Session:
Headlines: Conditions far from ideal,
the wind was stronger than forecast. Birds unfortunately bounced out of the
nets particularly phylos warblers. There was quite a lot of activity in the
surrounding scrub mid-session that included whitethroat, Garden Warbler,
Blackcap etc. Some headed for the enclosure but few were captured with the net
billowing in the wind. Unusually we had a recapture from June of a moulting
Willow Warbler. It had eight fully grown new primary feathers, one nearly
grown primary and the small outer primary was still old. In late June there
was no sign of moult, so in about four weeks it had completed its breeding
cycle and dropped all its old primary flight feathers; all but one that had
now almost regrown. Willow Warblers have a full moult before they migrate and
another while in their winter quarters. Most small passerines have one moult a
year, usually in autumn, either before they go (Whitethroat for instance and resident
species also) or if they are migrants in their wintering area; Garden Warblers
for instance. These latter can sometimes start before they migrate, suspend
moulting while migrating and complete when they arrive in West Africa where
they winter. All the different moult strategies make for interesting ringing this
time of year.
Weather: Present:
Nets:
Lure (audio):
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Sightings 25 Species: Some activity
in the scrub to the south, several Sylvia warblers present for a while before moving off. The Swallows headed southeast without lingering while the House Martins fed around the treeline for most of the morning. At least two gatherings of Stonechat, seven were working the low scrub on grassland to the east and four associated with the Sylvia warbler gathering. The Hobby flew fast southwest and the Sparrowhawk flew low over the enclosure and into woodland to the north
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