Sunday morning, after a week of wild and woolly weather but with a calm window forecast, we had a session on Salisbury Plain. Ian Grier having reconnoitred the site during the week and noticing continual movement of Redwing and Fieldfare, it seemed a good idea to see if we could catch a few.
We met before dawn and opened up 12 nets in half-a-dozen rides and put on the lures for Redwing and Fieldfare. There was a medium sized team out, consisting Ian Grier, Rob Turner, Andy Palmer, Andrew Bray and myself. We were also joined by Martin Cooper from the north-east Hampshire group who was undergoing assessment for his A-permit and trainer endorsement. He was put in charge of the two Andy's - trainees both.
The catch started well but fizzled out pretty quickly as unforecast rain swept in and curtailed the session at about 10:15. Our list for the day was as follows, New (Retrapped): Dunnock 1(3); Robin 1(1); Blackbird 5(1); Song Thrush 2; Redwing 8; Goldcrest 1; Chaffinch 1; Bullfinch 1. Totals 20 new, 5 retrapped,
The retrapped birds were all ringed on previous sessions at New Zealand Farm, so seemingly resident on the site. It was probably a toss up as to who was the happier at the end of the session: Andrew Bray at his first close encounter with a Redwing or Martin on gaining Ian's support for his A-permit and trainer's endorsement. ST