26/08 Greenham Common

Location: Greenham Common Western Enclosure Session: 26-Aug-2020, 07:30 to 10:50hrs 

Notes: I missed out on Monday 24th Aug. Went to site put up one net despite a few rain spots. Just finished putting the net up when a rain shower began. Looked at the rain radar, this showed heavy rain approaching so took net down. Needless to say, it stopped raining as I left the site and the heavy rain slid to the south missing the common. Missed a good morning from reports by other ringers and Ian, who must have arrived just after I left, went birding instead and got some good scarce migrants. Fortunately, he texted me and I manage to get across and see my first Whinchat of the year. Tuesday was a write off and there was still a strong wind this morning. Despite this I did session in less than ideal conditions. Several bounced as the wind swirled around the nets. Surprisingly, we manage to process 10 birds, so not too bad in winds of 16mph and over. 

Present: JL,IW 

Weather: Sunny with clouds building, warm, strong and blustery wind from the west. Nets: 48metres in 3 net rides, two 18M and one 12M net up from 08:00 to 10:30hrs 

Lure (Audio): Warblers, Misc Migrants, Redstart, Hirundines intermittently.

Recaptures:(1)        Willow Warbler  ringed 18/08/2020

Sightings 26 Species: Hirundines on the move mostly heading south round to west. One c40 flock of House Martins flew just above ground level as I finished putting nets up; presumably flying low due to the strength of the wind. Swallows were also mostly quite low  and four quite late Swift were located while looking at other species. Probably many more hirundine flew west unnoticed. A Yellow Wagtail buzzed the enclosure briefly responding to audio.