Sunday 5 August 2012

This Week At Stanford

Two ringing sessions at Stanford this week resulted in a total of 80 new birds, 34 retraps and a control.

Masai Mick managed a solo effort on Thursday and, with an eye on the weather, erected a few nets from the feeding station to the "Berries" net ride.  He managed to ring 38 new birds which included 11 Blackcaps and 2 Lesser Whitethroats and controlled an adult female Sedge Warbler.

With the weather forecast for Saturday of heavy rain from 0700 hrs the outlook was depressingly poor but it miraculously altered overnight pushing the heavy rain now due back to 1300 hrs. Time enough for a ringing session!  Mick, Ed, Dawn and I arrived at 0500 hrs to an overcast sky and a light breeze.  Nets were erected from "The Church" ride to "The Berries" with a single 30 foot on the Railtrack.  The first round of the nets brought in 26 birds and the first Kingfisher (a juvenile female) of the year.  As expected the next net rounds produced fewer birds but included the first juvenile Great Spotted Woodpeckers of the year.  A group of four birders from Burbage Bird Club arrived as we were packing up and were treated to an impromptu ringing demonstration as we processed the last birds of the day with the very last being another juvenile female Kingfisher!



Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker

Juvenile female Kingfisher