I had noticed that the tern platform on Church Pond had a few pairs of late nesting Black-headed Gulls. Having counted birds from the bank the previous weekend when I saw 4 or 5 chicks, I arranged with Emmeline to make visit today. Despite the engine being repaired there is no slipway into Church Pond so the inflatable was needed again. As we got closer the number of chicks kept going up and we ringed 11, one nest with 2 eggs still to hatch – must go to Specsavers!
Kev
Just 3 of us again for this visit, not so much vegetation adjustment this time in the mostly clear and slightly breezy conditions. A bit better catch with 40 birds including 4 retraps, all Dunnocks with one from 2019. The majority of the catch was Reed Warblers and most birds were juveniles. It is looking, unsurprisingly, that this breeding season will end up being much better than 2024.
Kev
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| adult Whitethroat (KJH) |
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| juvenile Whitethroat (KJH) |
NWT had received funding for some new Common Tern platforms in 2025. They were sited at Skylarks, Besthorpe, North Muskham and Netherfield. The Trust asked if we would ring any terns that nested. The Skylarks platform was, unfortunately, the only one that attracted terns. Three chicks were visible so I arranged a visit on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far. We arrived on site, inflated the Trust boat and paddled out to ring the terns. After doing this we looked on an adjacent island that had some gulls and terns nesting. Strangely the majority of nests still had eggs at this late stage of the season but we did manage to find and ring 5 Black-headed Gull chicks. We were greatly assisted by Miriam, AJ and Millie from NWT. All the other new platforms had attracted Black-headed Gulls to nest but the birds on the Besthorpe and North Muskham platforms were too advanced to attempt a visit.
Kev
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| Black-headed Gull chick (KJH) |
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| Common Tern chick (KJH) |
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| Common Tern chick (KJH) |
The third visit of the year to this site and first since the end of May meant another battle with the ever-encroaching vegetation for the 3 of us that were out. We set the usual 9 nets in very warm but mostly overcast conditions. We ended with a catch of 31 birds, mostly juveniles and all new birds. The best of the morning were 3 juvenile Bullfinch caught together, an increasingly scarce bird now locally.
Kev
Of the 5 viable tern platforms at Attenborough only 2 were occupied by Common Terns, the two close together by the visitor centre. Having monitored progress we organised a visit today and met at the Sailing Club to use the Trust boat to get out to the platforms. Unfortunately we could not get the engine started and after a couple of hours gave up and paddled an inflatable from close to the visitor centre out to the platforms. The birds were at a perfect age range and 16 chicks were ringed on one platform and another 13 on the other. With a number of eggs still apparently being incubated we may visit again in a few weeks time. Thanks as always at Attenborough for all the help from Emmeline of NWT.
Kev
I had been wanting to make the first visit of the summer here for a month or so but each weekend it was a bit breezy. So today with a small team we managed to get there, because of the small team Mick P agreed to join us first thing to help clear the net rides before he had to leave for a previously arranged appointment. This was a great help and we got 6 of the usual 8 nets up and then put up 2 in another location. Catching rate was low but steady and we ended with 34 birds including 3 retraps, best of which were a Chiffchaff from 2020 and a Song Thrush from 2021.
Kev
