13/06 Thatcham Marsh LNR CES Visit 2026.05

Location: Thatcham Marsh LNR CES Visit 2026.05

Session: 07/06/2026 07:30 to 11:00hrs

Present: JHW, IW, JL, CMD, PRY, IQ.

Weather: Breezy, sunny periods, warm.

Nets: 192M reed bed ride + 2x12M separate rides set in scrub (site B) up from 06:30 to 10:30hrs.

Lures (none):

Chiffchaff an adul male - the last bird of the session and there should be more of these about - Reed Warbler 

Notes: The tree that fell on the ride last winter at the north end of the reed bed has made it increasingly difficult to squeeze the 2A portion of nets in and it has also pushed the ride southward such that there was about a 5metre overlap with the 1A portion. It was decided to reduce the 2A portion by 6metres by replacing one of the 18metre nets with a 12metre net -  the overal coverage is about the same just less overlap between the two portions of the ride. It was breezy for most of the session and the 2A length of reed bed ride was particulalrly affected, it being more exposed to the westerly that was blowing. As mentioned before it seems there are fewer Reed Warbler in the vacinity of the rides. I counted four singing males along the ride when most previous years at least double this number would have been present. Some of the Reed Warbler we did encounter showed little or no sign of breeding activity – BPs in early stage of development and CP difficult to see, some had no sign of either suggesting they were recent arrivals and that a portion of those that arrived earlier this season may have moved on. As can be seen in the table below the overal capture was about 50% better than last years matching visit. However about 30% of this visits total came from the two scrub nets - not erected for last years matching visit. Most of the scrub net birds were juveniles.

Recaptures: (17 )
Cettis Warbler ringed: 12/07/2025, 29/09/2025, 12/10/2025, 26/04/2026x2,
Chiffchaff ringed: 07/06/2026
Sedge Warbler ringed: 26/04/2026, 31/05/2026, 10/05/2026,
Reed Warbler ringed: 03/06/2023, 03/05/2025,18/05/2025, 02/08/2025, 23/05/2026, 31/05/2026x2.          

Robin ringed: 07/06/2026

Sightings: No geese sightings is unusual; most adults will be approaching their flightless moult period though. Pochard with chicks on adjacent pit. A few Swifts over and a lone male Pheasant flew over north towards “the hill”. Cuckoo still about calling occasionally. Common Tern over a couple of times. A Sparrowhawk high up also the usual Red Kites and a Buzzard and the Kestrel visited the hill less frequently than in recent weeks. A Raven called briefly towards the end of the session. The Garden Warbler near the gate is still singing, a Nuthatch called from the scrub briefly mid-session. A family party of Bullfinch was calling at nets up and just the single pair of Reed Bunting on the reed bed. The Common Hawker had flown into a net while we were taking it down and was carefully extracted and flew off ok – fortunately it had not had time to begin “eating” the net. Marbled Whites on the wing, the first I’ve seen this year.