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Gloucestershire Naturalists' Society |
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Gloucestershire Naturalists' Society |
Another gorgeous sunrise, flame red sky streaked with white. The Eastern sky was ablaze for a short while as the last couple of nets were being put up. The Stonechats have moved from their nesting area and are now to be found in the middle of the “wild” field, around a dead tree. This area is usually favoured by Whinchats in August and September, so hopefully they will join them soon. A bank of uniform dark grey cloud shortly followed the spectacular sky. Not quite the fore- runner of the expected front later in the day. Thankfully it deposited no rain and our operation continued smoothly. A Great Spotted Woodpecker spent most of the morning, flying between potential food sources, calling in flight and probing the trunks of the old Oak and Willow trees between the two hay fields.
I had thought, that if the catching of recent visits continued, we might handle the thousandth bird of the year today. This was not to be. We ended up catching 55 birds of 14 species, 45 new birds and 10 re-traps; leaving us on 682 birds ringed and 280 re-traps handled. With only one visit of the CES season left it will be interesting to see if we go past the thousand. Something we have not done before, even including extra visits at the end of the season.
Sedge Warblers provided the bulk of the catch today; a pleasant surprise, as I had expected them to be gone, or at least only a few remaining. Whitethroat numbers were disappointing, so perhaps they bred earlier than usual and their peak has passed. What was very surprising, was that we only caught one Reed Bunting and that a re-trap. Are there more to come with late broods? Willow warblers and Chiffchaffs continued to dribble through, but their numbers are only slightly up on last year and Chiffs are down from 2002.
Up until last week (and I forgot to put it in the log!) we had seen no mammals this year. Even then the record was not of a live animal, but the fantastic structure of a Harvest mouse nest. The Cricket ball size ball of interwoven grass was supported in some reed canary grass near to the slice gate, next to our poorly trodden route through the field. Nothing moved in it as we inspected it and again this week there was no evidence of occupancy. We do make a lot of noise as we push our way through the long grass, so I suppose the occupants have plenty of time to evacuate as we make our way towards their home. The nest reminds me somewhat of a Chiffchaff nest, they are similar sizes and about the same height off the ground. The Chiffchaff nest however, has a neat front opening like an oval cave entrance half way up one side, lacking from the mouse nest and through the opening of the birds nest you can see the feather lining of the nest, again not present in the mouse nest. The other mammal record was of a squirrel. It really is strange that we have seen no foxes, rabbits or voles, which we usually do. The usual Mink and Otter spraints have been in short supply and several weeks pass between new deposits at the sprainting spots.
True to form Woodpigeons have continued breeding late in the year and two fat squabs peered at me from their nest. Safe in the knowledge that the surrounding Blackthorn stems, armed with vicious spikes, kept them safe from intruders. Stock Doves are also still breeding with a pair rearing two chicks in a large box that I had put up for owls. Some of the Sedge warbler juveniles were small with primary and tail feathers still in pin, showing that they were still newly fledged.
The local Herons were spooked into flight a couple of times today, usually they remain patiently standing in the field in front of the hides, but three were in the air at one point, calling “frank” loudly as they slowly flapped and circled around. A crow irritated one of them for a while. Then two Sparrowhawks treated us to some aerobatics. They soared above us and made occasional passes at each other with talons extended. Both birds had no sign of wing moult, so I assumed they were two young birds, out playing. Their presence above Meerend thicket stimulated the crows into activity and the mob disappeared beyond the trees.
At the end of the session. I had a close look at the nettles that had been parasitised by the Greater Dodder. Where there had been masses of tangled pink stems, now there was little evidence of the plant. In four minutes we heard and saw more small birds in Dirty lane than we had all morning out on the reserve. I’ve often had bird-less walks, only to get back to car parks and find the bird watching better there.
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.