Well spring was nice and warm and sunny, which is not always the case, so much so that we are now at risk of drought (allegedly). Anyway, following the trend of recent years now summer has officially started, the weather has turned and we have had rain, winds and the temperature has cooled off. No ringing this weekend, so time for a quick summary of the SRG activities in 2025.
We started the season in early April and have had regular sessions at weekends and midweek. So far we have ringed a total of 801 birds, as follows: Barn Owl 2, Blackbird 12, Blackcap 64, Blue Tit 231, Bullfinch 7, Cetti's Warbler 1, Chaffinch 3, Chiffchaff 25, Dunnock 13, Garden Warbler 6, Goldcrest 1, Goldfinch 2, Great Spotted Woodpecker 1, Great Tit 134, Grey Wagtail 4, Jackdaw 14, Jay 1, Kingfisher 2, Lesser Whitethroat 7, Linnet 26, Long Tailed Tit 13, Mute Swan 3, Redstart 1, Reed Bunting 18, Reed Warbler 33, Robin 19, Sedge Warbler 37, Song Thrush 6, Stock Dove 4, Swallow 6, Tawny Owl 1, Tree Creeper 8, Whitethroat 22, Willow Warbler 10, and last of all Wren 13! This does not include retraps.
That's 35 species thus far; the reservoir record is 69 from 2020, so we have some way to go. Last year we had a rather lean 57 species; we certainly want to improve on that! Special mention to AGH and the nest box team for the Owls, Stock Doves and many Tits. We are now starting to get small numbers of juveniles appearing, for example:
Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker- note the red cap
Slightly unusually DS and JLU in the Paddock ringed two Kingfishers on the same day, adult Male and Female, so likely to be a pair; of late there have been quite a few sightings of juveniles out and about, hopefully we shall get to ring a few of their offspring.
No caption needed I think. Anyway, here's to a productive summer at Stanford Reservoir. Watch this space for more ringing related shenanigans at Stanford Reservoir!
