We continued our migration monitoring on the Teifi Marshes for the first 2 weeks of May. Daily early starts when weather allowed were often rewarded with a colourful sunrise over the reeds.
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| Dawn over the Teifi |
On the 1st May 2 Sedge Warblers ringed elsewhere where caught along with 25 new Sedge Warblers and another on the 2nd. Two with a French ring and one with a Jersey ring. News of the ringing details are awaited.
237 Sedge Warblers have been ringed so far this season, 6 from previous years and the 3 controls. Numbers of Reed Warblers as usual are lower. 21 new and 6 returning birds from previous years. The oldest so far this year was ringed in 2016 and she bred on the reserve last year. Hopefully over the next couple of weeks a more normal number of returning Reed Warblers will be recorded.
We are always happy to welcome ringers from other groups when they are on holiday in the area. Adam from Wiltshire joined us for a morning of mostly Sedge Warblers including the French control
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| Sedge Warbler with a French ring |
We continue with nest record monitoring including several Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales woodlands ; Pengelli, Coed Simdde Llwyd and Pant Da. Other woodland nest boxes are in the Gwaun Valley and Ffynone Wood. Pied Flycatchers are now sitting and several adult females have been ringed. A Redstart is nesting in one of the Gwaun Valley boxes for the first time
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| Redstart nest |
Some open nests are being recorded too. This is a Meadow Pipit nest on the coast
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| Meadow Pipits |
Andrew has just found an unusual nest while chccking his Dipper sites. It seems to be a Grey Wagtail nest attached to a Dipper nest.
Chris's Linnet Whoosh net site is developing well, though as pairs are nesting, a lull in current activity.
We are trying to develop CES style / weekly ringing at key sites. On the Teifi Marshes, these include Mallard, and Pentood - the sites for both Reed Warbler RAS and Reed Bunting RAS and colour-ringing. Also Teifi P - the old CES site near the river view point.
Ty Rhyg, Cors Caron and the Cors Dyfi are under consideration as we ring them and wish to standardise our recording.
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| Whinchat - Cors Caron |
The earliest we have tried catching Storm Petrels is early June. This year we decided to try a bit earlier and were successful on the 20th May with one caught at Mwnt just before midnight.
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| Storm Petrel at Mwnt |
The colour rings on a Bar-tailed Godwit seen at the Teifi Estuary on 05/05/2023 were reported. it was a bird ringed on 26/09/2022 at Moeze, France
Chiffchaff KCC995
