One to go!

Post date: Aug 19, 2015 3:21:07 PM

It has been quite some time since my last post, but ringing has continued as expected. The last two sessions of the CES (late July and early August) produced a lower number of birds and species than in mid July, as can be seen by the results table, but there was an increase in the number of Marsh Warblers (Acrocephalus palustris), and the capture of a juvenile Thrush Nightingale (L. luscinia) is noteworthy.

However, in today's session (the penultimate of the CES) I caught 94 birds of 15 species, which constitutes a new record for the site. One juvenile blackbird also went into the net but managed to escape before I got there! Migration is obviously underway, with some individuals having fat scores up to 6 (out of 8), which explains the increase in numbers and the capture of some unusual birds for the site. My colleagues in Portugal are already trapping Willow, Sedge and Grasshopper Warblers on migration, neither of which breed in this (my!) country.

The juvenile Wood Warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix) caught today was the very first of the year for me, and a first for the CES. Although they had some territories in nearby woodland patches, I did not detect any this year around Krankesjön. Other birds include the first three Icterine Warblers (Hippolais icterina) for the CES this year, as well as two Lesser Whitethroats (Sylvia curruca), which have been rare this year (though they had territories nearby). Otherwise, the numbers of Willow (Phylloscopus trochilus) and Reed (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) Warblers were particularly high, as well as of Chiffchaffs (P. colybita).

The juvenile Wood Warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix)

On a different note, it was quite rewarding, though a bit scary, to see 21 Wild Boars (Sus scrofa) passing less than 100 m from me when I was having my first morning coffee! They seemed to be a male, larger, that stopped and looked around before crossing a dirt road, followed by three or four females and three sets of piglets of different ages. One curious piglet even approached the ringing place, just c.20 m from me but promptly run away. Fortunately, they did not go to the net line, otherwise it could have been a mess. This experience reminded me the couple of times I was ringing on my own in Senegal, and the Warthhogs (Phacochoerus africanus) were looking suspiciously at me from a perturbing short distance!

Also managed to get some pictures of Aeshna grandis and A. cyanea, and I'm convinced I saw my first A. mixta of the year.

Brown Hawker (Aeshna grands), a male

Blue Hawker (Aeshna cyanea), a male

Till next time...

JMN