Yellow-browed Warbler, a rare visitor from Siberia

Come and see a demonstration of bird ringing in Freeman’s Marsh.

Wildlife is one of the key aspects of the work of Town & Manor, and year on year we increase our understanding of the wealth of wildlife in the area, and specifically on Freeman’s Marsh, with annual bird monitoring.

This tiny Yellow-browed Warbler is a rare visitor on its way south west from Siberia.

Volunteers with two Red Kite chicks, during the annual bird ringing in Hungerford

Bird Monitoring on Freeman’s Marsh

We started bird ringing and monitoring in 2011. This helps us establish the number of birds and variety of species visiting the local area. The ringing has been carried out by John Swallow and Jerry Woodham, both qualified and accredited by the British Trust for Ornithology.

In 2012 we added territory mapping, with members of the Berkshire Downs Ringing Group (BDRG), to gain greater insight into the birds visiting or breeding on Freeman’s Marsh.

See our 2017 Bird Ringing results

Britain’s smallest bird, the tiny Goldcrest

When is the next bird ringing? 

The next BDRG visit will be displayed on Town & Manor notice boards on the north bank of the River Dun, just downstream from the ford and footbridge at the western end of Freeman’s Marsh. While BDRG are not able to work to fixed dates, they will visit one Saturday or Sunday each month between May and August.

Beautifully coloured Kingfisher, by Hugh Pihlens

How we catch the birds

Almost invisible nets are set between poles to catch birds for ringing and data collection. The nets don’t harm the birds, and are visited frequently with the birds being carefully removed and taken to our nearby ringing base for examination.

If you see a bird caught in a net, please don’t touch the bird or the net, but speak to one of the trained ringers nearby – they’ll be happy to explain the process.

All the ringers involved in the study carry permits issued by the British Trust for Ornithology, on behalf of the government’s Nature Conservation Agencies.

What you can do during this time

Please help the young birds survive in the critical period from 1^st March to 31^st July by:

• Staying on the footpaths and keeping your dog on a short lead wen walking on land between the river and canal
• Moving away quickly if you see a disturbed or distressed bird
• Encouraging other dog walkers to follow your example

Birds you might spot, that have visited the area

Bullfinch

Reed Warbler

Mute Swans with cygnets

Unusual sightings

The outstanding bird was an Icterine Warbler caught in June at our CES site near Halfway….this was only the third bird ever caught in Berkshire.

Rarely seen Glossy Ibis on Freeman’s Marsh, by Jerry Woodham

Kingfisher, by Hugh Pihlens

2017 Bird Ringing results

Tawny Owl

Garden Warbler

Male Bullfinch, by Jerry Woodham

Male Bullfinch showing old unmoulted covert feathers, enabling us to age it as a bird hatched last year. By Jerry Woodham

Mute Swans with their brood of cygnets, by Jerry Woodham

Read more

Our ringing session was from 0530-1030 on Saturday 13^th May, during which time we saw at least 3 Cuckoo, including a female, calling up and down the river, and we caught good numbers of Bullfinch and Garden Warbler.

Adult Long Tailed Tit with pink body plumage, by Jerry Woodham

Adult (foreground) and juvenile Long Tailed Tits, showing the difference in plumage, by Jerry Woodham

Juvenile Long Tailed Tit, by Jerry Woodham

We also caught our first juvenile birds of the season, a Robin and a Long Tailed Tit, both early breeders recently fledged from their nest, and a Reed Warbler from outside our area, which is termed a ‘control’.

Total caught = 35, including 12 Retraps (shown in parentheses)

Robin 3 (1)

Wren 2 (2)

Garden Warbler 3

Blackbird 3 (1)

Willow Warbler 1

Long Tailed Tit 5 (1)

Song Thrush 1 (1)

Reed Warbler 2

Blue Tit 2 (1)

Chiffchaff 4 (1)

Bullfinch 6 (2)

Dunnock 1 (1)

Cetti’s Warbler 1 (1)

Treecreeper 1 (1)

On completion we went to Hungerford Marsh and ringed two Tawny owlets, which were in the box funded by Town & Manor, built by John Swallow and erected two years ago.

Comparison between older Tawny Owlet on the right and its younger sibling, by Jerry Woodham

Younger Tawny Owlet, ringed in May 2017, by Jerry Woodham

Tawny Owlet, notice the fresh wing feathers in growth, by Jerry Woodham

Past bird ringing research findings

2015 results – by Jerry Woodham

2015 wasn’t a bad year for bird ringing within our group, we managed to ring just over 5,000 birds, of which 4,430 were new, slightly down on our 2014 figures.

The outstanding bird of the year was an Icterine Warbler, caught in June at our CES site near Halfway. This was only the third bird ever caught in Berkshire.

The bird species spotted, 2011-2012

During 2011 and 2012, John and Jerry spotted 97 species from 2789 records and 100 complete lists. Follow this link for their full 2012 end of season report.