Gloucestershire Naturalists' Society

Ashleworth Constant Effort Site Log for 4 June 2004 - Mervyn Greening

04.40 and there we were at the end of Dirty Lane , ready for the next session of the constant effort ringing programme. No Blackbirds on the road on the way over today and despite the overcast conditions, or because of them, the vegetation was surprisingly dry, or at least not dripping wet. The lack of dew a relief, and no need for the ritual of ringing out the socks today. Indeed the humid conditions allowed the removal of outer clothing from very early today. The routine of erecting the nets goes like a smoothly oiled machine nowadays, and we were soon into catching mode. The looked for sunrise didn’t appear today and neither did the hoped for hordes of birds. The conditions looked so promising, but the birds were determined to stay low today, and as the morning progressed we realised that we weren’t going to be overworked.

Catch totals for the appropriate sessions in previous years are shown below:

There is a simple explanation for the variation in numbers that occur at this visit, we are at the point of the breeding season where presence or absence of juvenile birds affects the numbers. The CES programme divides the season up into 10 or 11-day slots, during which we have to try and make our visit. We always try to make a visit as early as possible in each slot, but the timing of weekends and of course the effect of the weather means that we don’t always get near the same date each year. In visit 4 this can have a big effect, as an early visit can miss out on young birds, and young birds enhance a later visit. The other factor that comes into the equation is that Ashleworth seems to be a “late” site. We have seen little activity of adult birds carrying food yet, whereas at my site near Newent, birds have been busy feeding for weeks, and large numbers of free flying juvenile birds have been caught over the last fortnight. This pattern is repeated each year. We don’t catch many all year resident birds such as Robins, Dunnocks, and members of the tit family, which make up the bulk of the catch at Newent.

However we did catch our first juvenile birds of the year, three baby Redstarts, not long out of the nest, with stubby little tails and short wings. Quite possibly they were on their maiden flight, both mum and dad were with them. The alarm calls of the adults and contact calls of the juveniles alerted us to their presence long before they found their way into a net. The adult male, a strikingly handsome bird, was Known to us from last year. He had been ringed in August as a juvenile (recognisable even then as a male as his post juvenile moult had progressed far enough for him to be so identified), and he was part of a family party then, caught with two brothers and father. Amazingly enough they were caught in the same net both years.

Juvenile Redstart at Ashleworth (not the stubby tailed individuals caught today)

The Cuckoos were still very active, and again we saw a fly past of three birds at once. A pair of Stonechats appear to have taken up residence at the top end of the reserve , and were very vocal each time we neared their territory. Two Reed warblers “jugged” away all morning from the vicinity of the main drainage ditch, and Skylarks sung well today. Our resident curlew only put in one visit this morning, but we were joined briefly by a “squeaky” flock of linnets and a couple of Goldfinches. Reed buntings were in fine voice today, if that is an appropriate description of their song, and the Whitethroats that have moved onto the reserve “scratched” away intermittently. As if we needed reminding that summer was here, a flock of Swifts spent some time hawking over our heads, obviously busy feeding, as they were largely silent, forsaking their screaming contact calls.

As if justification were necessary, the warm weather leaving us thirsty, it seemed a good idea to replace fluids by a quick visit to the Boat public House. Alas, it being Friday, opening time was 11.30 and we were too early. Even the lure of East street cream couldn’t make us sit on the pub door step to await opening, so home we went.

An introduction to the Ashleworth ringing programme can be found here.

The first of Mervyn's reports covering the first visit on 18th April 2004 can be found here.

The report covering the visit on 2nd May 2004 can be found here.

The report covering the visit on 9th May 2004 can be found here.

The report covering the visit on 23rd May 2004 can be found here.

The report covering the visit on 4th June 2004 can be found here.

The report covering the visit on 13th June 2004 can be found here.

The report covering the visit on 26th June 2004 can be found here.

The report covering the visits during July 2004 can be found here.

The report covering the visits on 5th August 2004 can be found here.

The report covering the visits on 15th August 2004 can be found here.

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