A good mix

A good morning lasted until around 11:00 when the wind suddenly picked up bringing with it several sharp showers - up until then it had been very productive as 63 new birds were caught with some nice variety; the highlights included 2 Firecrests (with a third bird also present), a Black Redstart, a Coal Tit, 12 Chiffchaffs, 2 Blackcaps, a White Wagtail and a Treecreeper in amongst 17 new Robins and 15 new Dunnocks including a Belgian control.

Coal Tit and Black Redstart - I'm sure the Coal Tit meant more to me than the two other European ringers present this morning as these smart, grey-backed birds P. a. ater are only scarce visitors to the UK but look much nicer than our olive/greeny/browny backed resident birds P. a. britannicus

 

There were a few other birds seen around the station through the morning with 40+ Common Crossbills zooming around, 4 more Black Redstarts dotted about and a smart pair of Mediterranean Gulls which flew over the house calling loudly.

 

A walk in the afternoon north up the coast produced the highlights of a beast of a female Goshawk over the wood just north of Birkemosse, more Common Crossbills, 30+ Bramblings feeding in nearby fields and 12 Sanderling roosting on the beach.   35+ Sandwich Terns flew west along the coast in the evening.

 

Also moving through today was Marie who has left us after ten days of ringing; we wish her well with her guiding job and future ringing back in France.

Firecrest