SALISBURY PLAIN (centre)
On a day that there were only two of us available to do the CES it turned out to be the most productive ringing session of the year so far with 170 birds processed from the fourteen 60ft CES nets and the three additional 60’s on the other side of the fence in the artillery live firing range.
Juvenile warbler’s were the main feature of the morning with every one of the commoner warbler species represented including our first 3J Lesser Whitethroat’s of the year which as a species seem to have been lagging behind everything else. Garden Warbler’s were around in particularly good numbers with 9 new (2 adults, 7 juveniles) along with 4 retraps so this species seems to be doing very well at this site.
A surprise catch was in the form of another new Nightingale, a 5M which was half way through its moult. This bird is not one of our locals so has obviously dropped in from another location. The only other sign of our local birds was one giving the croaking call in its usual territory but nothing was heard from the pair that seemed to be breeding so it now looks like 4 years of failed breeding for this doomed population.
Other than that, lots of Tit’s and lots of tangled 3J Wren’s kept us busy giving us 124 new and 46 retraps. GD/PD
Swallow 9 pulli, Wren 8(1), Dunnock 4(2), Robin 4, Nightingale 1, Blackbird 3(5), Song Thrush 1(4), Lesser Whitethroat 3(1), Whitethroat 12(8), Garden Warbler 9(4), Blackcap 20(5), Chiffchaff 12(2), Willow Warbler 4(1), Goldcrest 1, Blue Tit 14, Great Tit 10, Chaffinch (1), Goldfinch (1), Linnet 5(2), Bullfinch 2(9), Yellowhammer 2
SWINDON STW