After a few 4.30am alarm calls at Icklesham we decided to abandon an
early start, drop our son at the station and then visit Broadwater to
see if much was going on. We didn't have much expectation but went out
of curiosity as to how the site would be used by birds at this time of
year.
We put up a run of 5 and a couple of singles, one on the path where birds are regularly seen darting across and another among the buddleas. This area has been avoided up until now as the ground is too hard for pegging ( several areas of the site have areas of concrete where buildings have been removed and road sections that are impossible to penetrate) but there seemed to be a bit of activity so we improvised using chunks of concrete and gave it a go. The nets were all up by 9.30am.
Over the course of the morning we tried various different audio lures but Long-tailed tit was the one that really came up trumps. Although we didn't catch a single Lotti it proved a great attractant to Chiffs and Willow Warblers. The birds just kept coming and we didn't take down until after 2pm. The leading species was Chiff-chaff with a decent smattering of Willow Warblers including one with a ring from the Madrid (Icona) scheme.
We put up a run of 5 and a couple of singles, one on the path where birds are regularly seen darting across and another among the buddleas. This area has been avoided up until now as the ground is too hard for pegging ( several areas of the site have areas of concrete where buildings have been removed and road sections that are impossible to penetrate) but there seemed to be a bit of activity so we improvised using chunks of concrete and gave it a go. The nets were all up by 9.30am.
Over the course of the morning we tried various different audio lures but Long-tailed tit was the one that really came up trumps. Although we didn't catch a single Lotti it proved a great attractant to Chiffs and Willow Warblers. The birds just kept coming and we didn't take down until after 2pm. The leading species was Chiff-chaff with a decent smattering of Willow Warblers including one with a ring from the Madrid (Icona) scheme.
MT7828 Icona Madrid Age 4 Willow Warbler
One of three Garden Warblers
Juvenile Goldcrest
The
warm temperatures and heat retaining substrate also encouraged some
stunning insects to remain still long enough for a photo opportunity.
Emperor Dragonfly
Clouded Yellow Butterfly
Total: 84 (1)
Wren 3
Robin 6
Blackbird 1
Sedge Warbler 1
Reed Warbler 5
Lesser Whitethroat 1
Whitethroat 2
Garden Warbler 3
Blackcap 2
Willow Warbler 11 (1)
Chiff-chaff 40
Goldcrest 1
Blue Tit 4
Great Tit 4