More Cetti's than Tits for CES 2

A 60 bird catch for our second CES of the season with 41 new birds and 19 retraps.
The first juveniles of the year were 3 Blackbirds and a Robin.
The commonest species was Sedge Warbler - 21 to add to our total of over 100 this spring so far as they migrate through the Teifi Marsh reed beds. Relatively few stay to breed.

(This was the first Sedge Warbler ringed this year on the 10th April)

Other species ringed included a Jay, 2 Whitethroat, Song Thrush, Wren, Dunnocks, Bullfinch and Chiffchaffs. Also a Reed Bunting, now added to our colour ringing project. But strangely not one new Tit either Blue, Great or Long-tailed.

Interesting retraps this week, some initially ringed in the first  year of our CES in 2009...
Of the four Cetti's Warbler retraps, one was ringed in Sept 2009 and only caught once since in 2011.
We would expect to have caught a lot more Reed Warblers returning to breed by now  but two regulars did turn up - one ringed in August 2009, and the other in July 2009. Thousands of miles of migration for them in those 5 years!
Also a Garden Warbler arrived back, initially ringed in 2010.
We also monitor nests for the BTO nest record scheme. And not only nest boxes -  two active nests are in unusual places. Wrens are very clever at using junk in out buildings, this nest is in an old UPS case! The quantity of leaves collected by a 10g bird is amazing.

At least 4 eggs could be seen and have now hatched.
This Pied Wagtail nest, with 5 downy young, is inches above the moving belt of a log splitter conveyor belt which had been in use!

The machine owners happily agreed not to use it until the chicks fledge.
Meanwhile, in Canada, Richard is still ringing at Long Point Bird Observatory. The warblers there are pouring back in big numbers with a 300 bird catch one day. This is one of the beautiful Golden- winged Warblers ringed there last week.

(photo - thanks to Long Point Bird Obs)

Migrant warblers return for CES 1..

Yesterday was the start of our 2014 CES season. For the sixth year we will be contributing to this long term BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) scheme which provides valuable trend information on abundance of adults and juveniles, productivity and also adult survival rates for 25 species of common songbird.
Fourteen nets are operated in the same locations over the same time period at regular intervals through the breeding season..

43 birds were processed of which 19 were new and 24 were retraps. The stiff breeze was unexpected and probably reduced the catch. CES 1 last year we caught 64 birds.
The first Garden Warblers of the year weren't a surprise as we had heard their song contributing to the dawn chorus..

Other new birds included a Cetti's warbler, 2 more Reed Buntings for our colour ringing project, Blackcaps, Sedge Warblers, Reed Warblers, Willow Warblers but no juveniles of any species yet.
The more years that we ring on the reserve so the retrap data becomes more interesting and significant. These are some of the retraps histories
Willow Warbler DRB146 was ringed as an adult female in May 2011 and we have retrapped her every year since on her return to breed
Blackcap T990314 was ringed as an adult in May 2009 and hadn't seen him again
Blue Tit X769789 is one of our older Blue Tits ringed as a juvenile in June 2009
Reed Warbler Y206832 is another 2011 bird that we retrap every year when he returns to the same part of the marsh to breed.

Meanwhile Richard  is ringing out in Canada at Long Point Bird Observatory - it is a cold start to spring there with ice still on Lake Erie. This is Mick from Stanford Ringing Group enjoying the cold!

They are banding good numbers and varieties including a 320 bird day but not a big flood of warblers yet.

BTO Birdtrack helps us to target our ringing..

The passage of Wheatear started at Mwnt, a headland on the coast of south Ceredigion, a couple of weeks ago. Then migration seemed to grind to a halt but suddenly picked up again in the last few days. Our observations completely fit in with that on BTO Birdtrack where volunteers' counts add up to build a complete picture of migration, movements and distribution of birds.

With anticipation we headed for Mwnt today. There only four birds around the headland but we managed to catch and ring three of these handsome birds before they continue on their migration north.

With thanks to the National Trust for giving us permission to ring and record birds at this beautiful location.

White Wagtails on the marsh

Wagtails poured on to the commercial reed - cut this evening. Over 100 arrived and a sample caught showed 25 / 26 to be White Wagtails. Out of 82 birds caught since 10th April - 79 White and only 3 Pied Wagtails. Early in the month, when the roosts were smaller, only 8 / 23 were White Wagtails.

A Cetti's control and the first Sedge Warblers

Walking along the track to our ringing site on the Teifi marsh was a pleasure on Friday morning at dawn as at least 3 Grasshopper Warblers were reeling from the reed bed. Soon they were joined by Sedge Warblers singing.
Although not a busy ringing session there was quality. A control Cetti's Warbler was excellent.

We have only had one Cetti's before that has been ringed elsewhere. That bird was from Farlington Marsh in Portsmouth. We wait with interest to hear where this one has travelled from.
The first Sedge Warblers of the year were  ringed. We ringed 509 of these last year so plenty more to come.

Our evenings have been busy on the marsh too with Wagtail roosts. Over 50 have been ringed in the last week - mostly White Wagtails with just a few Pied.
An interesting 4 year old Blackcap was caught on the reserve early evening today - ringed there on the 1st May 2011 as a 2nd calender year bird and not seen since. Unless we catch him again during the summer we won't know if he is a site faithful breeder or just using the reserve as a same migration stopover site again.

Amid all the Goldfinch Passage Action...

... one of the local girls is getting on with business outside my kitchen window. The nest is tucked into that dark gap in the foliage where she's looking.

Goldfinches....Gold Rush times three

Firstly from Chris,
Between 4 and 7 yesterday afternoon I trapped 34 Goldfinches, 32 of them new.

More remarkably, on entering them into IPMR that evening, I found that  7 of them, all males, exceeded the maximum weight expected by IPMR (19.6 gm).  The heaviest I had was 20.9 gm, this bird having a wing length of 83mm, which equals the maximum wing length expected by IPMR.

(It was also bigger and heavier than the female Chaffinch that I had processed a little while before it (80mm and 19.8gm)).

The heaviest Goldfinches I have ever processed before this were one at 21.1 gm (wing 82) and one at 21.0 gm. I've only had 6 before today that exceeded 19.6 gm, 4 of them in April 2008, one in April 2010, and one in May 2010.

I've also done 13 before today with wings of 83mm, 3 with wings of 84mm, and one at 85mm. No obvious date pattern here though.

A similar pattern from Wendy -
Several Goldfinches ringed this week that have been heavier than the maximum weight expected - the heaviest weighing in at 21.3g but wing length only 77mm and none with wings longer than 83mm.
There has been a noticeable increase in Goldfinches in the garden and also along the coast when out for a walk today. This fits with the same observations last year although a bit earlier as my garden peak was around the 16th April.

From the finch passage heartland of upland Boncath a similar story of very large Goldfinches passing through. Goldfinches ringed yesterday included - 6 birds over 20g - max 21.7g, though no bird today weighed over 20g. Yesterday 11 birds had  fat scores 3 or above - the max  fat score being a 6 (a 2nd year male with wing 79 and weight 20.7g) Yesterday, 7 birds with wing lengths of 80 or above - max 82. The longest wing measured today was an adult male with a wing length of 84mm.

These are interesting observations of passage birds clearly feeding well. Weight will increase during the day, but they do seem to be well above "average" size and weight birds, with some carrying considerable fat - indicative of a fair distance still to travel.

Siskin migration seems to have slowed or stopped, with all eight of my Siskins caught in the last two days showing signs of breeding.