A pre-work ringing session on Tuesday 26th produced another 116 new birds, with the majority being Reed and Sedge Warblers. Amongst the Sedge Warblers was our second British control of the year, so we will look forward to news of that one. In addition to the Sedge and Reed's we also caught another 28 new Grasshopper Warblers, taking our total to 227 for the year, and once again they were all juveniles. An interesting range of colour morphs though, with at least half of them having bright yellow underparts.
Sylvia Warblers were also more evident than previously, with 4 Garden Warblers, 4 Common Whitethroats and 2 Blackcaps captured, along with 9 Willow Warblers. But the surprise was our first Reed Bunting of the year. We usually catch this species in the winter when they are attracted to the feeding stations, but this unsuspecting juvenile was obviously caught out by our nets.
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| Juvenile Reed Bunting |
This individual still had the spotted head plumage of a juvenile bird, and unfortunately it had not moulted in its crown and head feathers so could not be sexed.
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| Juvenile Reed Bunting |
Adults undergo a summer complete moult, and a partial late winter moult of the head and throat, whereas juveniles do not generally moult their wing and tails feathers, which subsequently become more worn through the winter.
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