Another dreary day today, the rain taking us by surprise despite the reassurance of various forecasts. A low catch of 8 birds could not dampen spirits however as some excitement was had yesterday evening after posting... Whilst out trapping Wheatears (4 more females ringed) a fisherman alerted me to a gannet sitting on the beach, a full adult bird and it was ringed! It was swiftly (and carefully!) scooped up and the ring number noted (Paris CF-44606). It did not appear to be injured or overly thin so was released into the sea where it preened for a while and swam off. Hopefully we can get some details of the birds origins in due course.
Back to today and a bunch of observers huddled into the obs away from the elements managed to note: Northbound - 4 Shelduck, 5 Cormorant, an Oystercatcher, 17 Bar-tailed Godwits, a Whimbrel, 5 Curlew, 2 Gadwall, a Kittiwake, a Sandwich Tern, an Arctic Tern and 16 Common Terns. Southbound were 2 Swallow and 7 Bar-tailed Godwits. A couple each of Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat were on the reserve along with 9 Wheatear, a Yellowhammer and a Swift,
Ringing totals: Blackcap 3, WIllow Warbler 2, Chifchaff 1, Linnet 1.
