Staff: JMY, MBR, APN, MMJ, TMJ, MFG, CBS, JRD, MLA
Projects: Great Reed Warbler, Standarized Ringing, Skylarks, Marsh harriers
Weather: hot & sunny until late afternoon, cloudy in the evening.
Great Reed Warbler
JRD and TMJ went to Löten where they discovered that one of the males has a second female, having found a nest. He may also have a third; no nest has been found to confirm this, but they appear to be building. They also found a predated nest. Marianna and MBL visited Åslasjön and Fågelsjön, and found a new GRW nest. They also found marsh harrier nest. MBL came back with waders full of water again... Dennis went to Segersjö where he got one of each: a new male, a new nest and a predated nest.
Skylarks & ortolans
I (JMY) Spent the morning trying to locate a skylark nest in the hay field at Sörby. A tricky business as the 'small' gap where the birds were going down with food, between the survey plot post and the embankment got bigger and bigger the closer I got... it's all to do with perspective and triangulation, apparently... I noticed though, that the hay field is again busy with displaying and foraging larks, after being cut a few weeks ago, and humming with insects which are feeding on the many flowering plants there. The Autumn & Spring crop fields are much quieter.
Standardised Ringing
CBS, MMA, APN- a sunny morning at Vallen produced the following:
Thrush nightingale 1
Sedge warbler 7
Reed warbler 6
Garden warbler 1
Whitethroat 5
Willow warbler 1
Bearded reedling 1
Pied flycatcher 2
Blue tit 10
Great tit 11
Tree sparrow 1
Goldfinch 1
Yellowhammer 1
Reed bunting 5
Marsh harriers
The ringing team later went out to try and track down a marsh harrier nest in Åslasjön, by canoe. After a bit of searching they located it only to find the chicks too small to ring.
JMY