07/07/Greenham Common

Location: Greenham Common Western Enclosure

Session: 07-Jul-2020, 07:10 to 11:00hrs

Notes: The first day the wind has dropped to a tolerable level for some time. Started half hour early, the first bird was ringed 08:20hrs. I usually target nets up by 08:00hrs and the earlier half hour doesn’t seem to have made any difference. Bird seem to start to move around the common later in the morning anyway. Nice to catch with DL for the first time since lockdown. Three new Stonechats today plus a re-trap from last week, all juveniles. While I was putting the nets up, I notice that the male of the local pair was chasing the current brood of juveniles and there was no sign of the female. Probably she is sitting on eggs and the male is chasing off the previous brood; this will be the third brood in this territory if this is true. Looking at the matching visit from 2019 let us hope that migration is a running a little later this year; 

Present: JL,IW,DL

Weather: clear with sunny periods, warm, light  breeze

Nets: 48metres in 3 net rides, two 18M and one 12M net up from 07:30 to 10:30hrs

Lure (Audio): Warbler, Misc Migrants, Redstart, Dartford Warbler, Woodlark, Stonechat intermittently.

Recaptures: (1) Stonechat ringed 01/07/2020

Sightings 26 Species: We didn’t detect any Blackcap today whereas there were two singing in the area of the enclosure yesterday when I  walk across the common. Best bird for me was the Swallow, they are scarce this year here however I think a pair may be breeding over by the bunkers somewhere; don’t often see them though. The House Martin swooped down where the gravel floods when it rains, must have been looking for mud. Several family parties of Linnet around. I have seen some females collecting nest material so some must be going for second broods.