Hi All
Well,its been a really great week ,managed to get 6 days ringing sessions in.
Weather has just started to change a bit a couple of cloudy days,even a few spots of rain 1 evening,but winds still in a westerly trend.
31st August
Early evening put some nets up at my private ringing up below Casares,below the Sierra Crestellina.,first ringing session here since late spring.Too hot to ring here in the summer.
Caught a couple of birds before dusk,a retrapped Juvenile Sardinian warbler plus the first migrating juv.Common Redstart of the Autumn.
Furled the nets before dusk.
1st.Sept.
Came back this morning before first light for a quiet ringing session,nets had to be closed by 10,30 as it was already too hot.
In that time ringed 5 Sardinian Warblers,1 juv.male Stonechat,1 moulting adult Wren,another migrating 1st.winter Common redstart,migrating 1st.winter Bonellis Warbler,and a superb juv.Blue Rock Thrush.
Also retrapped 2 sardinian Warblers.
In the afternoon went over to my Olive grove site and set up the usual set of nets,2 lots of nets in tandem ,both 3 X 18m rides.,and furled them ready for an early start next morning.
2nd.Sept.
Got the nets open well before light when it was dead calm,but like yesterday it soon became too hot and with a fresh W.wind to boot so nets were closed by 10.30.
As a consequence there were far fewer birds here today but there were a few trans saharan migrants about.,of which I managed to ring another 1st winter Common Redstart,2 1st winter Iberian Chiffchaffs and the first Garden Warbler of the Autumn.,also a 1st.winter bird.
Resident birds included 2 Blackbirds,5 Blackcaps,2 Great Tits,3 Sardinian warblers,3 House Sparrows.
Retrapped a local sardinian warbler and a Nightingale which had bred earlier at this site but was now on the way back to Africa with a high fat score of 55.
As usual,went in the afternoon to the other ringing site in the area at the Avocado orchard.Put up the same nets again ready for the next day,2 double 18m.nets in tandem and a triple 18m.set of nets in tandem.,gives plenty of chances to trap some birds.
3rd,Sept.
Nets opened well before first light and it turned out to be a really interesting session,but again nets closed by 11.30 as too hot by then,around 33 degrees!!
Trans saharan migrants ringed incl.adult male Nightingale,2 adult and a 1st winter Garden warbler,2 1st winter male Willow warblers,4 1st.winter Iberian Chiffchaffs,a 1st.winter Melodious warbler and 2 1st winter Reed warblers.
Reed warbler was a good bird for this site.The birds were trapped leaving the orchard having been feeing in the trees ,and were heading towards the Rio Hozgarganta at the back of the site,usual this waterway to head down to the coast before heading for the African continent.
What else would I find today???
Well,there were plenty of local birds ringed too incl,8 Blackcaps,8 Chaffinch,8 Blackbirds,1 juv.Short Toed treecreeper,2 Sardinian warbler,1 Robin,1 Blue Tit,and a Spanish ringing tick for me,a juv.female Nuthatch.
Also retrapped 1 chaffincha and a Blackbird.
Sept 4th.
During the summer I always abandon my middle river site up the Rio Guadlamansa as Spanish use it for Picnics and BBQ'S,but by now most are back at work and the kids are going back to school so it was a fair bet I would get an uninterrupted ringing session in.
Set up the nets late afternoon /early evening,plenty of cloud cover today and even a few spots of rain around.
By the time I had set up 6 x 18m.and 1 12m.net up there was not much light left for ringing but with the waether conditions as I have indicated there were plenty of birds around.
Ended up finishing the birds in the dark,local birds ringed incl.2 moulting adult female Serins,a juv. male cettis warbler,2 juv.Blackcaps,a moulting adult male Blue Tit,and a juv.Grey wagtail,the latter species a bird regularly ringed at this site.
There were Trans Saharan species moving through the area too and I trapped 1 adult and a 1st winter garden warbler,2 Spotted Flycatchers,plus an adult Reed warbler and in the same net an adult reed warbler still with a brood patch!!
I also retrapped 4 Long Tailed tits,and this site is where I catch good numbers of this bird all year round.
Sept.5th.
I was back again at last nights site an hour before first light,where I had left the nets furled overnight.
This morning had with me an English ringer who had driven down from Ronda ,had recently joined our local Spanish ringing group,so i let him ring all the birds today,an what a fantastic session it was.cant wait to get back there on Sunday eveing and Monday morning.
I will start off with the more mudane side of things with the retrapped birds.,not that I would call a retrapped Kingfisher that mundane,but the commoner birds were 1 Robin,1 Blue Tit,1 Blackcap,1 sardinian warbler,1 Blackbird, and a cettis warbler.
Not quite so hot or windy this morning so able to keep nets open till 12.30.
All in all trapped 35 new birds of 14 species and really interesting mixture and many with some fascinating moult.
Of the Trans sarahan migrants I had 2 1st winter and 2 adult Garden warblers,2 adult reed warblers and an adult still with a brood patch (N.B. similar bird trapped earlier in the week and also using a river valley to migrate along),yet another spanish ringing tick was a 1st winter male Ortolan Bunting.
And what a mix of local birds too.,a moulting adult Goldfinch,3 juv.Robins,4 Blackcaps,a moulting adult female Rock Bunting (a regular in small numbers in this valley),an adult Green Sandpiper which was in classic suspended moult( had a large fat score too so will probabal end up in coastal Africa somewhere and maybe I will retrap it on its way back in the Spring),6 sardinian warblers,4 Blackbirds,a juv.male Cettis Warbler,a very smart adult male Stonechat,and another 1st winter Grey weagtail.
So ,plenty for you all to chew over and all the signs of a fantastic ringing Autumn in these Southern Climes!!!!
Your Spanish Correspondent
Well,its been a really great week ,managed to get 6 days ringing sessions in.
Weather has just started to change a bit a couple of cloudy days,even a few spots of rain 1 evening,but winds still in a westerly trend.
31st August
Early evening put some nets up at my private ringing up below Casares,below the Sierra Crestellina.,first ringing session here since late spring.Too hot to ring here in the summer.
Caught a couple of birds before dusk,a retrapped Juvenile Sardinian warbler plus the first migrating juv.Common Redstart of the Autumn.
Furled the nets before dusk.
1st.Sept.
Came back this morning before first light for a quiet ringing session,nets had to be closed by 10,30 as it was already too hot.
In that time ringed 5 Sardinian Warblers,1 juv.male Stonechat,1 moulting adult Wren,another migrating 1st.winter Common redstart,migrating 1st.winter Bonellis Warbler,and a superb juv.Blue Rock Thrush.
Also retrapped 2 sardinian Warblers.
In the afternoon went over to my Olive grove site and set up the usual set of nets,2 lots of nets in tandem ,both 3 X 18m rides.,and furled them ready for an early start next morning.
2nd.Sept.
Got the nets open well before light when it was dead calm,but like yesterday it soon became too hot and with a fresh W.wind to boot so nets were closed by 10.30.
As a consequence there were far fewer birds here today but there were a few trans saharan migrants about.,of which I managed to ring another 1st winter Common Redstart,2 1st winter Iberian Chiffchaffs and the first Garden Warbler of the Autumn.,also a 1st.winter bird.
Resident birds included 2 Blackbirds,5 Blackcaps,2 Great Tits,3 Sardinian warblers,3 House Sparrows.
Retrapped a local sardinian warbler and a Nightingale which had bred earlier at this site but was now on the way back to Africa with a high fat score of 55.
As usual,went in the afternoon to the other ringing site in the area at the Avocado orchard.Put up the same nets again ready for the next day,2 double 18m.nets in tandem and a triple 18m.set of nets in tandem.,gives plenty of chances to trap some birds.
3rd,Sept.
Nets opened well before first light and it turned out to be a really interesting session,but again nets closed by 11.30 as too hot by then,around 33 degrees!!
Trans saharan migrants ringed incl.adult male Nightingale,2 adult and a 1st winter Garden warbler,2 1st winter male Willow warblers,4 1st.winter Iberian Chiffchaffs,a 1st.winter Melodious warbler and 2 1st winter Reed warblers.
Reed warbler was a good bird for this site.The birds were trapped leaving the orchard having been feeing in the trees ,and were heading towards the Rio Hozgarganta at the back of the site,usual this waterway to head down to the coast before heading for the African continent.
What else would I find today???
Well,there were plenty of local birds ringed too incl,8 Blackcaps,8 Chaffinch,8 Blackbirds,1 juv.Short Toed treecreeper,2 Sardinian warbler,1 Robin,1 Blue Tit,and a Spanish ringing tick for me,a juv.female Nuthatch.
Also retrapped 1 chaffincha and a Blackbird.
Sept 4th.
During the summer I always abandon my middle river site up the Rio Guadlamansa as Spanish use it for Picnics and BBQ'S,but by now most are back at work and the kids are going back to school so it was a fair bet I would get an uninterrupted ringing session in.
Set up the nets late afternoon /early evening,plenty of cloud cover today and even a few spots of rain around.
By the time I had set up 6 x 18m.and 1 12m.net up there was not much light left for ringing but with the waether conditions as I have indicated there were plenty of birds around.
Ended up finishing the birds in the dark,local birds ringed incl.2 moulting adult female Serins,a juv. male cettis warbler,2 juv.Blackcaps,a moulting adult male Blue Tit,and a juv.Grey wagtail,the latter species a bird regularly ringed at this site.
There were Trans Saharan species moving through the area too and I trapped 1 adult and a 1st winter garden warbler,2 Spotted Flycatchers,plus an adult Reed warbler and in the same net an adult reed warbler still with a brood patch!!
I also retrapped 4 Long Tailed tits,and this site is where I catch good numbers of this bird all year round.
Sept.5th.
I was back again at last nights site an hour before first light,where I had left the nets furled overnight.
This morning had with me an English ringer who had driven down from Ronda ,had recently joined our local Spanish ringing group,so i let him ring all the birds today,an what a fantastic session it was.cant wait to get back there on Sunday eveing and Monday morning.
I will start off with the more mudane side of things with the retrapped birds.,not that I would call a retrapped Kingfisher that mundane,but the commoner birds were 1 Robin,1 Blue Tit,1 Blackcap,1 sardinian warbler,1 Blackbird, and a cettis warbler.
Not quite so hot or windy this morning so able to keep nets open till 12.30.
All in all trapped 35 new birds of 14 species and really interesting mixture and many with some fascinating moult.
Of the Trans sarahan migrants I had 2 1st winter and 2 adult Garden warblers,2 adult reed warblers and an adult still with a brood patch (N.B. similar bird trapped earlier in the week and also using a river valley to migrate along),yet another spanish ringing tick was a 1st winter male Ortolan Bunting.
And what a mix of local birds too.,a moulting adult Goldfinch,3 juv.Robins,4 Blackcaps,a moulting adult female Rock Bunting (a regular in small numbers in this valley),an adult Green Sandpiper which was in classic suspended moult( had a large fat score too so will probabal end up in coastal Africa somewhere and maybe I will retrap it on its way back in the Spring),6 sardinian warblers,4 Blackbirds,a juv.male Cettis Warbler,a very smart adult male Stonechat,and another 1st winter Grey weagtail.
So ,plenty for you all to chew over and all the signs of a fantastic ringing Autumn in these Southern Climes!!!!
Your Spanish Correspondent
B 
