Laajalahti 12 August 2012
A & A, Ina, Jussi and Matthias were ringing today with Acro nets. Only +4C in the morning, calm, and the sun rose at 5.25. At 12.00 the temperature had risen to 23C, and it was still quite calm. The weather was very good for reedbed ringing as the sky was partly overcast.
| yearlings ringed | older ringed | yearlings retrapped | older retrapped | |
| Red-backed Shrike | 6 | |||
| Sedge Warbler | 35 | 1 | ||
| Eurasian Reed Warbler | 3 | 1 | ||
| Blyth's Reed Warbler | 3 | |||
| Marsh Warbler | 1 | |||
| Willow Warbler | 33 | 1 | 1 | |
| Lesser Whitethroat | 6 | |||
| Common Whitethroat | 1 | |||
| Garden Warbler | 1 | |||
| Great Tit | 1 | |||
| Blue Tit | 5 | 3 | 5 | |
| Eurasian Reed Bunting | 2 | 1 | ||
| Tree Pipit | 4 | |||
| Whinchat | 2 |
The total of 116 birds was the best of the year so far, all trapping days included. It is still a lot below the catch on these dates last year, and this is because of the low numbers of Sedge Warbers (last year, we trapped over 100 Sedge Warblers on all our visits, ie 31 July, 7 August and 13 August). This seems to be a bad year for this main target species, and it is probably not because of late autumn migration, because the adults seem to be gone already. However, the numbers of Willow Warbler are now higher than usual. Also, the number of Red-backed Shrikes and Tree Pipits was good.
This was the only adult Eurasian Reed Warbler of the day. There is some body plumage moult visible, which is very normal for adults of this species at this time of the year.
The adult Garden Warbler. It is somewhat more worn than a young bird would be but still quite fresh, which is typical for the species, although it has not moulted after leaving Africa last winter.
One of the four Tree Pipits. Note missing median coverts and other marks of postjuvenile moult in this feather tract.