The weather in October was mostly tricky for mist netting but here is a round up of what the Group have been doing.
The highlight of the month was a species not often ringed in Wales. The night after a storm on the 5th October, a Leach's Petrel was found stranded ashore in Fishguard Harbour. 20 had been counted passing Strumble Head that day. It was handed to Sea Trust Wales and kept at the Ocean Lab where we took biometrics and ringed it.
It was a healthy bird weighing 38.8g. It was released back to sea that night. See Cliff Benson's post on PembsBirds
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| Leach's Petrel forked tail |
Another Leach's Petrel had been ringed by the Group on 5th September 2019 along with some stranded Manx Shearwaters. See PembsBirds blog Sept 2019 for details.
Most of the ringing was on the Teifi Marshes and in gardens. Just 302 birds ringed during the month.
Redwing started to arrive in October and were the most frequently encountered bird with 63 ringed, mostly in dusk roosts.
Although 27 different species were ringed there were very few of each compared to previous autumns.
News of a Reed Warbler ringed in our Mallard nets caught by ringers in Alderney
Reed Warbler ARP9391
Ringed Teifi Marshes, Ceredigion 14/08/2021
Subsequently encountered Longis Bay, Alderney 04/09/2021 21 days 316km
Reed Buntings - Potter traps, Redwings - pre and post roost, Finch ringing - likely various garden sites, House Sparrow project - Andy's, Willow Tit project - Arfon, Woodcock - moonless nights, Forestry sites - nice weather !
One of the Group, Molly is currently in USA working at Klamath Bird Obs. A paper based on her recent MSc at Bangor University has been published in BTO's Bird Study
Some thoughts for 2022...
Most of the Group are visiting Skokholm Bird Observatory next year, the first visit planned for the end of April.
Richard D and Wendy J