A steady month for the ringing team, as breeding finishes and moulting starts. The majority of our 33 sessions were in garden sites or the roost at Thornwick, over the month we caught 753 birds with 698 of these being new and 55 re-traps. A total of 33 different species were caught, with the highlights being:
| 145 | Swallow |
| 91 | Sand Martin |
| 45 | Whitethroat |
| 30 | Linnet |
| 17 | Chiffchaff |
| 16 | Willow Warbler |
| 16 | Sedge Warbler |
| 10 | Reed Warbler |
| 10 | Blackcap |
| 5 | Lesser Whitethroat |
| 2 | Yellow Wagtail |
| 1 | Garden Warbler |
On the 9th we sampled 8 adult Sand Martins for the project analysing the impact of chemical pollution on insectivorous birds, in particular pollutants present in birds wintering grounds. The project is focusing on Sand Martins. This is done by clipping a small section of one feather from adult Sand Martins, which is then sent to Manchester University for analysis. Hopefully data will reveal how pollutants impact the birds lifetime fitness and breeding success.
On the 21st a Swallow was re-trapped at the roost, having being ringed there previously on the 9/7/25 as a juvenile, a nice recording of a returning bird.
The best session at Thornwick roost on the 28th saw the team catch 101 new birds including 62 Swallow and 24 Sand Martin.
