On Thurs 25th Sept a team met at the Discovery Hut at 0630. We set seven nets around the feeders & reed bed to the east of the hut. It was quite quiet compared to recent sessions, although still productive compared to this time last year. We caught a total of 42 birds of 13 species.
On 26th Set last year we caught a Cetti's warbler which we aged as an adult using a number of criteria (https://axeestuaryringinggroup.blogspot.com/2024/09/). At this session we caught a Cetti's warbler which had been hatched this year, showing two generations of feathers in its Undertail Coverts. The feathers that had been replaced as part of the post-juvenile moult were in good condition with pale tips, whereas the juvenile feather was a more chestnut shade of brown, tatty, with no pale tip.
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| Cetti's warbler |
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| Cetti's warbler Undertail Coverts. Age Code 3 (hatched this year) |
We caught two Reed Buntings, which are often quite difficult to age. The first one was a new bird, which we decided was an adult male. Male Reed Buntings acquire their black heads as the brown feather tips wear off over the winter. This male was still largely showing a brown head, but the shape of the black centre of the feathers show that the brown will wear to show black. The grey feathers on the rump also confirm that it's a male. The relatively rounded tail feathers in good condition & warm brown eye indicate that this is an adult bird.
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| Male Reed Bunting |
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| The head feathers of the male Reed Bunting. The black centre on a female would be more pointed. |
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| Relatively rounded tail feathers in good condition. |
The second Reed Bunting was a retrap. Being able to check when a bird was ringed is useful for confirming the age of a bird, and helps the learning process. We decided that this bird was also an adult male & this time we were able to check to see if we were right. We were! The bird had been ringed as a male on 12/1/25 during an evening roost session, as a bird hatched in 2024 (age code 5). The head showed more black than the earlier bird, and the grey rump feathers are also a male feature.
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| Retrapped adult male Reed Bunting |
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| The tail wasn't quite as rounded as the last bird, but was in good condition. |
It was nice to catch a Stonechat, a male hatched this year (age code 3). The bird was aged using the difference in colour between the black Greater Coverts that had been replaced in the post-juvenile moult & the browner & more frayed Primary Coverts. The broad pale fringe at the tip of the Primary Coverts is also a juvenile feature.
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| Male Stonechat |
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| Wing of the Stonechat |
Mariana joined us again from the Zoological Society of London to take samples to test for Usutu & West Nile virus. Samples taken during her earlier visit on 17th June were negative for both viruses. (https://axeestuaryringinggroup.blogspot.com/2025/06/)
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| Mariana taking samples |
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| The Team |
New | Retrapped | |
Blackcap | 3 | |
Blue Tit | 1 | |
Cetti’s Warbler | 4 | 2 |
Chiffchaff | 12 | |
Dunnock | 2 | 1 |
Goldcrest | 3 | |
Great Tit | 2 | |
Kingfisher | 1 | |
Reed Bunting | 1 | 1 |
Reed Warbler | 5 | |
Sedge Warbler | 1 | |
Stonechat | 1 | |
Wren | 1 | 1 |
34 | 8 |
