Wednesday 4 December 2013

Possible Projects

I've been checking out various sites for possible ringing projects since I arrived in Wales last month. There are loads of good places with birds to look at, from the large finch flocks of the Dyfnant Forest to my 'secret reedbed' out on the coast, and I'm in the process of getting permission from the landowners to establish these as regular ringing sites.

Just around the corner (well, over the hill actually) from where I live is the lovely but completely overgrown Woodland Trust reserve Coed Glaslyn. This is a great mixed woodland, with a lot of birch and alder in the lower part of the reserve, and oak with some beech and Scots pine higher up. I've seen some reasonable-sized finch flocks here, so got in touch with the Welsh office of the Woodland Trust to ask permission to ring there. They were quick with the affirmative, so today I went to check out the site with a view to deciding where best to puts nets. In the lower half of the reserve are three recently created ponds fringed with birch, willow and alder, but surrounded by the densest tussock grass clumps you've ever seen. This area could be good for birds using the ponds for drinking water, and the birches and alders will attract Siskin and Redpoll too.

I put a 12 metre net up for half an hour while I scouted around a bit, and in dropped the expected Blue Tits, and a gorgeous Treecreeper - the first I've ringed for 2 years (not many Treecreepers in almost tree-less Shetland!). There were also 7 Lesser Redpoll and 9 Siskin in the tree tops, so I think I'll try a dawn session at these ponds next week to see if I can get them as they come down to drink.

One of what will no doubt be many Blue Tits ringed at Coed Glaslyn over the coming months. This is a nice adult male.

Treecreeper is one of my favourite woodland birds.
Thanks to the Woodland Trust for granting me permission to start a ringing project at Coed Glaslyn.

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