SALISBURY PLAIN (CENTRE)
We visited our Salisbury Plain site again today only 2 days after the previous visit as this site is just too good for migrants to pass up the opportunity.
The same 4 Nightingale's were singing again but had now spread themselves out into the best territories in terms of habitiat. As we caught all 4 the other day we don't need to disturb them again. If any others now arrive there will be a brief spell of territory displacement before everything settles down and they become uncatchable as they are not prone to crossing net rides until they are in family groups.
No Grasshopper Warbler's were singing at this site today but we soon heard the first Lesser Whitethroat and Garden Warbler of the year singing and it was evident that a great deal more Whitethroat's had come in since last time.
The Whitethroat's seem to have gone straight onto their tiny territories as we only caught one the whole morning but we did catch a few Garden Warbler's and the singing Lesser Whitethroat along with our third Redstart of the spring. One of the retrap Garden's had originally been ringed in 2008 and we also got a 2009 Blackcap so it was good to see some old regulars coming back.
We weren't over burdoned with numbers however so after packing up by mid-morning we went to check our other Grasshopper Warbler sub-site and caught 2 of the 6 singing with the others enjoying sitting in their bushes in the spring sunshine too much to bother with our nets. GD/OF
Wren (2), Dunnock (1), Nightingale (1), Redstart 1, Blackbird 1, Song Thrush 2(1), Grasshopper Warbler 2, Lesser Whitethroat 1, Whitethroat 1, Garden Warbler 1(2), Blackcap 20(2), Chiffchaff (2), Willow Warbler 5(1), Linnet 4, Bullfinch (1)
SWINDON STW
After visiting friends for a few days and losing yesterday to the weather, I was quite relieved to be able to get out today and the 14 hours in the field made up for things a bit. We set nets at Swindon STW and also set the whoosh net as that is now the groups favourite method of the moment.
We were joined by Terry, one of the wildlife trust volunteers and he got to have a good look at a good range of birds. Enigmatic birds heard but not caught included Grasshopper Warbler and Cuckoo. I kept the team entertained with my footwear antics as I had cut a leaky pair of waders down to knee length only to find that they leaked half way up the shin so I cut them down again only to find that my feet were soaking wet and that I had a hole in the sole. This was the first time this year that I have heard a proper dawn chorus with a wide variety of birds singing including 5 species of warbler with the undoubted highlights being 2 Lesser Whitethroats. It was so good to be ringing warblers again in the sunshine.
The whoosh net did not work as planned because I set the net in the wrong place and we missed the chance of Mallard and Gadwall but we did manage a Carrion Crow. This method will catch us some birds that we don’t normally ring and we had some fun guessing what we will catch in it this year with our predictions as follows:
Obvious: Carrion Crow, Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, Gadwall, Teal, Canada Goose, Black Headed Gull, LBB Gull, Herring Gull.Billy Bonuses; Stock Dove, Shoveler, Cormorant, Common Sandpiper, Lapwing.
The total of 50 new and 27 retraps is respectable for the time of year but the ring histories today were quite interesting with a Whitethroat from 2010, Blackcaps from 2011 and 2013, Chiffchaff from 2013, Sedge Warbler from 2012 and a control Blackcap. Oldest bird of the day was a Blue Tit ringed in 2009. MP, SW, JN, AF
Blackcap 14 (3), Sedge Warbler 9 (1), Chiffchaff 4 (1), Whitethroat 2 (1), Bullfinch 3, Greenfinch 2, Reed Bunting 2 (3), Linnet 2, Blue Tit 1 (5), Great Tit 2 (4), Long Tailed Tit 0 (1), Dunnock 4 (4), Wren 1 (2), Blackbird 2 (1), Song Thrush 1 (1), Carrion Crow 1
Afterwards, Jack and Simon joined me for the first nesting safari on the downs and we did quite well with a Goldfinch nest with eggs, 3 Chaffinch nests and we saw our first clutch of Barn Owl eggs and ringed two Barn Owls. A lot of Swallows are back on territory, we saw 3 Wheatears and our first Yellow Wagtail of the summer.
