Reed Bed Ringing

On the last day of October we attempted to best our record October catch at Herdsman. We needed just over 50 birds to do so and hopes were high after catching so many during the last few weeks. Alas, it was not to be and we only caught a handful of birds despite our best efforts.

The usual nets on the mound were not put up due to nesting bee-eaters and the bottlebrush trees in the car park were finished flowering, so produced few birds. No Red Wattlebirds were caught; surprising after catching so many less than a week ago.

We used the quiet morning to reinstate the reed bed nets after a lengthy break where the water level was too high. The reed bed was much drier than anticipated and few birds were caught there, but we did catch our first Australian Reed-warbler for the year.

Australian Reed-warbler adult (age 2+)

Of particular interest this week was a Silvereye retrapped during the banding demonstration on Wednesday. Checking the records showed that the bird was originally banded in November 2006, almost 10 years ago! An exceptional bird falling slightly short of the time-elapsed record for a Silvereye at Herdsman Lake.

Species - new (retrap)
Australian Reed-warbler - 1
Brown Honeyeater - 1
Laughing Dove - 1
Shining Bronze-cuckoo - (1)
Silvereye - 3 (3)
Striated Pardalote - 1
Western Gerygone - 1
Total - 8 (4) = 12