House Sparrow RAS update

I noticed the first juv. House Sparrows in the garden on the 27th of April and by the 2nd of May the first ones were carrying colour rings. The number of colour ringed juveniles has now reached 25 but the focus still remains on adult birds. 

Most brief ringing sessions at the moment have produced a couple of adult birds and an additional 26 have been colour ringed since the start of April. 19 of these birds were without a metal ring and 7 have been recaptures (5 ringed as 3's in 2020, 1 as a 2 in 2018 and 1 as a 2 in 2017). 

Comparing adult numbers in 2022 with (2021-entire season): new birds 19 (22), subsequent encounters 96 (100). The total number of new birds metal ringed in 2020 was 475 and in 2021 was 426 so the total of new 'adult' birds ringed during RAS is proportionately quite low in both of the subsequent years. In my mind there is no doubt that some of the un-ringed adult birds are of local origin and are individuals that have simply avoided being caught. I suspect that there is some 'infilling' from other areas over the late summer through to early autumn and perhaps early winter period but this is hard to prove at present as no other site is ringed locally. 

 

 

Late Spring ... and Sedge controls

Ringing in April and the first 2 weeks of May on the Marshes produced  273 Sedge Warblers and 25 Reed Warblers.

The peak arrival and passage was between the 2nd - 7th May and the peak catch of 79 Sedge Warblers was on the 7th.

Sedge Warbler

Three of the Sedge Warblers had been ringed elsewhere on their first autumn migration.

ABL2264

Ringed Gunwalloe, Cornwall 20/08/2021

Re-encountered Teifi Marshes, Ceredigion 06/05/2022

277 days 230km N West Cornwall RG

ALR4255

Ringed  Owenahincha, Cork 03/09/2021

Re-encountered Teifi Marshes, Ceredigion 05/05/2022

244 days 305km E Sam Bayley

AKC9762

Ringed Squire's Down, Dorset 14/08/2020

Re-encountered Teifi Marshes, Ceredigion 02/05/2022

626 days 201km NW T Squire

All of these birds have been to Africa between ringing and re-encounter at the Teifi Marshes this May. We would still like to get more re encounters from Ireland, to support our thoughts on the origins of a high proportion of our passage birds.

Of the 25 Reed Warblers caught by May 14th, 13 had been ringed by us in previous years, the oldest was ringed in 2016. A good start to our RAS project. 

Reed Warbler

House Sparrows, more from Andy soon but his first 3JJ of the season was caught and ringed on the 2nd May.

This male Linnet was caught at Mallard Pond in a reed bed net. We don't ring many on the Teifi Marshes. Chris has now visited and whoosh netted successfully at a new site along the north Pembs coast. We hope this will develop into a RAS, though maybe not as productive as our previous Linnet RAS site at Mwnt. (Edit by Chris 17/5/22: 64 new birds and 1 recapture in 4 visits starting 21/4/22).

Linnet

Whose feet are these?? 

... a Moorhen caught on the Teifi Marshes at the end of a Sedge Warbler passage morning.

With the main passage of Sedge Warblers and White Wagtails over, our migration monitoring with the Mallard Pond reed bed nets has now finished for the Spring. 

Rich D and Wendy J