Ringed Wood Warbler

A few weeks ago(16/05) I mentioned on the blog a Wood Warbler that I'd seen singing in Cwm Doethie which was colour ringed. I've chased it up via the BTO and have had an interesting and comprehensive reply from John Mallord who is leading an RSPB study in to the rapid decline of the Wood Warbler recently. The study area runs from the Elan valley to RSPB Dinas and 150 adults and 550 nestlings have been ringed. The aim is to replicate a study from the 1980's to see whether changes on the breeding grounds are the cause of this decline.

The bird I saw was ringed as a nestling at Dinas, not far from Cwm Doethie, on 14 June 2010. John told me that after my email he went out and re-found it, still singing in the same larches! Apparently, Wood Warblers generally have a low site fidelity so this bird is a little unusual perhaps. I understand that preliminary results of the survey suggest that breeding success is as good now as it was then. So, problems are likely to be on the wintering grounds or migration routes.