23/07 Greenham Common

Location: Greenham Common Western Enclosure Week 29
Session: 23/07/2021, 07:25 to 10:45 hrs

Notes: Not so many migrants today, nice to ring the Dartford Warbler, probably the male that has been singing around the car since April. No Willow Warblers, the only one detected was a bird singing at we erected the nets. The Swallows were buzzing the nets for a while but if they went in they bounced due to the strong breeze.

Adult male Dartford Warbler

Juvenile male Stonechat

Present: JL, IW
Weather: Some high cloud cover, sunny, warm, strong cooling breeze,
Nets: 48metres in 3 rides of 18M, 18M, 12M up from 07:45 to 10:30hrs
Lures Audio: Warblers, Misc Migrants, Hirundine, Redstart

Recaptures:(none)

Progress so far: week numbers 24 to 29. Good numbers of Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler but Whitethroat numbers not so good. Week no 30 might improve the latter; hopefully the weather won’t be a restriction.

Sightings 29 species: Most days while on site Blackbirds and other species spend much of the morning alarming in the woods to the north. IW has seen a juvenile Tawny Owl(s) in the woods on his way from the carpark once or twice and we had our suspicions that they were the cause. Today a quite mature juvenile was trying to sleep in a big oak on the woodland margin, occasionally harassed by thrushes and others.