The weather conditions were reasonable for some ringing this morning at Walsey with gentle southwesterlies, though the wind quickly got up mid-morning!

We caught 56 captures of 9 species including 13 Blue Tit, 1 Great Tit, 12 Chiffchaff, 5 Long-tailed Tit, 9 Blackcap, 4 Goldcrest, 2 Robin, 3 Dunnock and 7 Goldfinch. It was a steady start, however, mid-morning we had a very busy net round with a tit flock ending up in the nets and we caught 29 individuals in a single net round!

After it was too windy for ringing, I focussed on some habitat management – strimming the paths and net rides and using the hedge trimmer to make sure the net rides are well clear of vegetation for when nets are up. A good autumnal job to get done.

It was generally quiet for birding around Walsey, however, there was a bit of Hirundine passage with 150 House Martin and 65 Swallow seen moving west. From the top of Walsey we also seen a Bittern fly over the reedbed towards Bishops, always a lovely sight!

The Ivy bushes are alive with insects at the moment, mainly Ivy Bees and wasps, but quite a few Red Admiral are nectaring on the Ivy too.

Shannon Clifford – Assistant Warden