I started monitoring the Barn Owl nest boxes at Gospel Oak Farm in 2021 and thought then that the land in which they were situated looked like a good potential ringing site. The farm is essentially managed as a hay making site: with late cut hay. This year, for example, the hay was cut in the first week of August. The meadow is laden with wildflowers and one strip, within which sits a good sized pond, is managed as a wildflower meadow. I asked the owner, Richard, if he would allow us to start ringing at the site a couple of weeks ago and he readily agreed. With the forecast for this week being more or less dry, I arranged to carry out am initial trial session this morning. Unfortunately, the forecast changed to say that there would be a reasonably low base wind but that it could gust up to 30mph. Coming from the East-North-East meant it would be blowing straight down where we wanted to set the nets. I decided to chance it, having set everything up with Richard and my team,, not wanting to mess people around.
I was joined by Ellie and David at 7:00 and we set the following nets:
Next time, with a better weather forecast and, perhaps, a larger team, we will also take advantage of the rest of the site, which has fabulous hedgerows and a small copse adjacent to the hedgerow.
Our first bird arrived before we had even opened the nets:
Juvenile Robin, Erithacus rubecula, close to completing post-fledging moult but also looking pretty scruffy.
I could have put money on the first bird coming out of the nets would be either a Robin or a Wren.
We only had the nets open for just two hours before the wind became a worrying factor and we closed them. The last round, as we shut the nets at 10:00, produced another five birds! It certainly bodes well for the future: in that time, with that small number of nets, we caught the following: Nuthatch [1]; Treecreeper [2]; Blue Tit 2[2]; Great Tit 1[2]; Long-tailed Tit [3]; Wren [1]; Robin [3]; Chiffchaff [4]; Willow Warbler [1]. Totals: 3 adults ringed from 2 species and 19 juveniles ringed from 9 species, making 22 birds processed from 9 species.
It was a nice catch given the circumstances. When you add in our fifteenth Nuthatch of the month, that is just remarkable. We weren’t in a woodland and yet we caught not just the Nuthatch but also two Treecreepers.
We had the nets down, the last five birds processed and everything packed away quite quickly and were off site by 10:50. I am looking forward to more, and more extensive, sessions there in future.
Ringing In The Braydon Forest & Beyond 