About this time last year there was a decent through flow of Stonechat seen in the hedgerows along the perimeter track on the western side of Blakehill Farm. I decided to try a session setting nets along the hedgerows to see if any could be caught. We did see half-a-dozen and managed to catch and ring two of them. Having failed miserably to catch any Whinchat or Stonechat so far this autumn migration, I decided to have another go on this part of the site: only my second go. Rosie came along to help set up before heading off to work, not a single bird by way of compensation, plus I was joined by Andy and Teresa for the whole session. We set the following nets:
Despite a 6:30 start, and having the nets open by 7:30, we didn’t catch our first birds until 8:15. It was a decent round with five Goldfinches and a Dunnock in net set 3 and a Meadow Pipit in 4. The white lines indicate a fenced-off area. This, and an equivalent area north of it, were fenced off to allow for them to be planted up with bird friendly wild flowers. It hasn’t worked as intended but the legacy is a mass of thistles. This is why the Goldfinches were caught in ride 3. At 10:00, having caught nothing, we split the nets in ride 2 and put one each through two of the thistle plots. Unfortunately the Goldfinch had already moved on and we caught no more. In fact, neither rides 1 or 2 caught anything. I think that the issue with ride 1 was that the hedgerow was just that bit higher than the nets and the birds, plenty of which were feeding on the blackberries in the hedgerow there, were just flying in and out over the top. I have decided that I need to put a 75cm extension on each of the net poles before trying again. I shall be investing in some 1″ diameter dowelling very soon.
Fortunately, ride 3 caught reasonably well all session, and the Mipit triangle just delivered as expected. It was good to see that the numbers are building up on the site. Hopefully we will get up to the high numbers seen in previous years as the month progresses.
The catch for the day was: Blue Tit 3; Great Tit 1; Dunnock 1; Meadow Pipit 22; Robin 1; Chiffchaff 3; Goldfinch 5. Totals: 1 adult ringed (the Dunnock) and 35 juveniles ringed from 6 species, making 36 birds processed from 7 species.
As you can see: still no Stonechat or Whinchat. I am determined, so will be back at Blakehill next Wednesday, weather permitting, on the eastern side of the site.
We started to take down at 11:30 and were ready to leave site just after midday.
Ringing In The Braydon Forest & Beyond 