Post date: Jul 26, 2012 4:40:41 PM
has started! Until now, I've been trapping birds almost exclusively at the constant-effort ringing station at Salreu marshlands. But now, the migratory season has started and so did the intensive ringing (i.e. 2-3 times a week), which will last at least until the end of September. The main purposes are to collect blood samples to study malaria infections, colour-ring Reed Buntings and study the stopover behavior of Aquatic Warblers. Additionally, data on biometrics, moult, phenology, condition etc is also gathered. Two public ringing sessions will be undertaken, within the program "Ciência Viva", but other sessions are also used to train ringers and students.
The most abundant species at this time of the season are the Reed, Savi's, Sedge, Cetti's and Grasshopper Warblers, the Bluethroat, Reed Bunting, Zitting Cisticola, Yellow Wagtail, Willow Warbler and the Swallows. Also regular are the Kingfisher, Stonechat, Whinchat, Iberian Chiffchaff, the exotics (Yellow-crowned Bishop and Waxbill) and, occasionally, Common Nightjar, Wryneck, Tree Pipit, Great Reed Warbler, Spotted and Pied Flycatchers and others. This year I plan to carry out some additional sessions to trap Swallows, Swifts, Nightjars and Yellow Wagtails.
Unfortunately, the marsh is completely dry, which means that there is little food and the migrants will not stay long to fatten up, rapidly moving to better locations. Hopefully, some water will soon be poured into the reeds, spilling from the one going to the rice fields from river Antuã, and the conditions will improve dramatically for passerines but also for waders. In most years, the water that is poured into the rice fields is not enough to reach many parts of the reedbed, but the August spring tides have contributed to improve the conditions (although brackish water is not so good for the reeds, which are rather short). If only this site was better managed...
I'll post regularly the results of the ringing sessions, and the ringing totals will be updated in the Ringing sub-webpage.
Cheers
JMN