With other ringers up and down the country reporting that migration is now well underway, I thought a session at the reed bed at Langford Lakes was in order. (I know, it feels life summer has barely begun and the birds are already leaving). Langford Lakes is well positioned to attract all manner of migrant birds, being a wetland beacon in an otherwise quite dry area of the county. This is most notable in the array of interesting waders that regularly turn up on passage, but many passerines also pass through the site.
As always with Langford an early start was required to get onto site and make sure the nets are ready to go at first light. As it was, it seemed that almost every net was tangled in some way and setting up took longer than anticipated. Thankfully, the morning was rather cool, so the birds took a while to start moving.
The catch for the day was as follows: Blue Tit 1; Great Tit 3; Long-tailed Tit 10; Wren 10(1); Dunnock 4; Robin 1; Blackbird 1; Reed Warbler 28(8); Sedge Warbler 11; Blackcap 4; Whitethroat 1; Chiffchaff 3; Willow Warbler 8; Reed Bunting 2(1). Totals: 87 birds ringed from 14 species and 10 birds retrapped from 3 species, making 97 birds processed from 14 species.
Of these the following were juvenile birds: Blue Tit 1; Great Tit 2; Wren 9; Dunnock 4; Robin 1; Reed Warbler 26; Sedge Warbler 10; Blackcap 4; Whitethroat 1; Chiffchaff 2; Willow Warbler 7. 67 juveniles processed from 11 species.
Unsurprisingly Reed Warbler continued to dominate the catch, however there were also good numbers of Sedge and Willow Warblers. As you can see, many of these were juveniles, likely to be moving southwards. Over the coming weeks it will be interesting to see how migration unfolds at this site.
Ringing In The Braydon Forest & Beyond 