31/08 Thatcham Marsh LNR

Location: Thatcham Marsh LNR

Session: 31/08/2025 07:00 to 10:30hrs.

Present: JHW,IW,CMD,JL.

Weather: sunny periods, warm, light breeze early stronger later, rain spotting as nets taken down.

Nets: one 18+36+36M reed bed ride + 12m scrub ride additional net up from 07:30 to 10:00hrs.

Lures (audio): (BC-CC-FC-GC-GW-WH-LW-WO),(YW-WC-W.-TP-RT-RZ),(GH),(RT) intermittently.

Willow Warbler

Notes: The CES now finished, we were able to use audio lures today. We could not get one of the lures to auto-repeat a species and left it running through most western European species; strange to hear Nightjar churring and perhaps the chance of a Yellow-browed Warbler is a bit early but you never know. Still a few Reed Warblers about also more Sedge Warbler than expected at the end of August. The audio lures pulled in a good number of Blackcap, a latish Garden Warbler, a few Chiffchaff and some Willow Warblers. We once ringed the last species in similar numbers to Chiffchaff when the scrub was much younger, but they are now infrequent here since the scrub turned into woodland. The single net off the reed bed did almost as well as all the other nets. We finished early to avoid the forecast rain showers that arrived just as we were preparing to leave. The fishing club seem to have resolved the problem with the gate locks by reversing the configuration making it difficult to unintentionally bypass a lock.

Recaptures: (01)

Blackcap        ringed: 23/08/2025

Sightings: Two Magpies that were harassing a high flying Sparrowhawk then turned their attention to a couple of crows. Quite a lot of gull activity mostly heading westward or flying about. While we were taking down the nets 10 Swallows flew low west followed by a least one more as we were loading the cars. No Red Kite seen and a Red Admiral the only non-bird species ID’d.