A restricted session due to the presence of a schedule 1 species, known to be nesting on site. We got just 4 nets up, away from the nest site to avoid creating any disturbance. The ringing of birds at this time of year is unusual here, but was undertaken to support sampling work on a variety of mainly warbler species in the county of Norfolk, looking for evidence of ongoing or past viral infections including Usutu virus, that are now found in some UK bird populations. The sampling process added no more than a few additional minutes before the birds could be released as usual.
Usutu virus is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito and has been found, in very rare cases, to affect humans presumably following a bite from an infected insect.
A total of 22 birds were captured with 13 of these suitable for sampling. We started early and had nets down by 10:30am to avoid the warmer hours of the day.
Chiffchaff - 4 (1)
Reed Bunting - 0 (1)
Reed Warbler - 1 (1)
Sedge Warbler - 3 (1)
Song Thrush - 0 (1)
Wood Pigeon - 1
Wren - 1 (1)