Report of the month - April - Naturschutz Ieweschtesyrdall Schlammwiss Birdringingstation

History: The nature reserve "Schlammwiss" was founded in 1982 by the foundation"Hellef fir Natur" (HFN). Afterwards the group "Letzeburger Natur- a Vullenschutzliga" (LNVL) founded the station "Schlammwiss". The station is leaded by the "centrale ornithologique Luxembourg" (COL), a part of the asbl. Natur & Emwelt. Due to the fact that Luxembourg doesn't have its own bird ringing central, we work in cooperation with Royal Belgian Instutitute of Natural Sciences. Therefore, we use rings from the Belgian Museum of Natural Sciences.

Location: The bird ringing station "Schlammwiss" is located in Luxembourg, between the communities Schuttrange & Munsbach. The nature reserve is part of the 375ha big Syrvalley and is an extremely important Natura 2000 zone. The reserve is periodicly flooded due to the Syr river, which is an important generator of biodiversity.

Research area: Around 30ha are used for researche, on a length of 1km and a width of 30-120m. The main area is covered by reeds and wetlands (20ha). Furthermore, the resarch area is subdivided and caracterized by an orchard, a forest, several ponds distributed throughout the reedbed and a purification plant (SIAS). The main techniques employed are mist nets and rail traps in order to realize population estimates (i.e. breeding population, migration, overwintering population) and survival estimates by Capture-Mark-Recapture. There are several projects running in the nature reserve and visitation are possible.

Summary of the ringing activity this month

In april, the bird ringing station "Schlammwiss" caught about 759 birds of 41 species. This number is subdivided in 461 E, 209 W and 89 K. None bird foreign origin has been caught.

The total amount of birds for the month is higher than the average amount of birds caught in april at the station. The graphic below shows the average amount of birds for each month during the years 2001-2014.

E: first capture of this individual

W: recapture of an individual which was already captured this year

K: individuals which were ringed one or more years ago or individuals with a foreign country or station

Top 5

1.	SYLATR	Blackcap	125
2.	COCCOC	Hawfinch	94
3.	CARCHL	Greenfinch	44
4.	EMBSCH	Reed bunting	36
5.	STUVUL	Starling	32

Interesting birds captured:

14 Anthus spinoletta
1 Dendrocopus medius
3 Dendrocopos major
1 Picus viridis
1 Acrocephalus arundinaceus
4 Acrocephalus schoenobaenus
1 Garrulus glandarius
94 Coccothraustes coccothraustes

First spring arrivals:

Species	Date
Phylloscopus collybiata	10.3
Phoenicurus ochruros	24.3
Luscinia svecica	25.3
Rallus aquaticus	31.3
Sylvia atricapilla	31.3

Phylloscopus trochilus	1.4
Acrocephalus schoenobaenus	7.4
Sylvia communis	8.4
Regulus ignicapilla	9.4
Sylvia curruca	14.4
Luscinia megarhynchos	21.4
Acrocephalus arundinaceus	22.4
Sylvia borin	22.4

Summary

Distribution of the age:

Code	Amount	Definiton
C	6	older than four years
B	11	born four years ago
A	8	older than three years
9	17	born three years ago
8	12	older than two years
7	21	born two years ago
6	90	older than one year
5	232	born last year
4	362	age unkown, but not born this year
3	/	born this year
2	/	age unknown
1	/	nestling

Foreign birds that we controlled this year:

Month	Species	Country
January	/	/
February	Sturnus vulgaris	Beglium
March	Phylloscopus collybita	Belgium
	Phylloscopus collybita	Belgium
	Emberiza schoeniclus	France
April	/	/