13/08 Greenham Common

Location: Greenham Common Western Enclosure wk33

Session: 13/08/2024 07:30 to 10:50hrs

Notes: By this years standards quite a good session with a steady flow of birds through the enclosure until about 09:30 when it stopped except for a Chiffchaff at nets down. Many of the warblers were carrying extra fat and probably muscle.

Present: JL,IW.

Weather: sunny bright, warm, light breeze.

Nets: 48metres 3 Rides, up from 08:00 to 10:30 hrs.

Lures audio: (Warbler), (Misc Migrants), (RT), (GH) intermittently.

Recaptures: (00) none

Sightings: No Swift today’s. Didn’t see the regular big female Sparrowhawk this session. The one seen was an immature male that briefly took an interest in the enclosure before flying off. Probably a family party of Ravens over seemed to split up as they flew over the heath will two continuing south and two turning west. A rare visitor over the common was a Sand Martin. Hirundine generally are scarce except maybe at Lower Farm GP; north and West of Newbury they are still a regular encounter but elsewhere not so compared to a few years ago. Thought there might be a few butterfly and dragonfly about but only Gatekeeper seen, and their numbers are dwindling.