CES 10

It was the 10th CES (Constant Effort Scheme) of 2019 and a start time of 0500.  The sun rose with the promise of a dry, warm, sunny day. 

Net rounds were carried out and many birds were returned to the ringing room.  In total 251 birds were processed.  The majority of the birds brought in were youngsters.  Bullfinches, Chaffinches and Robins were all starting to moult and grow in their coloured feathers.  Coal Tits visit Foxglove for the winter and some are already beginning to return.  They will always find plenty of food available for them.

Some adults that were processed gave us some smiles.  A Long-tailed Tit was first ringed in December 2016, so was at least two and half years old.  A Great Tit was ringed as a juvenile in June 2014, and a Chaffinch was four years old. 

There were some surprises too.  After seeing some Marsh Tits earlier in the year one arrived to be ringed.  They are on the Red List of UK Species, meaning that they are of the highest conservation priority, needing urgent action.

A Whitethroat, a rare vistor to Foxglove, was also ringed.

As the bird ringers returned from net rounds they commented on the number of butterflies, mainly Peacocks and Painted Ladies.  They were as usual feeding on the Hardheads.

But there is always one. A Small Skipper decided that the seed head of a grass was much better!

Thank you to everyone who worked at Foxglove during the day, those in the ringing room and those carrying out a variety of habitat management tasks.  A special thank you to Team Thursday who weeded out the Heather paddocks in the morning and then gave the reed bed a much needed 'short back and sides' to open up the footpath through the scrapes!

Many thanks too to Abbie and Kate for stepping in last minute to help with the wildlife craft activity on Wednesday. More of these are planned in the next few weeks, no need to book, just pop in. See the events page for details.

All your hard work is very much appreciated and makes a huge difference to the reserve. Finally, the latest Undergrowth newsletter is available. Friends of Foxglove will receive theirs by post but you can view it (in two parts) on the website too.