It was still,warm and humid at first light this morning, there had clearly been a fair bit of overnight rain. The Swallows prominent yesterday had all cleared out overnight. There was a Yellow Wagtail feeding around Longis pond and 2 Whimbrel passed over. At about mid day I had 2 Common Terns in Longis Bay. Paul and Catherine Verons’ concerted birding efforts were rewarded with a Turtle Dove on the telegraph wires near Mannez Lighthouse and they had 5 Common Terns past the lighthouse this afternoon.
A rise in migrants today saw 32 new birds ringed almost half of which were Reed Warblers , easily our best day so far for this species. We ringed our 8ooth Chiffchaff of the Spring and 20th Spotted Flycatcher, the latter displayed a prominent brood patch. Also ringed, a couple of recently fledged Robins and our first fledged Swallow.See ringing pages for totals.
Female Spotted Flycatcher (sexed by wing length)
2016 hatch Swallow probably fledged within the last day or two
Lastly, I had a Large Tortioseshell butterfly this afternoon along the footpath to Longis bird hide.