Holme Pierrepont, Tuesday 9 June

The second visit of the year was made to the Skylarks end of Holme Pierrepont on Tuesday by Duncan, Gary and me. Perfect weather conditions, overcast and still. We put up all the usual nets and caught steadily all morning. The Willow Warbler chicks in the nest we found near the base on the last visit had gone, hopefully fledged successfully.

We ended with 76 birds caught including 9 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Song Thrush 1/0, Robin 7/0, Dunnock 1/2, Wren 4/0, Blackcap 7/0, Garden Warbler 2/0, Whitethroat 0/1, Cetti’s Warbler 1/0, Reed Warbler 2/1, Chiffchaff 18/0, Willow Warbler 5/3, Blue Tit 9/0, Great Tit 7/1, Goldfinch 2/1, Greenfinch 1/0.

The Goldfinch retrap was originally ringed last year in Tom’s garden on the other side of the river. The oldest retrap was a Willow Warbler from 2016. The Bittern was seen again overhead and was not popular with the nesting gulls! The photograph shows the state the net rides after they had spent such a long time under water during the winter floods. Now a layer of dry mud covers the ground and seems to have killed some of the bramble and supressed growth of other vegetation, leaving the rides nice and open for us.

Kev