The first this year was caught on the Teifi Marsh on the 15th October. The following morning, Charlie also caught one at his Llanfynydd site and noted the consistency of the usual dates of his first each autumn.
15/10/2015
15/10/2016
17/10/2017
16/10/2018
It has been a good year for them with a total of 200 for Charlie so far. His sites at Fygyn Common and Llanfynydd have provided good variety and experience for our trainees in a generally quite quiet month. 506 birds processed in the month at the two sites.
When weather has allowed we have been ringing on the Teifi Marsh but with key members of the group busy with other things the number of sessions has been limited. The expected mix of Goldcrests, Chiffchaffs, Thrushes, decreasing numbers of Blackcaps and a variety of Tits. Amongst the birds that had been ringed in previous years was a Blue Tit ringed in 2011.
According to BTO birdfacts the average lifespan of a Blue Tit is only 3 years so this one 7 years is doing well.
The best news of the autumn though is that after not catching, seeing or hearing any Cetti's Warblers on the Teifi Marsh throughout the breeding season we have now ringed 5 compared with 41 last year and a retrap from last May 2017. What we don't know is whether our birds died in the freezing weather in April or moved away. Hopefully we will start to catch more of our previously ringed birds once the unsettled weather passes and we can open some nets again.
Recent news of several recoveries of our birds, the first three on their first migration south
ABE1835 Reed Warbler ringed Teifi Marsh 17/09/18 re-encountered Oxwich Marsh 7/10/18
67km 20days
AED8273 Sedge Warbler ringed Teifi Marsh 15/07/18 re-encountered Uskmouth 04/08/18
131km 20days
KJL620 Chiffchaff ringed Teifi Marsh 12/08/18 re-encountered Durlston Country Park 30/09/18
251km 49 days
AHA4081 Blue Tit ringed Fygyn Common 18/10/17 re-encountered nr Rhandirmwyn 24/05/2018
26km 218 days
We have previously exchanged birds with this site adjacent to Dinas RSPB when a Great Tit ringed in a nest box there in 2015 was caught in St Dogmaels 137 days later
S574122 Goldfinch ringed Llanfynydd 03/07/2017 re-encountered Strad, nr Stroud 30/09/2018
134 km 484 days
November has started with wind and rain. We have lots of plans and enthusiasm but need the weather to settle. Rock Pipits number have increased in the estuary so we will again be using spring traps on the shore. Woodcock are returning so our long term monitoring of those and other species that roost on sheep pasture will start again.
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