Sunday 24 September 2017

Linacre Ringing - 23rd September 2017

I was out ringing at Linacre yesterday with Sorby Breck Ringing Group. This was our first session since the start of August, and we were on site from 06.30 to 10.30, catching a very nice 76 birds, including 2 warbler species and a species that we've only ringed twice at Linacre, once in 2012 and again in 2014. Can you guess what it was??
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Totals for the morning were new/retrap: Blue Tit 12/4, Great Tit 10/5, Coal Tit 2/0, Long-tailed Tit 1/0, Dunnock 1/0, Robin 4/0, Blackbird 1/0, Blackcap 1/0, Chiffchaff 9/0, Goldcrest 15/1, Meadow Pipit 1/0, Nuthatch 1/0 and Goldfinch 8/0.

As you can see, the two warbler species were Chiffchaff and Blackcap. All birds were aged as 3s (born this year). The other highlight was the single Meadow Pipit, also a bird born this year. This species is heard most years passing over the site, and we have managed to entice a few birds down in 2012 and 2014, so to catch one this weekend was very nice.

Other species seen between net rounds included a very impressive flock of c.50 House Martins (the biggest count of the year by a very long way), that were feeding over the ringing site, 5 Swallows, 1 Buzzard and a Sparrowhawk.

Friday 1 September 2017

Linacre- 1st September 2017

The sun was out this morning, so I decided to have a few hours down at Linacre. There were 6 species of butterfly on the wing, 3 dragonflies and 1 damselfly species.

The butterflies seen were: Speckled Wood (5), Peacock (5), Red Admiral (2), Large White (1), Comma (1) and Small Copper (3, my first record of 2017).

Small Copper

Dragonflies and damselflies seen were: Common Dater (1, the first Linacre record of 2017), Brown Hawker (3), Southern Hawker (1) and Common Blue Damselfly. 2 species of hoverfly were also seen: Volucella pellucens (Great Pied Hoverfly) and Sericomyia silentis (only my second Linacre record, after 1 on 18th August 2016).

Sericomyia silentis

Birds seen around the site today were: Mallard (37), Tufted Duck 19; 18 adults and 1 duckling), Mandarin Duck (25), Great-crested Grebe (2 adults and 1 juvenile), Grey Heron (2), Grey Wagtail (1), Coot (3 adults), Moorhen (12; 6 adults and 6 juveniles), Cormorant (1), Common Buzzard (1), Swallow (c. 15) and Chiffchaff (3, including 1 singing).