We went ringing on 12 January and caught 29
birds of 10 species including Common Kingfisher, Clamorous Reed Warbler, Little
Bittern, Graceful Prinia, Red-spotted Bluethroat, Moustached Warbler, Common
Chiffchaff, White-eared Bulbul, Water Pipit and Daurian Shrike. White-eared
Bulbul was a new species for us at our ringing site, although birds are common
in the region they are scarce at the site itself with birds only being seen in
the last year suggesting they may be colonising the area. We set nets in the
same locations each tip with some over water and other over land in rides
between reed beds. We set and additional three nets along the edge of a reed
bed as well as the normal ten nets we set every trip (11 x 18 metre and 2 x 15
metre). As normal, we arrived well before first light and set the nets during
the hours of darkness. The best time for catching birds for us are the first
couple of hours of day and this was the case this trip. We retrapped 11 birds
including five Clamorous Reed Warbler, two Red-spotted Bluethroat, a Graceful
Prinia and a Little Bittern. The Clamorous Reed Warblers were from as early as 23
September 2016 with the Bluethroats only trapped this winter. The Graceful
Prinia was trapped in November 2017 and the Little Bitter in March 2017. The
number of birds was less than normal as it was the middle of winter and the
weather was very cold with temperatures in the morning only reaching 5 degrees
Celsius. Normally we have to take care of birds overheating but it was the
opposite this time with care needed to ensure the birds did not become too cold.
 |
| Common Chiffchaff |
 |
| Red-spotted Bluethroat |
 |
| Common Kingfisher |
 |
| Water Pipit |
 |
| Little Bittern |