14/07 Greenham Common

 Location: Greenham Common - Western Enclosure wk 2026 wk29-Tue

Session: 14/07/2026 07:40 to 10:30hrs

Present: IW, JL.

Weather: overcast, warm, blustery breeze.

Nets: 48metres 3 Rides, up from 08:00 to 10:10 hrs.

Lures audio: (BC-CC-FC-GC-GW-WH-LW-WO),(W-WC-RT-SF-TP-YW),(GH),(RT), intermittently.

Whinchat: a juvenile female, although the primary wing and tail feathers were very worn and battered when they should have been fresh. Aged on disseminated feather structure generally, the breast was devoid of feathers and the skin very fresh with no sign of a “healing” brood patch, also sparse feather growth to the underside of wing at the “elbow”

Notes: There was a blustery wind for much of the session and some birds bounced out of the nets including a Dartford Warbler. Think we would have ringed a few more birds otherwise. The Whinchat was the first ever for me and the fourth bird ringed by the group since its inception in 1967; one ringed in 2005 at Crookham Common(JPM) two ringed at Thatcham Marsh - one in the late 1960s and another there in 2007(IW).  Willow Warbler and to lesser extent Chiffchaff numbers are very low compared to previous years. Numbers of the former should be increasing and usually peak in couple of weeks’ time before tailing off to the last few stragglers mid-August. This year we have only ringed one Willow Warbler so far and have not detected any at this end of the common since week 25 when the only individuals was ringed.

Recaptures: (1)

Blue Tit ringed: 25/06/2024

Sightings: There seemed to be a movement of feeding Swifts over quite high, so we probably missed some, they were flying into the wind (North) which seems counterintuitive since they should be migrating south. The Cormorants were heading towards Lower Farm after feeding somewhere south of here. Also of note as I left the common were two Rooks on the grassland near the Control Tower – a scarce species in my perception in recent years; I know of only one Rookery near Newbury this year. About 150+ Starlings were also there.