With the weather looking a bit unsettled for the rest of the week I opened the nets in the garden again yesterday. As ever, I was hopeful that some of the Goldfinch and Greenfinch taking advantage of the feeders would end up in the nets. As usual, the Blue Tits hit as soon as the nets were open! I have worked out why I am not catching the finch species: they have developed a vertical take-off and landing technique that enables them to avoid the nets arriving and departing. I have moved the feeders from the top of the rockery bank to a lower level in front of the rockery but it made no difference. I refuse to be outsmarted by some bird brains so I am going to have to come up with a novel solution!
The list for the day was: Blue Tit [7](7); Great Tit [2]; Dunnock 2(1); Robin (1); Blackbird (2); Starling [5]; Chaffinch 1; Greenfinch 1; Goldfinch [1]. Totals: 4 adults ringed from 3 species, 15 juveniles ringed from 4 species and 11 birds recaptured from 4 species, making 30 birds processed from 9 species. Of the retrapped birds 8 were also juveniles (six Blue Tit and one each of Dunnock and Robin). For once the Starlings were all caught in the nets and not in the walk-in Potter traps.
This morning saw Rosie, Laura, Adam and Daniel join me at Somerford Common at the relatively civilised time of 6:00. We set nets down the main track and to the right of the track at the first crossroads:
Rosie had to leave just before 9:00 to go off to work and Laura and Daniel had to disappear for an hour between 9:00 and 10:00 but it was good to have plenty of help setting up and taking down and good company all morning. I let Rosie process all of the birds caught between opening and the time she had to leave, and then I let Adam ring all of the birds whilst Laura and Daniel were away, which left a couple for Adam and Daniel to share upon Daniel’s return.
It was a bit of an odd morning with rounds producing alternately a single bird, followed by the next round producing three or four birds. It wasn’t a huge catch, but significantly better than our last woodland foray (Red Lodge, which produced 6 birds in 4 hours in 180m of net!). One reason that there were not greater numbers was the complete absence of any Blue or Great Tits. Most unusual in the woods at this time of year.
The list for the day was: Wren [2]; Robin [8]; Blackbird [1]; Blackcap [4]; Chiffchaff 1[1](1); Bullfinch 1. Totals: 2 adults ringed from 2 species, 16 juveniles ringed from 5 species and 1 retrap, making 19 birds processed from 6 species.
There was a superb collection of butterflies to be seen, reflecting the abundance of flowering plants along the rides that were opened significantly over the last couple of winters. We saw big numbers of Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper, plus smaller numbers of Red Admiral, Ringlet, Common Blue, Silver-washed Fritillary and Small Skipper:
Small Skipper: Thymelicus sylvestris
As mentioned, the preponderance of flowering plants along the rides was a pleasure to see, and there were grasshoppers and crickets everywhere (not to mention the odd Hornet – successfully extracted from one of my nets: successful in that it flew away and I didn’t get stung!) There was one plant that stood out from the rest: it was 30 to 40 cm tall, with lanceolate leaves. I didn’t recognise it but, having trawled through my wildflower guide, I am pretty certain it is Sneezewort:
Sneezewort: Achillea ptarmica
According to the various references I have looked at it is listed as becoming scarce in the UK, although there seem to be hundreds of wildflower vendors selling them. Anyway, they are in good numbers at Somerford Common.
With the wind getting up from 10:30, we decided to do one last round and then shut the nets and pack away. It didn’t take long and we were off site before midday.
Ringing In The Braydon Forest & Beyond 