Greenland Wheatears...

Another early trip to Mwnt;-
The first Wheatears to be trapped this morning...!! What measurements...!!
Males with wings of 107mm (both) and weights of 30.9g and 27.6g.
The 4th Wheatear of the morning, a female Northern brought us back to Wales, a wing of only 92 mm and a weight of 21.7g. The Greenland Wheatears being an incredible, almost 50% bigger !!.

This morning we also ringed more Linnets, it will be nice in time, to study these birds presumably a mix of local population and passage, no retraps yet.

White Wagtails

Teifi Marshes;-
An attempt to catch wagtails prior to roost went well this evening.
18 White Wagtails and later 2 Pied Wagtails in a net nearby.....still around 200 Sand Martins over the marsh this evening.

Another Wheatear

We managed a couple of hours at Mwnt before the wind picked up.
There were a few Wheatear about early on but they soon headed inland and we only caught one. A Willow Warbler was our first at this site and we also added a few Linnets, Meadow Pipits and a Dunnock.
Keeping an eye on the Spring traps is no effort at Mwnt with the chance to sit in the sun and watch Chough, Kestrels and a Peregrine. A non-bird bonus today was the sight of some Bottlenose Dolphins passing the headland.

MUSEUM PARIS 6051318 ...........!!!

Teifi Marshes;-

A lovely evening, a chance to see what was going on in the marsh. Quiet really, still awaiting the reed-bed warblers. Through the evening the Sand Martin numbers were increasing, with the occassional Swallow heard.
8pm look at the net, c20 birds in the net, mostly Sand Martins, but 3 Swallows.
Following a text, Wendy came along to help process,......Sand Martin number 9 of the catch...didn't require a ring ! Wendy in shock as she read MUSEUM PARIS...
We have only caught 6 Sand Martins in our previous three years, so tonight's catch of 10 new and 1 control is very nice.
I suspect that when we see the original ringing location, that it may well be ringed in Senegal by French expedition ringers.......we will see..

Mwnt again

A successful morning at Mwnt despite the wind. Using 8 Spring traps and a couple of 2 shelf nets we caught 10 Wheatear and 3 Meadow Pipits. Interesting that only 27 Wheatear were ringed in the whole of Wales last year of which 10 were pulli.

Mwnt

A new site for us this year to try ringing on a coastal headland. Success already with spring traps and 2 shelf nets with a Stonechat, Linnet and early today, in a South westerly gale - a Meadow Pipit. Hopefully we will manage to ring some Wheatears and other migrants over the Spring.
In the picture, a spring trap awaiting the first Wheatear.

Welsh Ornithological Society Grant

We are pleased to have received a grant from WOS

"Project: Importance of Teifi Marshes, Ceredigion, for Aquatic Warblers

Following the ringing of two Aquatic Warblers in 2010 in a part of Teifi Marshes not previously studied, work in summer 2011 will assess the occurrence of the species at the site.
A grant of £100 is assisting with the costs of ringing equipment."
http://www.birdsinwales.org.uk/activities/grants2011.htm