Over recent weeks NNR volunteer Mike has been carrying out his annual
monitoring of breeding and passage warblers at Wheldrake Ings. This ‘constant
effort type’ ringing project has been running for five years now and is
providing some valuable data on species trends and annual productivity, as well
as the importance and management of Wheldrake Ings for warblers.
Results from this year so far suggest it’s been a
particularly good season for Blackcaps with over 230 ringed – in contrast to a
previous best yearly total of 130. On the other hand it hasn’t been such
a good year for Sedge and Reed Warblers with lower numbers caught and ringed,
with a greater percentage of adults being caught - suggesting that lower
breeding productivity of these two species is the main driver for that change.
It’s also been a later season than normal with many young locally bred birds
still being recorded and with Willow Warbler numbers peaking late August (as
opposed to the first two weeks in August) – with 304 new birds already caught
and ringed.
Blackcap
Sedge Warbler
Mike’s ringing has proved to be a valuable method of
assessing some of the population trends and factors affecting the warbler
populations on the Ings, as well as our resident passerine birds (Wrens have
had a bumper year with good productivity late in the summer) – all of this
compliments our Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data from earlier in the year. With
1200 warblers newly ringed this year so far it’s also likely to yield some
interesting movements over the next few years as well. The early morning
sessions have also produced one or two nice surprises with two Redstarts being
trapped, two Kingfishers and the first ever record of Aquatic Warbler for the
area – well done and thanks to Mike for his ongoing efforts.
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