05/07 Woodspeen Sand Martin Bank

Location: Woodspeen Sand Martin Bank
Session: 05-July-2016 19:30 to 20:45hrs
Headlines: It was a really nice evening, lots of insect on the wing, perhaps a bit bright for a good capture. As mentioned before the distance that the nets must be placed in front of the colony is not conducive of a good capture but 11 birds kept us ticking over. We joined the two nets together avoiding the gap of the last visit, perhaps it was wishful thinking but one or two were captured where the gap would have been! The colony seemed as busy as ever with probably around 80+ flying around over the nets, in and out of the colony many pairs of adults followed by up to five juveniles. Each round consisted of 3 to 4 birds. GB had not seen flat flies before and found them a bit gross particularly when one landed on her. The light when it started to go went quickly but the nets were down in plenty of time to allow the birds to go to roost. As we left most seemed to be feeding quite high up. On the track back we were confronted,  broad daylight, by an early rising Badger running towards us playing chicken with car. As it ran past, totally oblivious of us, we could hear it grunting loudly. After not seeing them in the wild before this is the second one seen in the last two months.
Weather: calm, bright, sunny, warm.
Present: JL, SC, GB,
Nets: 36Metres in one ride, 2.5m from face of bank with water between.
Lure (none):
Capture (New/Recapture) 11 : 10/1 Sand Martin 9/1 Goldfinch 1/0
Recaptures:1, a Sand Martin ringed here as a juvenile 02-July-2014 (2y 3d)
Age Range: Sand Martin 3 adults, 7 juveniles  Goldfinch, an adult female.