Tuesday 4 June 2013

Stanwell Moor - 1 June 2013

We went for an evening session, mainly to check out whether we had a Starling roost, so were slightly alarmed, as we drove down, to find that a Little Ringed Plover on the access road, was behaving as though there were chicks close by. We stopped the car and saw a small chick close to some piping. It didn't sit tight as we expected and decided to make a run for it. Without the benefit of the hand net we were most surprised to manage to catch it. There was no sign of any other chicks so it was quickly processed and returned to the gravel, and we went to put up the nets.

We set three nets in the reeds, two between the brambles and a single in the filter bed. We only got 8 birds, but there were a couple of new Reed Warblers, one from last year and another, Y224407, that was done at Bedfont, one of the groups other sites, on the 26th August 2012 as a 3. There was also a retrapped 4F Reed Bunting, Y335436, done on 21st April 2012 and then aged 4.

 4F Reed Bunting

We were able to confirm that the Starlings are back, with some 200 individuals roosting around the lake edge - in exactly the same place as last year. We even managed to catch one of the juveniles.

3J Starling

Totals: 5 (3)

Little Ringed Plover - 1
Reed Warbler - 2 (2)
Blackcap - 1
Starling - 1
Reed Bunting - 0 (1)