18/08 Greenham Common

 Location: Greenham Common - Western Enclosure 2026 wk34-Tue

Session: 18/08/2026 07:40 to 10:50hrs

Present: IW, JL, JHW.

Weather: Overcast, warm, light breeze; bit of spotting early but no sign of any rain despite the low cloud..

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

Lures audio: (BC-CC-FC-GC-GW-WH-LW-WO),(W-WC-RT-SF-TP-YW),(GH),(YB),(RT), intermittently.

One  of today’s Willow Warblers - a 1st year bird; adults having left soon after young fledged.

Notes: Overcast with low cloud and a bit of spotting but still warm. Just a steady flow of birds mostly Blackcaps (8) and Willow Warblers (3). Fewer birds than last year’s matching visit and less variety.

Also, should you be wondering why no CES visit 11 report for last weekend, it’s because we were locked out, not the best experience after getting up at 05:00hrs on Saturday – somebody had added a new lock bypassing the master lock and apparently it is not the fishermen or BBOWT; hopefully it will be dealt with by this coming Saturday or we will fail to do a schedule CES visit for the first time in 32 years!

Recaptures: (0) 

Sightings: 30+ Swallows all in one gathering flew North and a bit later 40+ House Martins drifted South. We haven’t had a Bullfinch here for a while and the Starlings were flying Northwest in double figure groups. We don’t often see Rabbit here, they tend to remain in cover to avoid dogs etc. Noted the Black Ants because I have not seen any ants recently, these I saw running up and down a fence post looking for food. 

As for recent visit fewer birds about generally.

14/08 Greenham Common

Location: Greenham Common - Western Enclosure 2026 wk33-Fri

Session: 14/08/2026 07:40 to 10:50hrs

Present: IW, JL.

Weather: Sunny bright, hot, light breeze.

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

Lures audio: (BC-CC-FC-GC-GW-WH-LW-WO),(W-WC-RT-SF-TP-YW),(GH),(YB),(RT), intermittently. 

Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff – all birds of the year.

Notes: The first round after nets up we extracted 19 birds. It was single figures each net round thereafter. Two adult Blue Tits is unusual this time of year for here. It got very hot towards the end of the session even though it was supposed to be less hot than yesterday; think it was near the same.

Recaptures: (0) 

Sightings: A large gathering (by today's standards) of at least 20 Swallows mid-session drifting south-ish, some of the singles went north though! Lesser Black-backed Gulls over are the first for a while. A possible Green Sandpiper flew low west to fast for us to be certain of the ID. A Clouded Yellow was one of the few butterflies seen.

11/08 Greenham Common

Location: Greenham Common - Western Enclosure 2026 wk33-Tue

Session: 11/08/2026 07:40 to 10:50hrs

Present: IW, JL, KMB.

Weather: Sunny bright, hot, breezy.

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

Lures audio: (BC-CC-FC-GC-GW-WH-LW-WO),(W-WC-RT-SF-TP-YW),(GH),(YB),(RT), intermittently.

Notes: A quiet session with few birds, unlike last year’s matching visit. It’s noticeable that there are very few insects about so probably not much for insectivores to feed on.

Recaptures: (0) 

Sightings: The Raven was quite noisy flying up and down the treeline to the south. A single early and a quite high up family party of Swallows the only hirundine seen. The Speckled wood was the only insect seen throughout the session.

07/08 Greenham Common

Location: Greenham Common - Western Enclosure 2026 wk32-Fri

Session: 07/08/2026 07:40 to 10:50hrs

Present: IW, JL.

Weather: Sunny bright, hot light breeze.

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

Lures audio: (BC-CC-FC-GC-GW-WH-LW-WO),(W-WC-RT-SF-TP-YW),(GH),(YB),(RT), intermittently.

Notes: A reasonable session included a few Willow Warblers. The average capture of this species for week 32 is 12, so a little down for what is their peak week of movement through the site. Usually, numbers drop away quite rapidly from week 33 to the last stragglers week 39. A few Blue Tits moving across the heath southwards this session, otherwise not much visable movement.

Recaptures: (0)

Sightings: Unlike last Wednesday, when there was a movement South, just a single Swallow over today. The Migrant Hawker was a female and we’re not too confident of the ID. 

05/08 Greenham Common

Location: Greenham Common - Western Enclosure 2026 wk32-Wed

Session: 05/08/2026 07:40 to 10:50hrs

Present: IW, JL.

Weather: cloudy, occasional sunny periods, strong breeze, warm early, hot later.

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

Lures audio: (BC-CC-FC-GC-GW-WH-LW-WO),(W-WC-RT-SF-TP-YW),(GH),(YB),(RT), intermittently

Lesser Whitethroat: a juvenile showing disseminated feathering. Disseminated (hair-like) feathers are a characteristic for ageing most species' juveniles in the hand.

Dartford Warbler: a juvenile on which the decemination of the feathers is much more evident.

Notes: Another wind affected session with a trickle of migrants through the heath - see the numbers of last years matching visit in comparison. Nice to ring the 5th Lesser Whitethroat of the year and the 2nd Dartford Warbler.

Recaptures: (0) 

Sightings: It was again quiet on and around the heath today. Small groups of Swallow were flying low south across the heath on migration occasionally for most of the session. House Martins fed high overhead for a while. There was little insect activity. A Grayling (butterfly) was seen on the south side of the enclosure before I arrived.