A morning of patchy cloud with a few spots of rain and a rainbow over the river. There was a small passage of migrants through this morning, with 6 Chiffchaffs, 3 Blackcaps, 2 Redwing, a Firecrest and a Goldcrest in the bushes.
On the Reserve the first 6 Swallows of the year headed south, 3 Wheatears were by the Tank Blocks, 2 Black Redstarts were mobile around the site and 3 Turnstone were still on the Jetty.
Offshore a Little Egret headed south, 7 Little Gulls headed east and the first 2 Common Terns of the year headed north. 2 Common Seals were also offshore.
The highlight of the morning was catching two control female Blackcaps, both of which were wearing Brussels rings and both caught in a single net round. Up to this point, only 4 Belgian ringed Blackcaps have been caught at the Obs. One of the rings looked quite new, so hopefully its only been put on in the last few days. The other ring is the 'older' and looks to be dirtier, so this is probably a little older...but we'll have to wait for the recovery data to be sure.
'new' on the left, 'old' style on the right
Ringing: 5 Chiffchaff, 2 Linnet, 2 Blackcap, 2 Wheatear, 1 Black Redstart, 1 House Sparrow, 1 Wren