16
THE BIRDS OF FEERING MARSH
A short article published in the Spring 1979issue of the
bulletin described the habitats in Feering Marsh and some of
its more notable plant life.
The following article describes the birdlife as surveyed
by myself in 1978.
Two methods of study were employed to gain a reliable
impression of the birds of Feering Marsh. The first was
to make random trips throughout the year (at least once a
month) at as many different hours of the day as possible
in order to perceive which birds were using the area.
The second method was a breeding birds census, carried out
on much the same lines as those recommended by the British
Trust for Ornithology. For this I made a series of visits
throughout the nesting season recording the birds' position
and activity (singing, nesting, feeding, etc.) on a number
of sketch maps. At the end of the season these "single
visit maps" are amalgamated, thus producing a pretty accurate
map, showing the territories of each pair of birds. This
survey took place in 1978 after a 'pilot survey' in 1977.
The breeding birds of the reed-bed area of the marsh are
probably the most interesting, having very specialised
habitat requirements. This is especially true of the reed
warbler.
On the "ground floor level" of the reed-bed, several pairs
of moorhen and two pairs of mallard had their nests. One
pair of mallard raised four young to maturity whilst the
other which had laid its eggs much later was still being
followed by a troop of seven half-grown ducklings at the end
of Duly when I concluded the breeding census.
The upper levels of the reed-bed were occupied by four +
pairs of Reed Buntings, two of which actually nested in the
reeds and the others in the willow scrub "islands" described
in the previous article. Two pairs of sedge warblers also
nest in the reeds and a third pair in the hedge bordering the
reedbed. One male was particularly vociferous and would