27/11 Greenham Common Estovers

Location: Greenham Common Estovers (616)Feeder
Session:   27-Nov-2016 07:30 to 11:30hrs.

Headlines: Conditions were pretty good today and a relatively good capture. About 50% were from the nets in the surrounding scrub. This also accounts for the variety of species compared to 2015; the capture then was all from the feeder nets. Blue Tits are still relatively scarce while Great Tit numbers are about the same as last year. Star birds probably the Redwings, several feeding in the scrub and a flock of around 20 responded to the song and dropped in. That is the easy part, keeping them in the nets is the difficult bit. On a similar vein a   Jackdaw and a male Sparrowhawk also managed to extract themselves before we could get to them. A four year old Blue Tit and nearly six year old Dunnock is worth a mention. Numbers visiting the feeder are still quite low. We are heading towards December and the end of the year when winter finches numbers increase at this feeder so everything crossed that it will be a good year for Redpoll, Siskin and Brambling.

Weather: Overcast, dank, cold calm; slightly breeze towards then of the session.
Present: JL, IW, DL, RGS
Nets: 68metres in six rides, three 12m nets grouped round the feeder and three in scrub nearby up from 08:00 to 11:00 hrs
Lure (feeder): Black Sunflower, Niger, Black Sunflower, Peanut, Black Sunflower
          (audio): Goldcrest, Redwing.
Capture (New/Recapture) 43 (31/12)           Matching 2015 visit (20/11) 45 (29/16)

Species code New Bird Retrap 1stCY Adult BLABI 1   1   BLUTI 5 3 5 3 BULLF 3   2 1 CHAFF 1   1   COATI   1   1 DUNNO   1   1 GOLDC 3 1 3 1 GOLDF 1   1   GREFI 3   2 1 GRETI 8 5 8 5 REDWI 2   2   ROBIN 2 1 2 1 WREN 2   2   TOTAL 31 12

Species code New Bird Retrap BLUTI 10 8 COATI 1   GOLDF 6 1 GREFI 6   GRETI 5 5 GRSWO   1 MARTI   1 SISKI 1    TOTAL 29  16

Recaptures:  (12) Blue Tit 4y 37d, Coal Tit 2y 18d, Dunnock 5y 276d, Great Tit 2y 263d, 1y 328d, 1y 250d; all others recent.

Sightings 30 Species: The main movements over were by Redwing and Fieldfare flying mostly northeast and east and what seemed to be more than the usual number of Goldcrests could be heard in the gorse bushes. The have been up to four Red-legged Partridge have been around the feeder for a week or two now. A male Sparrowhawk made a least two passes through the feeder area and along the margins of scrub. The Mute Swan was on the pits west of Eastovers and the Greylag Geese were fly overs. The Long-tailed Tit flock arrived just after we had taken the nets down unfortunately.