16/06 Greenham Common Western Enclosure

Location: Greenham Common - Western Enclosure wk 2026.25-Tuesday

Session: 16/06/2026 07:40 to 10:50hrs

Present: IW, JL.

Weather: sunny, clear, warm, 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),(RT), intermittently.

Today’s Male Stonechat - one of two ringed, the other a juvenile and also a male.

Notes: The first visit of the year to The Western Enclosure. We usually start week number 24 but last week was wet and/or windy so conditions not good for ringing. Last year ringing didn’t start until week 31 due to illness. We had a good variety of species that included two Stonechats. The lone Long-tailed Tit was in wing moult. This species is one of the few whose juveniles do a full moult after fledging and become indistinguishable from adults mid/late September; most juvenile passerines do a partial moult post fledging and juveniles of the year still have some juvenile feather into the following year. Several Dartford Warblers (a family party?) were in and around the enclosure for much of the session, but this species is good at avoiding the nets unfortunately for us! Only four of the species ringed had audios playing, the others possibly attracted by other birds in song and/or calling or most likely just passing through.

Recaptures: (00) 

Sightings: No sign of any Swift or hirundine apart from the lone Swallow that flew south before nets up. Don’t often see Kestrel at this end of the common in recent years. A pair of Siskin flew over west calling mid-session; think the occasional pair might breed in the area as singletons and sometimes more are heard/seen in spring and summer over the last year or two. It is noticeable that there are fewer encounters with Magpie at this end of the common - usually there are between 4 and 6 about. Other Dragonfly type species were also seen but were moving too fast for ID.