31/05 Thatcham Marsh LNR CES Visit 2025.04

Location: Thatcham Marsh LNR CES Visit 2025.04

Session: 31/05/2025 06:00 to 11:15hrs.

Present: JHW,IW,JL,IQ,DL,JA.

Weather: sunny with some cloudy periods, calm, warm.

Nets: one 198M long reed bed ride up from 06:30 to 10:30hrs.

Lures (): None 

 

Notes: Numbers always seem low these days but for recent times this is not always the case as for today’s CES 2025.04 visit where a 28 totals is reasonable. What is different so far this year is that there are few species other than Reed and Sedge Warbler visiting or in the scrub periphery of the site. There were a few Blue and Great Tit about including some recently fledged but not in the numbers once seen and just one juvenile Blue Tit and two juvenile Great Tits ringed. The juvenile Reed Warbler is quite early, these usually start to fledge mid-June. The bird of the session is the Kingfisher, we ring very few now. The last ringed on a CES visit was in 2019, a single bird. Until 2017 we've ringed at least 1 every year since CES started in1993, the maximum ringed in any one year is 10 in 1997, 7 in 2005 and 5 in 2007 and 2012 and for most years 1 to 3 was the norm. Today’s bird is possibly a positive outcome of the damage done by the generating boards winter “road” which has left an open area of dead reed under the east west route of the power line and which the Kingfisher was probably flying along.

Recaptures: (16)

Cetti’s Warbler ringed: 06/10/2024.

Reed Warbler ringed: 21/05/2022, 28/05/2023, 11/06/2023, 23/07/2023, 01/05/2024, 03/05/2025x2, 10/05/2025.

Sedge Warbler ringed: 13/04/2025,03/06/2023, 03/05/2025x2, 10/05/2025, 18/05/2025.

Wren ringed: 06/08/2023

Sightings: The Marsh Harrier that has frequented the area for the last week or so flew towards Lower Farm GP as we put the nets up – seen by IW, JHW. No Water Rail calling this week. A small group of Long-tailed Tits worked north along the scrub tree tops, probably a family party that included fledglings.