30/7/2016 - CES 9 - At last, Variety and Numbers

Cedwyn, Amy and Chris were greeted at 05:30 by this rather spectacular sunrise. The picture hardly does it justice. To get the full effect you should have been there (you could then have helped put the nets up too!).
All nets up by about 06:15, a little later than usual, but this was due to the fact that some of the overnight migrating Sedge Warblers were so keen to be processed that they flew into half erected nets slowing the whole process down. We won't complain as the 3 we caught immediately increased by 100% the seasons total for the species.

The morning continued in the same vein with a seriously good haul of Sedge and Reed Warblers plus a few comparative rarities, These were

Garden Warbler ©AS

Grasshopper Warbler ©AS

The overall session was much improved on both earlier sessions this year and the yearly trend of late,which as you can see from the "Results to Date" section at right, shows that this was the best session for some time. The CES total already greater than last year and we still have 3 sessions to go.


Kenfig always has much of interest and there was also a few other things to see through the morning.
This beetle obviously in a hurry to get to its next popular habitat.

A Poplar Beetle ©AS

An interested visitor to the ringing table (Mark from the Fungi Group) pointed out some rust on Burnett Rose. Not the easiest of things to spot.

and for those (like me) more used to rust on vehicles it's highlighted.

Totals for the day:

22/7/2016 - CES 8

Cedwyn,Heather and Chris were able to get CES 8 done on a particularly good morning. There was no wind and for the first part of the session it was relatively overcast.

With all the nets up by just after 06:00 we had a Wren in the hand before we had cleared the ride. This was obviously a good omen as the overall CES catch was  good with 35 birds. As an indication this is not too far short of the session 8 average (47) and has in fact only been bettered twice since 2006.

The scrub net was not as productive this time as it has on previous occasions.

Plenty of juveniles being caught though the numbers of sedge warblers is still very low. Another lesser whitethroat this session, plus a number of bullfinches made for an interesting morning

On what became a very hot morning it was welcome to have a lift back to the reserve centre.

Totals for the day:

3/7/2016 CES 6 - Late again

A day late for the CES session again. We'll be getting a reputation soon. All down to the poor weather is our excuse.
However Heather and Chris took advantage of a short window of opportunity just a day late. It was well worth it as we had a better catch and two less than usual birds for a CES session, namely a Lesser Whitethroat and a Treecreeper.
Also included in the catch was a control, so we await with interest where this Reed Warbler may have first been caught. Watch this space.
The CES total of 30 birds was well up on recent years so fingers crossed for the year total. The fact that we have only had 2 Sedge Warblers in the catch this season is not good news though.

Not much else to report on the day and no photos I'm afraid, the treecreeper looked far too glum to publish its pic.

Totals for the day:

23/6/2016 - CES 5 - A Better Day

Dave, Cedwyn, and Chris took advantage of a break in the dreadful weather to get CES 5 done albeit a day late.
With no wind and little sun it was all set for a good session, with the usual nets up by 06:10.
We were rewarded with an better catch than we have had so far this CES season, and also well up on the equivalent session last year, though it may be premature to think things overall will be improved over recent seasons.

Releasing birds from the net can on occasion be challenging but the skill can be honed to perfection by some of the other creatures needing to be released. Last session included a number of dragonfly which I should have mentioned were expertly dealt with by Wayne, and this week another task was to remove other invertebrates.
First up was a an Early Bee, happily a male so didn't have to worry about being stung.
The second was a Bee Beetle which as I hope you will agree from the photo was well worth the effort, they are quite pretty and again there is no sting to be concerned about. The dragonflies can give you a bit of a nip.

"Bee"ing freed from the net

"you looking at me???"

Totals for the day:

3/6/2016 - CES 4 - Some added interest this morning.

Cedwyn,Wayne and Chris met at before 05:30 and had the nets up just on 6am. Somewhat overcast at first but it was soon bright and sunny, with almost no wind.
Small catches each net round at least kept us entertained and interestingly we had 3 bullfinch which are not regular birds for the site.
  
We had seen what is probably the most abundant bird on the reserve, whitethroat, around the area adjacent to the ringing table, but we don't catch large numbers of them in the CES nets. Wayne did however spot  a pair obviously feeding a brood. On closer inspection he found the nest and we were able to ring 5 pulli. They were relatively well feathered, and well attended by the parent birds, so it will be interesting to see if they are retrapped later in the season, or in future years.

Totals for the day:

28/5/2016 - CES 3 - More of the same

Not much change in the numbers of birds even though at the outset the weather looked perfect. So where are the birds.
The wind did get up substantially later in the session which may have had an affect.


Totals for the day :

17/5/16 - CES 2 - An Eggciting Upward Trend.

05:30 - perfect - No wind and overcast.
Heather and Chris had the standard net runs up in short order. Now lets wait for the birds.
Another quiet morning with small numbers  but from the results you can see the substantial 8.5% increase in bird numbers for the CES ride from last week - a pleasing trend. The fact that it only represents 1 more bird is perhaps less inspiring. Let's hope the juveniles start appearing soon as most birds had brood patches in evidence.
Later in the morning there was the threat of rain which didn't actually materialize but the wind did get up a little earlier than initially predicted.
Dave joined us to assist with the clearing up and had found an egg on the path to the ride. ID not known.
Any guesses?

The smart money says COOT but not really sure

Totals for the Day: