As ever lets start with the weather. It was forecast for 7mph wind and clear, which it was until we started putting nets up and then the wind came on very strongly from the north. We decided not to put some of the more exposed nets up and even considered closing the others but we stuck with it and we were rewarded when the wind calmed to a decent level and the Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs poured into the ringing area. This was short lived and as soon as we had started catching we had stopped and so between 08:30-11:00 we caught a trickle of birds. We put a pipit triangle right in the centre of the site to keep it sheltered from the breeze and this move worked with a steady supply of Meadow Pipits changing the structure of the day. We also changed a tape to play Swallow which caught a few but House Martins were conspicuous by their absence.
Another young male Sparrowhawk was welcome and great for local farmer James to see and a picture perfect adult male Redstart late on was fantastic. the interesting thing was catching a few Chiffchaffs early afternoon that have either moved from nearby or freshly landed, either way they were quite light in weight.
A little net taking down workshop at the end was useful and will benefit us all in the long run. The day total of 220 ringed and 7 retrapped made for another good day that was saved by the Meadow Pipits. MP, JN, PW, AM
Blackcap 85 (2), Chiffchaff 50, Meadow Pipit 52, Swallow 5, Willow Warbler 1, Whitethroat 1, Redstart 1, Goldcrest 8, Sparrowhawk 1, Robin 3 (1), Blue Tit 3, Great Tit 2, Long Tailed Tit 1 (3), Treecreeper 1 (1), Wren 2, Dunnock 2, Goldfinch 10, Chaffinch 2, Bullfinch 0 (1)
