It's some time since we tried for Wagtails at Beaconsfield. This is due in part to the windy weather this winter, but also because we have had some poor captures with lorries parked in the wrong carpark, obscuring our nets and affecting the birds' usual behaviour as well as other random disturbance.
Tonight looked quite good. There wasn't too much wind, the area where the Pied Wagtails wander around was clear apart from a coach parked at the far end which really doesn't present a problem and we were set in good time. There were a lot of birds on the services roof and just as they becan to fly out towards the roost trees a breakdown truck pulled in with two Dreams vans, one on tow and the other loaded on to the truck. The van on tow had developed some additional fault and the driver began to switch the vehicles around. He was only obscuring about a quarter of the rear nets and we thought we might get away with it, when in drove another Dreams HGV. Less Dreams and more like a nightmare! We only got five birds and one of those was released as it only had one foot - something that we see fairly often with Pied Wagtails!
Totals: 4
Pied Wagtail - 4
Tonight looked quite good. There wasn't too much wind, the area where the Pied Wagtails wander around was clear apart from a coach parked at the far end which really doesn't present a problem and we were set in good time. There were a lot of birds on the services roof and just as they becan to fly out towards the roost trees a breakdown truck pulled in with two Dreams vans, one on tow and the other loaded on to the truck. The van on tow had developed some additional fault and the driver began to switch the vehicles around. He was only obscuring about a quarter of the rear nets and we thought we might get away with it, when in drove another Dreams HGV. Less Dreams and more like a nightmare! We only got five birds and one of those was released as it only had one foot - something that we see fairly often with Pied Wagtails!
Totals: 4
Pied Wagtail - 4