A day of large waterfowl it seemed, with 4 species of goose; brent, greylag, Canada and barnacle either on or moving through the site and a mute swan flew upriver late morning. Aside from these enthralling records there were some actual migrants around, a small fall of chiffchaff and blackcap, with an estimated (certainly conservative) 20 chiffchaffs on the reserve and in the compound and at least 5 blackcaps. Another firecrest, a female, was also in the compound. We've definitely had a bias towards male migrant birds, which is hardly surprising as they head back to the breeding grounds first, most of our firecrests have been male, and all of our blackcaps so far. The lone fieldfare continues on the reserve, perhaps with a second bird up at the Butts. Swallows continued their slow trickle past, with another two heading north today.
Only the 3rd site record of Brindled Beauty, a woodland species.
Birds Ringed: Blackbird 1, Blackcap 3, Chiffchaff 12, Firecrest 1, Woodpigeon 1.