This summer we are joining the team at Frossay, France as they target Aquatic Warbler on their migration south each year. Our first two mornings were spent at Migron. This site is very close to the Loire, just metres from a parallel canal the within the Loire floodplain. The vegetation is a variety of rush and sedge grasses, and only a few clumps of reed. The ground is quite wet underfoot and wellington boots are required. This is the most likely site to produce ACROLA, as they are known here in the Frossay area. The set up consisted of 3x3 2 panel 12m nets for Acrola with 3 full height 18m nets for other species, termed sejourn.
The first day brought 130+ birds from this site. On the first round, DKL extracted the first Sedge Warbler to find that it carried an English ring APL2440. There seemed a certain degree of good luck there, reinforced when the second bird extracted by DKL was not only an Aquatic Warbler but also carrying a ring from Belarus and a blue darvic code T5.
The bird is part of a translocation project to spread the range of the birds beyond Belarus, and will either have come from Lithuania or Estonia. This is the second bird from the project, captured by this initiative. In 2019 a site further south captured BW (M5).
There was another Aquatic during the day with more at the sister site Massereau, where also another three UK ringed birds turned up, with another eight reported at Dognes on the northern side of the Loire.
This turned out to be an exception day for migration with other locations recording more Acrola and other species in general.
The second day started with the unexpected capture of a Long-eared Owl. This was probably the cause of the first round having so few birds.
This day had fewer birds but we both were able to ring Acrola, and reacquaint ourselves with some of the less commonly seen in the UK species such as Melodious Warbler and Savi's Warbler.
