Wintersett 2014 - Cetti's Warbler Breeding Success!

From Pete Smith:

 This species first bred at Wintersett Reservoir in 2011, when a male and female nested, but failed to fledge any young.  There were no records in 2012 but a male arrived on 10^th November 2013 and remained throughout the winter.  He began singing on territory in March 2014 and we hoped he could attract a female, as we hadn’t been able to confirm that any other birds were present during the winter.            

Cetti’s Warblers are extremely secretive, and a territorial male can have up to four breeding females.  Due to our ringing activities, we have been able to confirm that our territorial male had two breeding females, and both successfully fledged a brood of young .

We trapped and ringed four juveniles between 30^th June and 22^nd July confirming the first successful breeding of this species at Wintersett, and indeed the Barnsley area.  

Juvenile Cetti's Warbler Ringed 30.06.14       Becky Hill