April - new arrivals, first juvenile..

April always a month of great expectations on the Teifi Marshes in our reedbed sites.

Early April delivered with an early White Wagtail ringed on the 8th.

White Wagtail

The following morning, the  9th April our first 2 Sedge Warblers.

White Wagtail passage will be over for us before the end of April, but Sedge Warbler passage usually  peaks early May. By the 28th, 44 White Wagtails have been ringed and 95 Sedge Warblers. Also two retrap Sedge Warblers from 2024 and 2025.

The re-encounter of our first Reed Warbler on the 18th, was expected. Often the majority of early Reed Warblers are our own ringed adults. By the 26th we had re-encountered 8 returning birds. The oldest was ringed in 2018 and seen each year since 2022.

Nests of several species including Dippers and Pied Flycatchers are being monitored.

The first fledgling of this breeding season was a Robin at Jane's Emporium site. 

Some recent movements reported to us include...

Siskin    BJD3749

27/12/2024 Llwyn - y groes, Ceredigion

06/04/2026 Shebster, nr Caithness, Highland 465 days 708km N

Siskin   BTJ5752

05/06/2025 Cnoc, Argyll and Bute, Scotland

16/04/2026 Llanfair Clydogau, Ceredigion 315 days 456km S R W Furness

Woodcock    EV02091

22/02/2025 Glanwern, Carmarthenshire

19/04/2026 Novgorod O., Russian Federation 420 days 2451km ENE

(Wendy J and Rich D)

Arrivals...and recoveries.

March was another difficult month to plan ringing with winds often higher than forecast.

It is early though for our main migration monitoring on the Teifi Marshes although migrants are starting to arrive with Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Willow Warblers singing. A small number of Pied Wagtails are around at dusk but no White Wagtails yet. Sites are prepared ready for when weather allows.

Preparation work has also been carried out at Cors Caron ready for CES. 

Jane and Arfon have been doing some targeted ringing there, pre-CES season, for the new Willow Tit RAS. 

The oldest bird re-encountered so far was ringed in April 2021.

Winter lamping has now finished after a successful season. 

Golden Plover, one of the last birds ringed this season

Chris has started the Linnet RAS on the coast near Moylegrove.. An excellent start to the season with 148 captures of which 26 were from previous years. 

Dippers already have young and Ellyn ringed the first chick of the year last week.

News from the BTO of a Starling ringed in 2019 found freshly dead in Russia, the furthest passerine movement for the group. Kaluga is between Moscow and the Belarus border.

Starling  LL86262 Bancyffordd, Carms   29/10/2019

Found freshly dead  26/03/2026  Mahahovo, Borovsk district, Kaluga O. Russian Federation

2340 days 2699km E 

Starling from Carmarthenshire to Russia

Also news of a Reed Warbler re-encountered in Portugal

Reed Warbler   BKB3692

Ringed   09/07/2025 Teifi Marshes, Ceredigion

Re-encountered  23/08/2025 Caminha, Viano de Castelo, Portugal 45 days 1176km SSW

Colour ring reading 

23rd March, a White Stork was near Ferwig.  First seen on the 19th near Penparc. Thanks to Mark Waldron's photos of the ring, a yellow inscribed darvic CV03, an internet seach found it to be from the Cove Valley, Devon reintroduction scheme. A male bird released last year. It was seen in Northamptonshire in August and South Pembs in September

White Stork - Mark Waldron

Curlew - colour ring white on black J0 with orange on the other leg was  still present on the 1st April. It was first ringed on the reserve in 2022 with colour rings added in 2025

Curlew J0 - Diane Williams

The Black-tailed Godwit that was ringed last year on the marshes wasn't colour ringed but its BTO metal ring can be read. It was still present on the 1st April and changing into breeding plumage.

The Reed Bunting RAS on the Teifi Marshes runs from 1st April and Hannah and Liz have been busy resighting the rings. Over the winter, in the out of RAS period, there have been 69 sightings of 40 individuals. 

(Wendy J and Rich D)