This last weekend has been one of the most successful of the Group with ringing taking place on Saturday to Monday at three locations. The first two were on the Seaton Wetlands in the area of the Discovery Hut and on Colyford Common. A wide habitat of reed, scrub and hedgerow produced a good variety of birds. Saturday produced the bulk of birds, 79 in total, comprising of 14 Goldfinches, six Chiffchaffs, five Sedge Warblers, one Reed Warbler, four Willow Warblers, one Grasshopper Warbler, two Swallows, one Lesser Whitethroat, six Great Tits, eight Blue Tits, 24 Greenfinches, six Wrens, and one Goldcrest. The Grasshopper Warbler being the highlight of the morning. (See photo)
There were fewer birds on the Sunday, but a respectable 36 of 14 species. The additional species were ten Reed Warblers, one Cetti's Warbler, one Kingfisher, one House Martin as well as three Blackbirds and Robins and one Coal Tit. Chiffchaffs, Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Swallows, Sedge Warblers, Wrens and a Reed Bunting making up the total for the morning.
Being a diverse ringing group, on the Monday evening well into dark, a catch of roosting waders was made on Colyford Marsh. Twenty-four waders comprising of one Lapwing, one Curlew, originally ringed by the Group at the site on 9th October 2013, one Whimbrel, two Green Sandpipers, three Redshank and 16 Dunlin. The reasonable number of Dunlin gave the members present an ideal opportunity to compare adult and juvenile birds. (See photo) The Group have arrange for two further sessions to catch waders this year.
A total of 139 birds of 26 species.
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| Grasshopper Warbler (Rob Skinner) |
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Lesser Whitethroat (Tom Gale) |
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| Whimbrel (Allan Reese) |
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| Curlew (Mike Tyler) |
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Lapwing (Mike Tyler) |
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| Dunlins juvenile on the left compared with an adult (Mike Tyler) |
