18/10 Thatcham Marsh LNR

Location: Thatcham Marsh LNR

Session: 18-Oct-2015 07:15 to 11:15hrs

Weather: overcast, calm, warm for the time of year, some occasional breeze.

Present: JL, IW, DL, JHW, RGS

Nets: 850’ in fives rides of 660’, 60’, 60’, 40’, 30’ up from 07:45 to 10:30hrs

Lure (audio): Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Firecrest, Yellow-browed Warbler, Redwing, Fieldfare, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker intermittently

Capture (New/Recapture) 45:

Blackbird 0/1	Blackcap 1/0
Blue Tit 4/1	Bullfinch 1/0
Cetti’s Warbler 2/4	Chiffchaff 2/0
Dunnock3/1	Goldcrest 8/0
Great Tit 1/1	Marsh Tit 2/0
Reed Bunting 6/1	Song Thrush 2/0
Wren 2/2

Recaptures: 11

Blackbird 2y 125d Blue Tit 126d Cetti’s Warbler 1y 118d, 71d 2x14d, Dunnock 2y 40d Great Tit 63d Reed Bunting 3y 207d Wren 1y 41d, 71d

Age Range: all 1st winter except

Adults: Blackbird 1, Blue Tit 2, Dunnock 1, Reed Bunting 1, Song Thrush 1, Wren 1 Indeterminate: Cetti’s Warbler 6

Notes: A pleasant morning and not as windy as forecast in fact it was mostly calm. We started with a first net round of five including the only Blackcap of the morning and the first of several Goldcrest. The next capture of 11 included the first of two Song Thrush both probably immigrants and a Blackbird recapture ringed in 2012. The next round of 17 included the other Song Thrush and the bulk of the Reed Bunting capture that included one ringed in 2012 by Dave Hobley. Captures eased after this with just one more round of five and finally seven when taking the nets down including two Marsh Tit from B site.

Sightings 33 Species: Rather a lot of thrush movement including some high flying Blackbirds and a steady flow of Redwings. A flock of 40 Cormorants over indicates a good year; the fishermen will not be happy though. A big female Sparrowhawk soaring over the reed bed made us wonder but we could not get any detailed views. Two Swallows and the Chiffchaff and Blackcap captured reminded that the summer return passage is not quite over.

Blackbird 15 Blackcap 1 Bullfinch 2 Canada Goose 5 Carrion Crow 3 Cetti's Warbler 12 Chaffinch 1 Chiffchaff 3 Cormorant 50 Dunnock 6 Gadwall 2 Goldcrest 12 Grey Wagtail 1 Jackdaw 5 Jay 2 Kingfisher 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull 35

Magpie 3 Mallard 7 Marsh Tit 2 Moorhen 2 Mute Swan 2 Redwing 40 Reed Bunting 10 Robin 4 Shoveler 2 Siskin 5 Song Thrush 2 Sparrowhawk 1 Swallow 2 Tufted Duck 1 Woodpigeon 10 Wren 6