24/04 Thatcham Marsh LNR Butterfly Reserve

Location: Thatcham Marsh LNR Butterfly Reserve
Session: 24-Apr-2016 06:30 to 11:15hrs
Headlines: The Constant Effort Site season starts next week 01-May-2016 so as we are not supposed to ring the reed bed site the week before we decided to ring the Butterfly Reserve. This is the fenced area at the bottom of Muddy Lane now used by the Discovery Centre for education purposes: pond dipping and outdoor “forest” lessons etc.; we last ringed there 14-Mar-2012. There is a wide path around a small lake surrounded by trees and scrub. The path and some of the clearing alongside has plenty net ride opportunities. Since we had not ringed there for over four years most captures were un-ringed. A 6 year 246 day since ringing Long-tailed Tit is a good capture. The national record is a just under 9 year old bird and is also the record for Berkshire. Five Treecreeper captured in one session is also notable. This is a species much less common than in the recent past and we only capture a few each year now. A good session and a better than expected total with a good variety of species, many in breeding condition.
Weather: Sunny periods, mostly calm but occasionally blustery, a few spots of rain early on.
Present: JL, IW, JHW, DL, RJC, GB, SC
Nets: 84metres in 4 rides of 18+18M, 12M, 18M, 18M up from 06:45 to 11:00hrs
Lure (none)
Capture (New/Recapture) 36 (33/3): Blackbird 1/0, Blackcap 6/0, Blue Tit 2/0, Bullfinch 1/0, Cetti’s Warbler 2/0, Chiffchaff 2/0, Dunnock 3/0, Goldcrest 1/0, Long-tailed Tit 1/1, Robin 5/0, Song Thrush 1/0, Treecreeper 3/2, Wren 5/0

Recaptures: 3: Long-tailed Tit 1 (6y 246d), Treecreeper 2 (2y 229d, 239d)

Age Range: Mostly 1st winter except adult: Blackbird 1, Blue Tit 1, Robin 2, Wren 1. Indeterminate: Cetti’s Warbler 2, Chiffchaff 1, Dunnock 1, Long-tailed Tit 2, Treecreeper 5.
Sightings 55 Species: A good variety of species seen including for us the first Lesser Whitethroat of the year singing in the hedge and Common Tern appeared over just before we left. A Sparrowhawk carrying what looked to be a blackbird flew over west, and over-flying Snipe and a Coal Tit a little out of habitat for the time of year  the most notable on the list. Most common summer migrants are now arriving in good numbers.

Blackbird 2 Blackcap 8 Black-headed Gull 4 Blue Tit 6 Bullfinch 2 Canada Goose 15 Carrion Crow 3 Cetti's Warbler 3 Chaffinch 4 Chiffchaff 4 Coal Tit 1 Common Tern 3 Coot 12 Cormorant 3 Dunnock 3 Egyptian Goose 2 Gadwall 2 Goldcrest 2 Goldfinch 2 Great Crested Grebe 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 Great Tit 6 Greenfinch 1 Grey Heron 1 Herring Gull 3 House Martin 5 Jay 2 Lesser Whitethroat 1

Long-tailed Tit 4 Magpie 2 Mallard (domestic) nc Mallard nc Moorhen 6 Mute Swan 2 Pheasant 1 Pochard 8 Red Kite 2 Reed Bunting 2 Reed Warbler 1 Robin 5 Sand Martin 20 Sedge Warbler 3 Shoveler 2 Snipe 1 Song Thrush 1 Sparrowhawk 1 Starling 1 Swallow 10 Swift 1 Treecreeper 4 Tufted Duck 14 Water Rail 1 Willow Warbler 3 Woodpigeon 10 Wren 6