3rd session of the CES

Post date: May 26, 2015 2:38:21 PM

It was a pretty nice weather this morning for ringing birds, with no wind and partially overcast sky, though a bit too chilly for my taste (5-13ºC). As typical of the season, I caught few birds (only 13) of a relatively large diversity (nine species). This included three new species for the CES this year: Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), Song Thrush (Turdus philomelus), both females with well developed incubation patches (stage 3), as well as a pair of Lesser Whitethroats (Sylvia curruca), which were, of course, the highlight of the session. There was another Reed Warbler (A. scirpaceus) with white tail tips, though not as extensive as in last week's bird, and unfortunately for me the Great Tits (Parus major) did not have ticks!

There were a few Sedge Warblers (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) singing very close to the net line, but remarkably none was caught, and neither was a Thrush Nightingale (L. luscinia) also singing nearby.

Young female Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia curruca)

Whitethroat (Sylvia communis), the only of the day

Last weekend I also carried out a ringing session in another part of the lake, for which I had four people (trainees and helpers) attending, and despite using five 15m nets for about four hours, we only caught six birds! We did start a bit too late in the morning, and in order to answer one of the trainees, I show here a graph with the number of birds caught so far this year at the CES per 30 min round.

Typically, most birds are caught during the first couple of hours from first light (sunrise has been at c.05:00), as shown in the graph, and there is a clear drop in activity late in the morning, even during the breeding season. So it does pay off to wake up early!

Male Lesser Whitethroat (S. curruca)

With so few birds to process, I had time to dedicate myself to dragonflies (and other bugs). Found seven species, of which I leave you with two of my favourites...

Large Red Damsel (Pyrrhosoma nymphula), a female

Hairy Hawker (Brachytron pratense)

See you next time!

JMN