I have been surprised how good this site has been this year but another local site has been completely devastated by the construction of a solar farm and so the birds have moved. So much for ‘green energy’! With the limited opportunities to get out due to holiday and poor weather I took the opportunity to take a day off and get out ringing whilst I could. I was on my own until Anna could join me at 09:30 and so I only set six nets in an effort to reduce numbers. This sort of worked but I was operating at full tilt until Anna arrived and then it steadied down and we enjoyed a few hours good ringing and going through another Yellowhammer id class. 15 retrap Yellowhammers show that this species is able to move around a few kilometres in search of food and four of them had moved 4km and another had moved 3.5km. The retrap Chaffinch had moved from the site 3.5km away, pushed by the solar farm work.
11 Bullfinches processed once again shows what a great year they have had and may be form part of an upward trend. On the downside, normally 17 Reed Buntings would seem like a good day but for this site it is pretty low.
Just before packing up, Anna looked round and saw a Kestrel in the net, a quick dash across and she had her bird. It was a pretty stunning adult male, a great way for Anna to start off her adult raptor handling career.
165 new and 22 retraps made for a good morning with some good life histories. MP, AF
Kestrel 1, Yellowhammer 92 (15), Reed Bunting 17, Chaffinch 8 (1), Bullfinch 8 (3), Tree Sparrow 4, House Sparrow 1, Robin 12 (3), Dunnock 13 (3), Blackbird 6, Wren 2, Blue Tit 1
