Tuesday, 5 May 2015

5th May


A blustery start but it was clear there were plenty of migrants around, however the conditions limited the ringing to only a few nets but I managed to catch 30 new birds including the first Icterine Warbler of the year.   Birds around the lighthouse in the first few hours included 30+ Willow Warblers, 2 Redstarts, a Lesser Whitethroat, 10+ Chiffchaffs and a couple of Blackcaps; the wind continued to increase and I was forced to close the nets mid-morning and just as I had the Pallid Harrier drifted low across the carpark, round the lighthouse and back out over to Gunnarsmyra and of course I had put my camera away so I could close the nets!

                The rest of the day was severely limited due to the hard, driving rain that arrived late morning and only let up briefly late afternoon but birds seen in the brief window around Lebeltet included 6 Redstarts, 7 Tree Pipits, 2 Whinchats, 3 Whitethroats, a Pied Flycatcher, 13+ Blackcaps and another 30+ Willow Warblers.   A very brief and very wet look at Vågsvollvika in the afternoon produced a Wood Sandpiper, 4 Whimbrel, 7 Common Sandpipers, a Blue-headed Wagtail and the pair of Garganey.
 
Redstart

Even in the nasty conditions, this White wagtail was full on nest building

Yellowhammer

A terrible, long range, heavily cropped, terrible record shot of the Pallid Harrier
 

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