A first session at the coastal park situated between Wild Ken Hill and the beach. There is public access to the coastal park that belongs to the Ken Hill estate. We had expected it to be good for birds and the total of 62 proved that our instinct was correct. Our one reservation regarding being able to monitor this site with regard to the amount of footfall was, unfortunately, also borne out. The area is criss-crossed by many paths, some being what remains of ringing rides from bird monitoring efforts a few years back. Although we stayed well away from the marked footpath, main walkway through the site and clearly marked all nets, and only one ride was marked as closed 'Access temporarily closed for bird monitoring', a successful morning was marred by one dog walker who disregarded the sign and walked passed the 'Access closed' sign tearing two 18m nets, with their foot ware, made it a bit of an expensive morning for us.
Up until that point it had been a very successful session with a lot of interest shown by the general public with several people remarking that there always used to be bird ringing in the park and they were glad that the monitoring work was starting up again. Despite all the positive comments and thanks for the work being undertaken, the actions of those very few individuals who will not comply with a simple request in order for occasional wildlife monitoring to take place, may as result bring the possibility of continued monitoring into question, if there are reoccurrences, and always puts a damper on the morning.
There were no re-traps from previous years, potentially not unsurprising as ringing stooped about 3 -4 years ago here.
Totals: 62
Wren - 1
Robin - 1
Dunnock - 5
Blackbird - 1
Cetti's Warbler- 2
Reed Warbler - 1
SedgeWarbler - 11
Lesser Whitethroat - 3
Whitethroat - 7
Blackcap - 7
Chiffchaff - 5
Long-tailed Tit - 15
Blue Tit - 1
Goldfinch - 2