Sunday service

 After a brilliant day on Thursday it was a tad frustrating that the weather on Saturday ( strong north west winds) meant that we had to abandon the regular session and hope that things got better on Sunday. As it turned out the day started well with very light winds--but the wind soon picked up and a bright cloud-free sky dampened down catching fairly quickly.

However, the good start meant we did ring a very respectable 98 new birds.-of 17 species! 

The most prolific species was again Blackcap with 52 new birds. We also had the usual range of warblers although Willow Warblers were lower than of late. However, another 2 Lesser Whitethroats were excellent but star of the day was without doubt our FOURTH Grasshopper Warbler of the season!! Given that we don't even average one per year this year has been brilliant for this species. One of the features of this species we haven't shown previously are the prominent undertail coverts:-

As you can see, not only are these feathers quite long, but the central dark triangles are really diagnostic--but often not seen in the field.

There were a few martins around until the air warmed up and we managed  a small number of House and Sand Martins--but we also caught our first Swallow of the season:-

This is a typical juvenile Swallow as can be seen by the throat and forehead, which are creamy white rather than deep red in adult birds--and the lack of tail streamers is obvious.

Tomorrow looks like a good day so we are rounding off August with another session--more news tomorrow I hope.....