Bishop galore

Post date: Sep 12, 2014 4:38:43 PM

Today's ringing session resulted in 65 captures and three retraps of 18 species, which is not bad at all except for the absence of Aquatic Warblers (my main target species) and the high abundance of Yellow-crowned Bishops (a feral species from sub-Saharan Africa). Again, Tim and I were greeted by a Barn Owl (there might have been two at the site), and also saw a Long-eared Owl as well as a Nightjar before dawn. Despite my efforts, I did not detect any Night Heron, which have been regular at this site in previous years. There were, however, loads of migrants including Whinchats and Yellow Wagtails, of which we did not trap any.

The ringing totals per species were:

Acrocephalus schoenobaenus 7

Acrocephalus scirpaceus 2

Alcedo atthis 1

Anthus trivialis 7

Carduelis chloris 1

Cettia cetti 1

Cisticola juncidis 3

Erithacus rubecula 1

Estrilda astrild 1

Euplectes afer 20(3)

Ficedula hypoleuca 1

Hirundo rustica 2

Locustella luscinioides 2

Locustella naevia 1

Luscinia svecica 4

Muscicapa striata 1

Phylloscopus trochilus 7

Turdus merula 2

Zitting Cisticola or Fan-tailed Warbler (Cisticola juncidis)

Weather forecast is not particularly good for the next week, and the probability of getting Aquatic Warblers is decreasing, but I will try to squeeze in a couple of ringing sessions just in case!

Júlio M. Neto