20/04 Greenham Common Western Enclosure

Location: Greenham Common Western Enclosure

Session: 20-Apr-2016 07:15 to 10:30hrs

Headlines: As the Control Tower Car Park is shut tomorrow and Friday for resurfacing making access to the common difficult, decided to ring this morning. I did not expect to capture much as audio options are limited due to the breeding season. A speculative crest audio on unsuitable heath land habitat seem ok together with Redstart and Wheatear both migrant species through the site. No response to the latter two species and Wheatear were nearby but the one capture was of a really nice looking male Firecrest; a pleasant but short session. It was much colder than Sorrento last Monday so a bit of a shock weather-wise.

Weather: Bright sunny with a light cold wind early that increased in speed to a point where the nets were blowing too much and being stretched so finished early.

Present: JL (most regulars elsewhere today.)

Nets: 48metres in three rides of 18M, 18M and 12M up from 07:30 to 09:30hrs

Lure (audio): Goldcrest, Firecrest, Wheatear and Redstart intermittently.

Capture (New/Recapture) 1 (1/0): Firecrest 1/0

Recaptures: None

Age Range: 1st winter male

Male Firecrest (unfortunately it blinked)

Sightings 29 Species: Not very busy so able to do a count. The two Woodlark pairs were fairly active along their boundaries and still not many Blackcaps in. The male Stonechat was sitting quietly on top of a bush for a long time, probably guarding a sitting female nearby. One Dartford Warbler seen briefly below the Stonechat and the other called to the east of the enclosure. A lone Lesser Redpoll that landed in the tree by the stile was unexpected as they seem to have gone from the 616 feeder. A Wheatear (probably more) seen on the gravel west of the control tower car park when I arrived. On the way out stopped off at the Fire Plane Gravel to look for the Ring Ouzel that I saw yesterday; good find Rose. It was not there today but saw the Swallows, Buzzards displaying and a Nightingale was singing in the scrub.

Blackbird 3 Blackcap 1 Buzzard 2 Carrion Crow 2 Chaffinch 1 Chiffchaff 2 Cormorant 3 Dartford Warbler 2 Dunnock 1 Firecrest 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 Greenfinch 3 Jackdaw 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull 3 Lesser Redpoll 1

Linnet 13 Magpie 2 Mallard 2 Nightingale 1 Red Kite 2 Robin 2 Song Thrush 2 Stonechat 1 Swallow 2 Wheatear 1 Willow Warbler 3 Woodlark 2 Woodpigeon 4 Wren 1