23/11 Greenham Common Western Enclosure Week 47

Week 47 visits proved difficult due to the change in the weather; has winter finally arrived?

On Tuesday in the gloom  just after dawn I had just finished erecting the first net when it began sleeting, so net taken down and back to the house for a warming coffee before a visit to Swindon to spend the day with the GD and GGD. 

Wednesday at dawn it was wet and very windy when I ventured out. I returned home and sorted out the sites for the 2016 NDOC annual report.  I also reduced the number of records from 65345 to 46327 by clearing duplicates and sites not in the club's area; thank goodness for the tools in MS Excel.

Thursday it was very bright and sunny but the temperature out on the common was minus 3 deg C, cold for me and to cold and dangerous in my opinion for any birds that might be captured. I walked around the common instead; highlight a gathering of eleven Bullfinches in the scrub near the fire plane gravel and two probably three Dartford Warblers out on the heath.

Friday nets up just after dawn and one of two Reed Buntings roosting in the enclosure captured. Then nothing until the misty conditions turn to damping rather than raining. We took the nets down early at 09:30hrs. By this time the nets were quite wet and not nice to handle. As I approached to take the last net down a Blue Tit flew in, an adult ringed here 27th Sep 2017.

As can be seen from Ian's list below, it was relatively quiet with few species showing themselves.The exception being winter thrushes, these were moving in groups of around 25 northeast for most of the morning. Only one flock of mostly Redwings paused in reaction to the audio, circled once and then went on their way. Until now movement of these has been southwest. Such a strong movement northeast is unusual for this time of year.  Maybe they were birds who had made the longer crossing over the channel, making landfall in the west. Or, some of those that had moved west earlier this autumn returning to the continent to winter in southern Europe instead. 

(JL with IW)