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Gloucestershire Naturalists' Society |
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Gloucestershire Naturalists' Society |
The middle weekend of Wimbledon, I should have known better than to plan a visit. The weather forecast from Wednesday on had not been promising, but the front coming in from the Atlantic was not moving as quickly as originally thought, and on Friday evening I realised that there was going to be a window of opportunity on the Saturday morning. At 0400 hours the sky was virtually cloudless, and the brightest red and purple you have ever seen. This incredible “shepherds warning” disappeared as the sun rose above the horizon, and the vanguard of the approaching front crept over us. High wispy clouds followed later by lower and continuous grey blankets.
Whilst putting up the nets we could hear the chatter of juvenile birds, and were soon catching juvenile Whitethroats and Sedge warblers. The family of Stonechats was still in the top field, and again avoided the nets. No curlew called today; have they been successful this year or not? Not even a “change in tune “ was heard from the cuckoos, and none seen. Lots of Swifts arrived as the front progressed over us, swooping low over the long damp grass, strangely silent for Swifts, presumably concentrating on gathering insects.
Sixteen species of bird were caught today, the majority being juvenile birds, but still a sprinkling of adults. An adult male Redstart, and a slightly less spectacular female were a nice find in the nets during round two. The catch is shown in the table below.
| Species | Chiffchaff | Willow Warbler | Reed Bunting | Dunnock | Redstart | Whitethroat | Blue Tit | Long-tailed Tit | Great Tit | Reed Warbler | Bullfinch | Sedge warbler | Chaffinch | Song Thrush |
| No. caught | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 1 | 1 |
This catch of 57 birds is in line with previous years for the date. Only one year has been better (2003 with 64), and exactly the same in 2000, and slightly less in 2002. 2001 was a very poor year. We are now half way through the CES season, having completed 6 CES visits and the preliminary visit in April. So far 251 birds have been handled of 16 species. 38 birds have been ringed, and 113 retraps handled.
Purple loosestrife is beginning to flower and over the next few weeks will fill some of the fields with a purply-red haze, but at the moment the meadow sweet and vetches are the main source of colour in the main catching fields, with the red of sorrel and greater burnet, dominating in the grass fields. Skylarks were singing well as were the reed buntings. An occasional Willow warbler sung, and some Sedge warblers were still chuntering away.
By nine ‘o’ clock the cloud cover was complete, it was getting darker, and bird activity was slowing down. A breeze was beginning to get up, and the temperature was dropping. Mr Fish had got it right, and the weather was closing in. We finished promptly, and made our way back to the car just as the drizzle started.
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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