North Wilts Group
28th August 2013 - Swindon STW
27th August 2013 - Salisbury Plain (east)
![Wryneck](/images/2013sightings/Wryneck.jpg)
![Wheatear](/images/2013sightings/Wheatear.jpg)
![Redstarts](/images/2013sightings/Redstarts.jpg)
26th August 2013 - Salisbury Plain (centre)
Even though the predicted wind speed looked slightly marginal for rining we decided to give Salisbury Plain another go to make the best of migrant season and although numbers were rather disappointing there was plenty of quality.
While putitng up the last of the morning nets in the dark a Nightjar flew over so it was just as well we already had a tape lure going on a different net. The first net round of the morning found a juvenile female in the bottom shelf to make it two birds in two sessions at this site.
The first round also produced another Whinchat and another Redstart and by the end of the morning we had caught 4 of the latter as well as having 2 bounce while we were at the nets extracting. There will still plenty of Whitethroats and Willow Warblers around but Blackcap numbers are still strangely low as its now the time of year we should be getting catches of 50 or more rather than the 14 we got. We did however get a massive 3 Lesser Whitethorats, the highest day catch this year for this now virtually non-existant species.
One of the morings highlights was a juvenile Spotted Flycatcher. After catching two last week at Matt's site this species is now clearly on the move in the county.
We finished the morning with a rather poor total of 91 new and 8 retraps, almost half the average total for this week in August we usually get at this site. GD/PD/OF
Nightjar 1, Tree Pipit 2, Wren 1, Dunnock 1, Robin 4, Redstart 4, Whinchat 1, Blackbird 1(1), Song Thrush 2, Sedge Warbler 1, Reed Warbler (1), Lesser Whitethroat 3, Whitethroat 26(2), Garden Warbler 6(1), Blackcap 14(3), Chiffchaff 1, Willow Warbler 12, Goldcrest, Spotted Flycatcher 1, Blue Tit 1, Great Tit 1, Goldfinch 1, Bullfinch 5, Yellowhammer 1
23rd August 2013 - Salisbury Plain (east)
![spofl ad](/images/2013sightings/spofl_ad.jpg)
![spofl juv](/images/2013sightings/spofl_juv.jpg)
22nd August 2013 - Salisbury Plain (centre)
After the success of Tuesday's session we were joined again by Rob and Mike who were hoping to ring some more nice species.
However, once on site we had a slight issue with the weather. The overnight rain that was supposed to have cleared by mid-night was still coming down as the back edge of the weather front moved over us. Thankfully it had passed by 0600 but since there had also been rain further to the north of us the number of migrants was very much down compared to the last few visits.
The first net round produced the best bird of the day, a Nightjar. I've not caught many of these and whenever I do there's always a trainee out with me that needs Nightjar for a ringing tick. As I was out today with 3 experienced 'A' permit holders I decided I was due a good bird so happily ringed it.
Even though migrants were down we still managed another 15 Willow Warblers and 24 Whitethroats with a good mix of other warblers. Interestingly, We only caught one Sedge Warbler today compared to 20 and 13 from the last two visits so it looks like the peak for this species may have passed. GD/PD/RT/MH
94 new, 10 retrap
Nightjar 1, Tree Pipit 1, Wren 2, Dunnock 3(1), Robin 4(1), Redstart 2, Whinchat 1, Blackbird (2), Song Thrush 3, Grasshopper Warbler 1, Sedge Warbler 1, Reed Warbler 2, Lesser Whitethroat 1, Whitethroat 24, Garden Warbler 7(2), Blackcap 18(2), Chiffchaff 5(1), Willow Warbler 15(1), Blue Tit 1, Bullfinch 1, Yellowhammer 1
20th August 2013 - Salisbury Plain (centre)
As I have the whole week off of work it was bonus session time on my Salisbury Plain site and were even joined by my old trainer Rob and Mike from the West Wilts group.
The hope was to catch a lot more migrant warblers and some other interesting migrants and we weren't dissapointed. The Whinchat net provided yet another 2 new Whinchats and also caught a stray Tree Pipit later no. Sedge Warblers were once again in numbers far higher than would be expected for a site many miles away from the nearest reedbed. We managed 5 Tree Pipits most of which came in to tape lures, the best day total for the year so far. We also caught two very recently fledged Grasshopper Warblers along with the adult we've been catching since April which was much nicer than catching migrants since these ones are home grown. A shed load of new Whitethroats and Willow Warblers went some way to making up the poor numbers caught during the spring and yes, we caught yet anoth Redstart.
A good morning with 127 new and 13 retraps. GD/PD/RT/MH
Swallow 4, Tree Pipit 5, Wren 4, Dunnock (2), Robin 5, Redstart 1, Whinchat 2, Blackbird 1, Song Thrush 1, Grasshopper Warbler 3(1), Sedge Warbler 13, Reed Warbler 6, Whitethroat 36(1), Garden Warbler 8, Blackcap 9(4), Chiffchaff 1(3), Willow Warbler 18(1), Coal Tit 1, Blue Tit 1, Linnet 4, Bullfinch 2, Yellowhammer 2