With Saturday being a washout, Sunday was the only possibility for this weekend but, with all weather forecasts for the day stating that it would be very windy, with gusts reaching 40mph, coming from the south-west, the only site that could offer sufficient protection from such winds is the north-western side of Somerford Common.
The only downside of this site is that catches tend to be relatively small. Without the attraction of a feeding station the largest catch there was 18 birds. We have had up to 81 when there are feeders in place, but that won’t be happening until winter sets in.
I was joined by family Childs for the session at 7:00 and we set the following nets:
Each ride consisted of 3 x 18m 5-Shelf nets.
The first birds were caught at 8:15 and for the next three hours we extracted and processed birds. It was only three or four birds at a time and there was only one round in double figures (14 birds). That was down to a small tit flock of three Blue, four Coal and five Great Tits, plus a Robin and a Chiffchaff.
It took a while for the wild winds to get up but about 10:30 it really did start to blow. Fortunately, I got it right and the nets were completely unaffected. However, the last productive round was at 11:15 and, when the 11:30 round was empty we shut the nets and took down.
Our unusual run of Nuthatches continued today: with another three added to August’s list. We are up to 14 for the month now: our largest ever monthly catch. The only other months with catches in double figures are two in December (a 10 and a 12) and two in February (both 10) both with the attractant of feeding stations in play.
The list for the session was: Nuthatch 2[1]; Treecreeper [2]; Blue Tit 1[2]; Great Tit [7]; Marsh Tit [1]; Coal Tit [5]; Wren [1]; Dunnock [1]; Robin [3]; Blackbird [1]; Blackcap [1]; Chiffchaff [1]; Goldcrest [4](1). Totals: 3 adults ringed from 2 species, 30 juveniles ringed from 13 species and 1 retrapped bird, making 34 birds processed from 13 species.
I am happy with the variety of birds we are catching in August, even if the numbers are very variable. Only Red Lodge has produced fewer than 10 species, and I will let it off as it produced five of our 14 Nuthatches! But the Firs with 17 species, both Somerford Common East and West producing 13 species and Webb’s Wood with 11 species, and a total of 23 species from all sources so far in August, it is enjoyable. With a bit of luck next week might allow us to add a couple of migrant species to August’s list.
With everything packed away we were off site by 12:30.
Ringing In The Braydon Forest & Beyond 