08/08 Greenham Common

Location: Greenham Common Western Enclosure

Session: 08-Aug-2018 06:45 to 10:30hrs

Headlines: Much fresher today as the weather reverted to almost normal for the time of year. There were few birds attracted to the enclosure except perhaps for a small movement of Willow Warblers and no Chiffchaff! I replaced the Ecotone net with a North Ronaldsay super fine but as there were fewer birds and it was breezy not sure it made any difference. The drop in Garden Warbler numbers is about right as we approach the middle of August. There may be a spike in numbers but probably there will be a few stragglers now until the end of the month. Hopefully Blackcap numbers will pick-up. A single Goldcrest, a recently fledge bird had no sign of a crest yet; I wonder what some birders would make of it if seen in the field. 

Weather: sunny periods, much cooler, slight breeze early that became strong towards the end of the session.
Present: JL
Nets: 48metres in three rides of 18m, 18m, 12m up from 07:15 to 10:00hrs
Lure (audio): Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Firecrest, Willow Warbler, Garden, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Redstart, Wood Warbler(part), Woodlark(part) intermittently

Capture (New/Recapture) 13(13/00)	Matching Visit: none
Species New Rtp Juv Adult BLACA 1 1 GARWA 2 2 GOLDC 1 1 WILWA 9 9	Species New Rtp Juv Adult

Recaptures: none

Sightings 23 Species: As ringing was relatively quiet I think I detected most in the vicinity of the enclosure. The Woodlarks had separated into two and four birds and were not together as yesterday. The Stonechats were accompanied by at least two Whitethroats that were taking no notice of the audio and seemed more intent on harassing one of the Stonechats. The only Jackdaw activity was three feeding on the grassland to the east. A single Great Tit flew across late morning, the only member of that family detected. The Swallows were drifting southwest feeding low across the heath pausing to do a quick circuit or two before disappearing. The House Martins were feeding high along the treeline most of the morning. No raptor activity today, no thermals. Even struggled to get a good count of Woodpigeons.