For the group, this month was almost identical to April 2022, only with three more species:
Lots of summer migrants have started to arrive. Hopefully the weather will be kind and they will hang around more this year than they did last.
Of the additional species this April, one was Barn Owl and another was Buzzard, both ringed pre-release at Oak & Furrows. Yellowhammer, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Kingfisher were also additional to last April. Missing this April were Dipper (not for want of trying), Grey Wagtail and Woodpigeon. Jonny and I did have a go for Dipper last Thursday. Unfortunately, the Bybrook is still running hard, fast and high and there was no sign of Dipper where we set up, although the site is a known Dipper territory. We plan to try again elsewhere this week.
My highlight of the month was the other species that was different to last April: Curlew. As posted about on Friday last, Jonny organised that we would meet up with a couple of experienced Curlew catchers from the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust: Kane Brides and Dan Gornall. We used a whoosh net, with a decoy and lure, caught one and were unlucky not to catch a second. I was lucky enough to ring this one: an adult male:
I start my Constant Effort site tomorrow: hoping it will be busier than last year.
Ringing In The Braydon Forest & Beyond 