Sunday 12 June 2011

Ringing at Westbrook Hay Boxmoor Trust and Tyttenhanger (11th June)

RINGING AT WESTBROOK HAY BOXMOOR TRUST

I got up at 4am yesterday morning to arive at Westbrook Hay Boxmoor Wildlife Trust to have my first trial run for ringing.  The experience was amazing to have a live bird in the hand and be able to handle it so easily and observe the intricate details such as the flight feathers, the brood patch, and differences between adult and juvenile birds.  We caute and ringed 2 Great Tits (1 juv. 1 ad. female) and 1♂ Blackcap (the third to be caute at this site in the past 6 years apparantly) in the period of 2 hours between 5:30 and 7:30.  Despite a small catch we were able to occupy ourselves with the common woodland birds that were singing and calling around us such as Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, Blackcaps and Goldcrests.

TYTTENHANGER

Later in the morning around 11am.  I went to Tyttenhanger were I first visited the surrounding farmland around The Plantation.  2 Red Kites were over the fields as well as 100's of Sand Martins heading from the quarrying area onto the disused gravel pits and 6 Red-legged Partridges were also skulking through the fields.  Soon after arriving at the main pit, 2 Hobbies flew in and began catching dragonflies low over the water.  Dozens of Lapwings were on the spit as well as 2 Little Ringed Plovers, a pair of Shoveler and Lesser Black-backed Gulls.  Towards Park Corner I saw 1 Cuckoo calling briefly before it was spooked by a Carrion Crow.  Other birds of note around the site were 1 Garden Warbler, occasional Blackcaps, 1 Kestrel, 2 flocks of Stock Dove 7 and 9 birds, Linnets and by Tyttenhanger Farm I saw 2 Tree Sparrows perched on electricity cables too far away for certain ID.

Meadow Brown

Small Heath


Meadow Brown

Small White

Small White

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