Location: Greenham Common 616 Feeder

Session: 01-Mar-2015 07:30 to 10:20 hrs

Weather: Very windy, mostly sunny spells with a few spots of rain.

Present: JL, JHW, DL, IW, JPM, RGS

Nets: Due to the windy conditions the usual 18’, 40’, 30’ rides erected in the bushes and a 40’ in the open in front of the nyger feeders to target finches. 

Nets up from 08:00 until about 10:20hrs when it became really windy.

Lure: Feeders Nyger (4), Sunflower, Peanut, Mixed Seed.

Capture 32: Blackbird 1/0, Blue Tit 0/2, Chaffinch 3/1, Goldcrest 0/1, Goldfinch 8/4, Great Spotted Woodpecker 0/1, Great Tit 2/0, Lesser Redpoll 4/5

Recaptures: Blue Tit 3y 58days, Chaffinch 112days,Goldcrest 133days, Goldfinch 330days-from Loxley across the common  & 112days, Lesser Redpoll 4y 37days & 3y 334days, Great Spotted Woodpecker 4y 107days.

Age Range: (1st Winter) Blue Tit 1, Chaffinch 3, Goldcrest 1, Goldfinch 10, Great tit 2, Lesser Redpoll 7 

2nd winter (from ring number) male Goldfinch; a JPM bird ringed 05-Apr-2014 at Loxley on the south side of the Common





Notes: We did not expect to ring this morning as the weather forecast, that varied by the hour, was consistent in a 20 mph plus wind speed, too strong for ringing. When we arrived the speed was about 5 mph less than this so we decided to put nets in the more sheltered rides and a shorter net n the open in front of the nyger feeders. Hoping for perhaps one or two captures. We captured 32, far in excess of our expectations and two good retrap Lesser Redpoll (4+ and 3+ years) neither of which have been captured in the intervening years. Not many tits captured as there was no net in front of the other feeders; there are fewer than usual coming to this feeder this year anyway. Hopefully conditions will be better next week to enable a full session.

Sightings 28 Species: The wind probably affected sightings; one or two regular species not seen or in reduced numbers.

Blackbird 4 Black-headed Gull 3 Blue Tit 7+ Brambling 1+ Bullfinch 4 Carrion Crow 6 Chaffinch 8+ Dunnock 4 Feral Pigeon 2 Goldfinch 20+ Great Spotted Woodpecker 2+ Great Tit 5+ Green Woodpecker 2 Greenfinch 8+

Jackdaw 12+ Kestrel 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull 1 Lesser Redpoll 10+ Magpie 2 Mallard 2 Pheasant 1 Red Kite 1 Robin 4 Song Thrush 2 Stock Dove 1 Woodlark 2 Woodpigeon 12+ Wren 1+