Tuesday 10 July 2012

Dartford Warbler @ Fleet Pond

While carrying out ringing at Fleet Pond today we caught a Juvenile (3J) Dartford Warbler in the North East Marsh.  Only 8 juvenile Dartford warblers were ringed last year in the country. It would be interesting to know where the nest was (Fleet Pond/Bramshill?)
This is probably the first Dartford Warbler to be recorded around Fleet Pond!
This small warbler is resident in the UK and has s declined in numbers quite a lot in the past few years due to the harsh winters . Its population crashed to only a few pairs in the 1960s. It will perch on top of a gorse stem to sing.  A ditinguishing feature is the bright red eye ring and it has a long tail.