I cannot remember the last time that I went so long between sessions: a combination of ill health and abysmal weather has led to an eleven day hiatus. I did try to get out to the Meadows on Tuesday but the wind was just too ferocious to safely set nets. So, after an early start, I had a very early finish. Unfortunately, being doped up on painkillers and anti-spasm pills, I probably shouldn’t have been driving, underlined by the fact that I misjudged the entrance to my driveway when I got home and am now waiting for my friendly local mechanic to quote on the repair work! This morning I decided to put up with whatever my body threw at me and left the pills in the box. Pleased to say, there were no incidents to report.
So, we arrived on site at 7:00. It immediately became clear that we would not be able to set all of the nets that I wanted. Although the wind wasn’t as bad as Tuesday, it was still quite fierce and so we set very few nets. As a result, we caught very few birds.
They were all juveniles and they were all unringed, but there were only 11 of them: Great Tit 1; Wren 1; Robin 2; Blackcap 5; Chiffchaff 2. Totals: 11 juveniles ringed and processed from 5 species.
Not the most exciting session, but it was enjoyable. We did have lots of time to watch the large number of Swallows streaming around the meadow. I would have set a net, but I am pretty sure that a net wouldn’t do well with the attention of a dozen Belted Galloway steers. I must find a way of blocking their access to that part of the meadow next time I plan to run a session there!
Apart from that, we had several Magpies fly over, a juvenile Jay making an awful lot of noise behind one of the nets: it actually sounded like it was caught in the net, but it wasn’t.
There was a lovely display of Dragonflies this morning, fabulous Emperors:
plus Common Darter and Southern Darter.
We packed up at 11:45, with not a lot to take down, we were away by 12:30.
Ringing In The Braydon Forest & Beyond 