Ringing Report 4 – 5 March 2026
The weather was overcast on the first day and misty to begin with on the second, followed by warm sun. The Island had recently been flooded for ten days leaving the whole area rather waterlogged.
This time of the year, birds are prospecting for nesting sites and the flocks have broken up. The mornings are rather damp and everything is wet so most birds favour the tops of the trees – since these dry out first – and so are too high up to be caught. This includes the Tits and Finches. The ground feeders are back, after having been pushed off the Island during the floods. Also, while the Island was flooded the bird feeders could not be refilled and to compound things a large tree fell across the entrance walkway.
At this time of the year the bird population is at its lowest as a high percentage of last year’s young have perished due to cold over the winter months.
The re-traps included 4 Blue Tits ringed in 2023, and one fledged from Box 2.
Other things seen and heard included 4 Little Egrets and a Great Crested Grebe. Chiffchaffs and Cetti’s Warblers were heard singing. Rooks were seen nest building in one of the Willow trees, the first time they have attempted to breed on the Island. An adult and a fawn Muntjac were seen as were a Brimstone Butterfly and Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly.
Recently posted was a late control* of a Reed Warbler initially ringed on the Island as an adult on 19 May 2023 caught by other ringers in Forninhos-Odemira, Beja, Portugal on 17 August 2023, a distance of 1756 km away.
* the recapture or resighting of a bird that was ringed elsewhere by a different ringer or group
Male Reed Bunting Photo: Julian Limentani