Ramsdale Park Golf Centre, Sunday 9 October

Sue, Duncan and I made a visit to the golf club today and put up the usual 8 x 18m nets with mixed warbler and Redwing song on two MP3 players. The weather was clear and calm and we started catching quite well but as the sun got higher the catches dropped.

We finished on 38 birds including 4 retraps. The species totals were (new/recapture): Blackcap 1/0, Chiffchaff 4/0, Goldcrest 1/0, Wren 3/0, Dunnock 1/0, Robin 1/0, Blue Tit 1/2, Greenfinch 1/0, Bullfinch 4/1, Goldfinch 1/0, Pied Wagtail 1/0, Redwing 12/0, Blackbird 3/1.

The Pied Wagtail was a surprise, it hit the top shelf, when being chased by another bird, just above our heads as we were doing a net round. There were plenty of Redwing about but despite Yellow-browed Warblers being everywhere in the country at the moment none seemed to be at the golf club (but we did try playing a recording just in case). At the end of the session we removed all the poles and guys from the site.

Kev

 Pied Wagtail (S. Lakeman)