A few days rest from ringing and we were back out for some more action. We kick started the week with some general mist netting catching a couple more Grasshopper Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Willow warbler and Chiffchaff, plus ringing a few broods of Swallow pulli at nearby farms, resulting in 33 being ringed. A visit to Martin Mere to check on the Tree Sparrow boxes which resulted in another 20 pulli being ringed and then a good mist netting session down in Zacs Garden in Preston.
We set a 40ft mist net in the garden resulting in a good catch of 5 House Sparrow, 2 Goldfinch, 2 Coal Tit, 2 Dunnock, 1 Blackbird, 1 Woodpigeon and 1 Bullfinch.
A mist net attempt over a river near Atherton to see if we could catch a passing Kingfisher didn't work, so we headed to Martin Mere for another nest box check of the Tree Sparrows. They were now on their 2nd and 3rd clutches and with a total of 72 breeding pairs at Martin Mere, they have had an exceptionally good year!
A brood of Collard Dove were ringed a long with several broods of Swallow. A couple more Moorhen were hand caught and a trip out on to the reserve late evening, resulted in 1 Barn Owl pullus being ringed by Zac. Barn Owls at the reserve have suffered due to the harsh winter. Compared to 9 Barn Owl chicks last year, just 1 chick this year.
A Sparrowhawk and Collard Dove nest were also checked upon in Atherton as part of our nest recording.
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