Beddington Farm - Wood you believe it!

I spent the morning bird banding/ringing on 100 Acre with David Campbell and Josh Burch. A chilly start to the day reduced the number of birds in the nets but as the day progressed there was more activity amongst our feathered friends. Seventeen birds were processed with another good return of new Reed Warbler in the area.

There were the usual Saturday suspect’s on site with Peter Alfrey on a mission to find a Wood Sandpiper following reports of an influx into the country. In tradition with his persistence and preferred mode of transport (mountain bike) allowing him to cover a good proportion of the Farm he produce the goods finding a single bird on the mitigation scrape on 100 Acre. The bird was feeding under bushes on the far bank which allowed good views of the bird without any risk of flushing it.

An interesting white winged gull also spent time on its own on Jim’s bed on 100 Acre. This was a large Iceland gull which was aged as a second year bird. Was this the bird that had caused an identification issue earlier on in April?!

There was a good movement of Hirundines today with 100 Swift and 145 Swallow passing through. Thirteen Common Sandpipers were also recorded along with a Greenshank, Redshank and Caspian Gull. A female Ring Ouzel in the SE corner made up the total for the day.