A transition month as summer migrants left for warmer climes and winter migrants arrived from colder climes.
A good autumn at Wraysbury delayed our first trip to the site but with news of Lesser Redpoll in the region, we ran our first session on the 23rd. The weather was mostly calm and overcast with occasional brighter periods, ideal for mist netting. It was still mild with temperatures around 9°C-14°C thanks to a gentle south-westerly wind.
We processed 66 birds (no retraps) of 11 species: 17 Blue Tit, 16 Lesser Redpoll (two adults, the rest juvenile), 9 Long-tailed Tit, 8 Meadow Pipit (two adults, the rest juvenile), 5 Redwing 5 (one adult, four juvenile), 4 Coal Tit (all juveniles), 2 Goldcrest, 2 Great Tit, a Kingfisher, a Reed Bunting, and a Robin; a good mix for trainees to see.
The surprising and delightful catch of a young female Kingfisher was the first bird into the Meadow Pipits nets and a new species for the group at Chobham Common.
A training session for two new members of the group
Birch polypore, Fomitopsis betulina
