
Last August we ringed on 18 dates in August, catching 2 Aquatics and 215 Sedge warblers in the process.
To date, this August we have ringed on 24 of the 26 dates, no Aquatic but 281 new Sedge Warblers and 61 new Reed Warblers. A great plus in the Mallard this season has been 15 Grasshopper Warblers.
After our final CES tomorrow,........into Mallard mud again !!

Aquatic no, but Cettis.....

No surprise, no Aquatic yet, note -- 1 trapped in Dorset this morning.
Oliver Fox from the West Wiltshire RG with us for a few days with a juvenile Cetti's Warbler today. Oliver doesn't find many on Salisbury Plain !
Not sure how our Cettis have fared.. work in progress.

Still no Aqua but...

No Surprise !! No Aquatics on Patch either
-- but this juvenile Knot is rather nice.

No Aquatic yet but a new bird for the TRG

A strange sight across the reed bed this morning with mist rising from the Mallard ride! Richard and his visiting nephew, Tom, must have been working up quite a sweat opening the nets to produce that.
With acro numbers not reaching the peaks of last August (our 2 Aquatic Warblers turned up this week last year) and plenty of pairs of hands this morning we added a 2 shelf wader net along Mallard pond edge for some extra excitement. This was our reward, a Green Sandpiper.

None were ringed in Wales in 2010 and only 3 in 2009.
Also overhead were a Spotted Redshank and Whimbrel so watch this space for another new TRG species before long!
We did catch another 19 acros in a couple of hours so the numbers for this year are slowly adding up (over 400 Sedge warblers so far this year).

Not all Blue Tits...

Nearly a full house of tits this morning, Blue, Great and Long tailed of course but unusually for our CES site, a Coal Tit and Marsh Tit.
Nice for our visiting ringer too, Richard Charles from Leigh Ringing Group, as Marsh Tits are not regularly caught by them either.
Richard has spent a few days with us enjoying some early morning sessions in the reed bed and getting to know us before 3 weeks together ringing in Uganda next year.
A quiet CES session with 55 new including 17 Chiff Chaffs and 26 retraps, the best of which was a Treecreeper.
A Marsh Tit was also caught in the garden yesterday, a more usual site for them.
Interestingly birds ringed there do turn up on our CES site 3 miles away - last week we retrapped 2 Goldfinches that were ringed at home last December and a Blue Tit from CES last summer was caught in the garden during the winter.

X799807 - Siskin

Not sure where this one is in the system?
This was a surprise control by Paddy and I, as a 5M at Ty Rhyg, North Pembs, on 3 July 2010.
Any knowledge.......?

From Russia.... (with love ......)

Woodcock Scolopax rusticola

:

Ring no: EW93650

Since November 2009 we have ringed 67 Woodcock in the North Preselis, so far no recoveries for us,... but one for Paddy Jenks ringing nearby,...

Ringing date: 17-Jan-2010
Place code: CRINOW Site name: Crinow Farm, Narberth, Pembrokeshire, Wales

Finding date: 15-Apr-2011

Place code: --- Site name: Yusupovo, Domodedovskiy district, Moscow O., Russian Federation Shot

Duration: 453 days Distance: 2825 km Direction: 82deg (E)
Finder: RUM Moscow

Y141566 -- Teeside to the Teifi !!

Ian Forrest said...

Hi Teifi Ringing Group

Sedge Warbler Y141566 was ringed at Saltholme[RSPB]/ Teesside -my CES site- as a '3' on 22/07/2011 Wing 68 mm Mass 11.1 gram. @ 0710 .

Thanks and well done!

Best Wishes

Derek Clayton

Y141566 - sedwa.....an owner please?

Back in Mallard mud.....
7 & 8th August 2010, we controlled 4 BTO ringed Sedge Warbler & 1 French ringed Reed Warbler.
2011, 7 & 8th August.. we have controlled just 1, the Sedge -- Y141566, a juvenile bird.
Likely the weather paid it's part, with a much smaller catch, and likely a slower/different passage?
We are beginning to recapture birds as adults that we ringed last August as juveniles- never seen in the breeding season.
Time will tell as we study our breeding population, but nice to think that these are returning faithful passage birds.....
....our studies go on when the weather allows !!.

Thanks...a melody too

Before I dive into Mallard mud...
A big thanks to Owen Leyshon (now of Kent / Dungeness) sitting at the table scribing for Arfon in the photos below.
A great thanks too for finding today's Melodious Warbler at Martin's Haven.
See PembsBirds for nice pics by Dave Astins,

More from Saturday

Some of dawn's photos from the ringing demonstration.


After a slow CES start, it was looking as if there might not be many birds for the demo but first bird out of the net for them was the star of the show, a Kingfisher.









And next, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers!

A steady flow of birds followed, including Sedge and Reed Warblers, Goldfinches, Chaffinches and to finish, a Goldcrest, providing plenty of interest.

Ringing Demo delights!

A good turnout at the 1st of the seasons ringing demonstrations.
What a setting, held on the bank of the Teifi, next to our CES site....... what birds!
The 1st birds out the bags, 1 Kingfisher, & 2 Great Spots..... more demo pics to follow..!!

Attempting Aquatics & ringed Ringed Plovers

Visit this.......Lamsdell Ringing & Birding Blog........and wish...!!

We missed the Mallard Run due to CES and the Ringing Demonstration today. With 8 Sedges caught on the CES site, where we only catch Sedges with heavy passage, I suspect we missed c100 today at Mallard and what species with them...??
Sunday is another day.....

A HT visit to Patch today, the 1st juvenile Ringed Plovers and 2 ringed adults....I only ringed 1 on Friday night.....OH !

Sedges in the mud!

Our second highest August Sedge Warbler catch this morning with 53 new birds in one and a half hours. Also a Grasshopper Warbler and 3 Reed Warblers. Out of the 53 birds before 7am only 6 were adults.
Net rounds are quite a challenge at the moment with mud to the top of our waders in places but worth it as the drier reed bed on our CES site doesn't attract anywhere near as many acros.

Sandpiper stories

The week-end is here...
No Green Sandpiper at Mallard he was as at Creek Hide!!
Off to Patch, and this nice adult Ringed Plover, small wader passage has hardly started, no juvenile small waders yet.
We catch a few Common Sandpipers on the Teifi in August, therefore very nice to catch the spotted American cousin. This Spotted Sandpiper was one of the amazing successes at Long Point in May, (see the May postings).
To finish the sandpiper stories,....my 1st Wood Sandpiper, and what a disappointment for a crazy second,...a control, bearing a Belarus ring.....this was on a Southern Greek island...
I wonder what will the Teifi produce this week-end ??
What will enhance our ringing demonstration and CES?

Environmental funding gives the TRG a boost

The TRG has received a grant from Environment Wales.
The Environment Wales initiative not only provides financial assistance but also support to voluntary groups who have demonstrated a commitment to improving the Environment of Wales made possible by funding from the Welsh Government. The grants help to cover the cost of valuable resources to undertake much needed projects. Particularly valuable for us will be the purchase of a digital projector to enhance talks given to local groups as well as tools and stationery.
For more information about the Environment Wales initiative, their core partners and the types of project it can support email: info@environment-wales.org

Ringing demo this Saturday

There are still some places left for the bird ringing workshop being organised by the Welsh Wildlife Centre -
Saturday 6 August, 8am
"Join the Teifi Ringing Group on the Teifi Marshes Nature Reserve for this interesting insight into their work.Breakfast is included after the workshop in our Glasshouse Cafe.£7.50 per person. Booking is advised. Please call us on 01239 621600 or email us on wwc@welshwildlife.org"