There was a bit more movement as we were packing up and it was becoming a bit brighter with small number of meadow pipits and swallows moving through. Which we will hopefully be able to target at the weekend.
Tuesday 24 September 2013
24th Sept. - Hazeley Heath
Its been a few weeks since I have been able to get out to any of our regular sites (though we have managed a fair bit of ringing elsewhere recently). So this morning we had a short session at Hazeley focusing on warblers still moving through the site. It was a misty start...and middle...and end as the fog was set in for the morning and did leave the site feeling a bit birdless as not much was seen moving about. Nonetheless, we ringed c.30 birds over a couple of hours with a steady number of blackcaps about. The only peculiar fly over was a single grey wagtail in the mist.
There was a bit more movement as we were packing up and it was becoming a bit brighter with small number of meadow pipits and swallows moving through. Which we will hopefully be able to target at the weekend.
An adult jay ringed this morning did add a splash of colour and it was quickly released so it could get back to gathering acorns.
There was a bit more movement as we were packing up and it was becoming a bit brighter with small number of meadow pipits and swallows moving through. Which we will hopefully be able to target at the weekend.
Sunday 1 September 2013
A week of two halves
We have managed to get out ringing three times over the past week. Most importantly we completed the final CES visit (without missing any) at Fleet Pond on the 29th. Unfortunately it was a bit of an anti-climax with only 5 new birds and 4 retraps (especially after 40 + birds on CES 11).
31st August was a quick visit to Ascot racecourse again for a couple of hours before the wind speed picked up and there was a steady movement of young warblers through the site. We also had 1 whinchat seen nearby the ringing area.
The real bonus of the week though was a session this morning at a new site just down the road from our CES. It is an area of scrub on an ex-landfill bordered by heathland. We set a few nets nice and early and ended up with 80 new birds over the morning. A good number of blackcaps and a young tree pipit for interest were the highlights. There did seem to be a complete lack of whitethroats though despite ideal habitat. I expect we will ring there more often over the autumn and into the winter.
31st August was a quick visit to Ascot racecourse again for a couple of hours before the wind speed picked up and there was a steady movement of young warblers through the site. We also had 1 whinchat seen nearby the ringing area.
The real bonus of the week though was a session this morning at a new site just down the road from our CES. It is an area of scrub on an ex-landfill bordered by heathland. We set a few nets nice and early and ended up with 80 new birds over the morning. A good number of blackcaps and a young tree pipit for interest were the highlights. There did seem to be a complete lack of whitethroats though despite ideal habitat. I expect we will ring there more often over the autumn and into the winter.
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