With Saturday’s forecast for torrential rain and high winds, we decided to get out this morning. It was forecast to have quite high winds coming from the west, so I decided that we would need to be well inside a woodland to avoid the effects of the wind. After having to cancel Wednesday’s session due to the sub-zero temperatures, I was keen to get out, although the catches at Red Lodge have not been as good as they used to be.
Rosie and Ellie came along to help us set up and David and Laura came for the whole session. We set up our usual nets for this part of Red Lodge and waited for some birds to hit the nets.
I had a variety of lures running and pleased to say that what is known as the Latvian love song did its job and attracted in a couple of Redwing. We don’t catch many in Red Lodge, so it is always good when we do catch the odd one:
Redwing, Turdus iliacus
Rosie had to leave at 8:30, before we had caught anything. Ellie had to leave at 10:15, having not ringed a bird. My team are good people: coming along to help out knowing that their opportunity will be limited at that session.
It was a very slow morning, with just one good haul of birds when a small flock of Long-tailed Tits arrived in the net that has been our worst of recent times: ride 1. I had decided to add an extra net to that ride and it certainly paid dividends. That net which is usually our best at this part of the site, ride 3, was the worst this time, with the first bird of the session, a Goldcrest, caught and then nothing else.
The list for this morning was: Nuthatch 1; Blue Tit 2(2); Coal Tit 1; Great Tit 1; Long-tailed Tit 7; Redwing 3; Blackbird 1; Goldcrest 2. Totals: 18 birds ringed from 8 species and 2 birds retrapped from 1 species, making 20 birds processed from 8 species.
With the weather being cold and the catch slow, we packed up a little early: starting the take down at 11:30 and getting off site by 12:15.
Ringing In The Braydon Forest & Beyond 