By Thomas Weston
The morning started at 5am.
Sunrise this morning!
Eleanor and I woke up to get ready for a ringing morning. We descended down to Millcombe as the sun was rising and opened a few of the nets. There was a warmth in the air and the sun was strong again.
The first round was really nice, we caught a couple of fledged juvenile Robins and there was the sound of a Great Spotted Woodpecker in the trees above the Gas Store. The birds kept coming and so did the Conservation Team, aptly Greg and Lucile who joined. There were a couple of new Wrens; a brood of ringed Wrens who we were lucky to ring in the nest as it was in a wall; a Linnet; a Song Thrush which was the most unusual as our 'usual' male was still singing; and a new juvenile Dunnock too. However, the main aim for the ringing was to see if there were any migrants coming through, the date in the past couple of years has been the start of the Willow Warbler passage and this was no different today with 28 birds proccessed including a couple of retraps from the Spring migration period as well as a known breeder too! The only other true migrant at the moment were 2 Sedge Warblers both of which were juveniles from elsewhere. There was one Lundy breeding adult Chiffchaff mixed in and even a family party of 3 Blackcaps with one adult in moult, the adult male not, and a juvenile too - both species not migrating just yet but will soon become a regular blog feature no doubt.
Adult Willow Warbler caught and ringed in Millcombe. Thomas Weston
Wing moult of the adult Willow Warbler above. Thomas Weston
The adult Willow Warblers who were caught were all in active wing moult and were certainly now migrating yet!
A more chilled day off was had with a walk up from Old Light to Aztec Bay and then back via Pondsbury in the afternoon resulted in the highest Puffin count of the year with 552 noted in small rafting flocks - a bit odd as these are usually the first to leave but it seems they are the last of the auks to leave this year! There were about 100 Guillemots and a small flock of Razorbills noted too. The West Coast was buzzing with moths and butterflies. It was amazing to see above 1000 Silver Y's who were present up to Pondsbury, as well a plethora of butterflies including 3 Clouded Yellows. On the way back, flocks of Linnets were frequently found and the area around Pondsbury was nice to explore as it seemed no body had been there recently. A flock of 6 Mallards on the water, a Sedge Warbler in the bushes and nice views of Blue-tailed Damselfly and 2 Emporer Dragonflies were nice.