A very foggy autumnal morning greeted Duncan, Alex, Nick, Gary and I when we met at Holme Pierrepont. The temperature gauge on the car went down to 4 degrees celsius on the journey to the site. This was going to be the closing session for the season at the Grange end of the site and as such the likelihood of a good catch was not thought to be high.
We set all the usual nets except for one which still had a tent erected in the ride, still apparently unoccupied. With no wind and few birds calling a warbler tape was set in the hope of catching any remaining migrants and we retired to the base.
A couple of the nets seemed to be catching the moisture in the fog and frequently needed shaking dry. From the first round catching was brisk and only really fell off towards the middle of the day as the fog lifted and the sun lit up the nets. We ended with a very good total of 69 birds including 26 retraps made up of (new/retrap): Robin 3/3, Wren 4/4, Dunnock 4/1, Blackbird 1/2, Blackcap 1/0, Cetti’s Warbler 1/0, Goldcrest 1/0, Treecreeper 1/1, Long-tailed Tit 10/4, Blue Tit 4/8, Great Tit 3/2, Bullfinch 3/0, Chaffinch 1/0, Reed Bunting 6/1.
We only managed to catch the one migrant warbler, a Blackcap, and that was as we were taking the nets down and the tape was off! The oldest retraps were a Blackbird and Blue Tit from 2012.
Overhead was pretty quiet, a few Jays were around and a Grey Wagtail but no winter thrushes as yet. At the end of the session all the poles and guys were removed and the site closed down, I guess the next big visit well be early next year to do some vegetation clearance.
Kev
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