04/05 June

Post date: Jun 5, 2015 1:31:24 PM

Yesterday, I went ringing to the eastern part of Krankesjön (with two of my Spanish helpers, who will leave soon) in order to collect some more blood samples and ticks for various studies. It was quite windy (though not as much as in the previous days), so I chose some shielded areas in the woodland to set up four 15 m nets from 6:30 to 12:00. Fifteen birds of ten species were caught, including the first Icterine Warbler (Hippolais icterina) of the year. There were also Robins, Blackcaps, Garden Warblers, Chaffinches, Blue and Great Tits, Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs, but unfortunately I could not capture any of the two Pied Flycatchers singing nearby (I will nail them next time!). The day finished with a nice barbecue offered by CanMove, a research group I (still) belong to.

Icterine Warbler, a male

However, today's weather was finally nice, after one week with strong winds and some rain. It was a bit cold (3ºC) when I went to the CES at 4am, but it soon became warmer. As sunrise is now at 4:28, I decided to open the nets at 4:30 (until 10:30), as I did last year at about the same time. This also gave me the opportunity to detect a Quail (C. coturnix) singing nearby, as it only sang until c.5:30am. It was the very first time I detected this species in Sweden, where it seems to be scarce.

The CES (the 4th of the year) resulted in the capture of 26 birds of 10 species including the first two Marsh Warblers (Acrocephalus palustris), the first Thrush Nightingale (L. luscinia), and well as the first Marsh Tit (Parus palustris; a recovery). There were also a young male Redstart (P. phoenicurus) and another Song Thrush (Turdus philomelus) among others, but most birds (10) were Reed Warblers (Acrocephalus scirpaceus), as is typical of the site. As always, the full numbers are described in the Results sub-webpage.

A second-year male Redstart

Although the number of birds increased considerably, there were not any young of the year yet, and I wander whether there is a late passage (or arrival) of Reed Warblers at this time of the year, as some individuals with quite long wings (69-70 mm), presumably males, had fat scores of 3-4.

Insectwise, I found my first Broad-boddied Chaser (Libellula depressa) of the year, which was a recently emerged individual that let itself photograph at ease!

Broad-boddied Chaser (Libellula depressa)

Cheers

Júlio