Emerged from the reed bed and down to the sea....

With the passage of Sedge and Reed Warblers through the marsh slowing down, our efforts have moved from the wet and mud of the reed bed on the Teifi marsh to the beach.
Having seen an increase in the number of Rock Pipits on Patch in the Teifi estuary it was time to dust off the spring traps, replenish the worm stocks and continue to collect data on passage through the spit.

14 Rock Pipits were caught over the early morning high tide yesterday. All were juveniles still undergoing body moult. 81 have now been ringed since we started in 2010 so potential to start a colour ringing project.

One advantage of ringing down at the estuary is to be able to record the waders moving through for county records and BTO's Birdtrack. Only about 30 small waders were in the high tide roost

with no sign of the recent Curlew Sandpiper but the Dunlin and Ringed Plover were joined by a juvenile Turnstone. Good to see some of the Dunlin with shiny new rings from being ringed the night before.
In the last few nights we have ringed 14 Dunlin, 4 Ringed Plover and an Oystercatcher

Although CES is over for this year on the Teifi marshes reserve, some ringing will continue on the site for a few more months. 13 Blackcaps and  17 Chiffchaffs were ringed last week. This Blackcap was ringed last Autumn and not seen since. Is he a migrant using the site as a stop over regularly or a local breeder who has managed to avoid the nets all summer?

Information about autumn migrants and winter residents is fed back to the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales and the Welsh Wildlife Centre about birds on the reserve which they are grateful to be able to use. Spreading pictures and information to their supporters helps with bird identification,  helps to raise the profile of the reserve and hopefully increase revenue for use in conservation to help provide good habitat for these migrants. Thanks to Nathan and Howard for their continuing support of our work on the reserve.