Fygyn Common. New site, new nets, new birds and a new lifer. 14/11/14

The weather forecast was right for once. This morning was going to be dry with winds to 6 or 7mph freshening to about 12mph by midday. So I decided it was time to give my new site ago on the common. The nets I ordered arrived last Tuesday, I sorted these out on my lawn and they were ready. However, I was a little concerned because my net rides were maxed out at just over 13m long.  I ordered 12m nets and when I measured them on the lawn they were actually 12.4 metres long which in reality was not going to leave much room at either end of the rides. Anyway it all worked out with a little additional pruning.
I created four rides but today I decided it would be prudent to only use two of these since the site potential was unknown. The last thing I wanted was to be overcome with birds in four nets.

On my first net round I had a big surprise. New net on my new site produced a new bird which was the first bird to be extracted and a new ringing tick. It was a Great Grey Shrike. I thought this is going to be the highlight of the day and it can only get worse.

I have only once ever seen one of these and that was about 8 years ago on Cannock Chase in Staffordshire. I felt very excited to have caught and processed it. Its wing length fell into the Female range. It was a juvenile based on the PC and GC being variably worn and dull brownish black. It was caught in the bottom shelf.

I had sound on and the Reed Bunting sound attracted two birds. I had seen numbers of Reed Bunting when I was surveying the site trying to establish what species were about, so another good species for my first ringing session.

When it warmed up a little I put on Goldcrest sound. I had not seen any on my surveying visits but thought they may be about because I had been catching a few in my garden which is only 2 miles away. These two are both males although it is difficult to see the orange under the yellow

Later in the morning I returned to the car with only a couple of birds to be processed. After I did these I decided to sit for a while and just watch was going on with my Binoculars. I noticed a largish bird sit on the top of the bushes above my nets. I instantly recognised it as a Shrike and wondered if it was the one I processed earlier. It lifted off the bushes and dived straight down in the net rides. I made a dash to the nets and when I got there is was in the bottom shelf. I extracted it and could see this was a new bird. The second Shrike in a session, how lucky is that, and the only two I have ever caught. I was delighted. This bird was unsexed because its wing length fell between the two ranges. It was a juvenile based on the same criteria as the first bird.

Having seen plenty of Stonechat in the area I was really hopeful of catching one. The closest I got was to take the photograph above.

Species	New	Re-traps	Totals
Blute tit	8		8
Reed Bunting	2		2
Wren	1		1
Dunnock	4		4
Great Grey Shrike	2		2
Great tit	1		1
Chaffinch	1		1
Goldcrest	2		2
Robin	3		3
Totals	24		24

By and large I would call this a good first day and I really hope it is not downhill after the Shrike. It is going to take a couple of years to fully understand Fygyn Commons potential and to see what Spring and Autumn migration brings next year. There is plenty of different habitats on the Common which I am sure will be different at different times of year. Plenty of fun ahead.

To finish off, another picture of the Common just before I packed up. The 12 noon front as predicted came with increased wind, birds had dropped off, so it was time for home.