August 09 -normal service resumes...

Sorry for the lack of postings of late...please find Dave's results from the weekend, and enjoy some photo's from the annual Storm Petrel trip to Scotland...

Dave Riley and Cath Smith were on No1 bed from 11am Friday morning and managed to avoid the showers during the afternoon, as they passed to the north of Warrington. It was a little breezy, but 38 birds were caught, including the only two Garden Warblers for the weekend on that bed. The weather on the Saturday morning was much better, probably too good in fact, as the sun shone almost from dawn, but there was little wind, and a further 106 birds were caught, including their first Jay for two years, another two Kingfishers and another two Tree Pipits - this is the first year that more than two Tree Pipits have been caught. Good numbers of warblers (78) are still present, including, amongst others, 6 Sedge Warblers (none caught the previous week), 18 Reed Warblers, 20 Blackcaps, 15 Chiffchaffs and nine Willow Warblers.

The No3 bed team started off Saturday morning really well, with a first round of over 60 birds and caught steadily during the morning to end up with a total of 200 birds (168 new), again with large numbers of warblers (109), including 11 Sedge Warblers, 39 Reed Warblers, 8 Whitethroats, 6 Garden Warblers and 38 Blackcaps. There were some indications of a fall on the bed, with sights like 4 Lesser Whitethroats in one bush, which must be unprecedented for Woolston.

Other sightings included: Common Sandpiper and Tawny Owl on No1 bed, along with 2 Hobbys and a sub-adult Marsh Harrier on No3 bed.

I have also attached a comparison of some species caught at this stage in 2008, which gives an indication of how well some have done this year, notably Dunnock (up 144%), Blackcap (up 187%) and Blue Tit (186%). The year did start very slowly, with low returns on most finches and tits, but most species seem to have had a good breeding season.

regards


Dave