Spring at last!

The woods nearby seemed devoid of birds less than a week ago and I was getting a bit worried that spring was not going to arrive. As it happened the first chiffchaff started singing on 13th with a willow warbler the next day. By yesterday many of the residents were busy singing and defending territories rather than silently feeding and skulking. It's always a surprise when ringing the first warblers of the season following a winter of handling much more robust species, and it still amazes how something that only weighs 7-8 grams can cross the Sahara and battle its way back only to be confronted with our lousy weather! Lets hope these migrants have more luck rearing young than they did last year.

chiffchaff

willow warbler

nuthatch

Paul with an immature male Sparrowhawk
caught this week

Winter goes on

With the extended winter season comes more wader ringing and like other ringers in Wales we have ringed our first ever April Woodcock and Golden Plover. Paul has also caught a couple of new birds for the year;

A Drake Teal

and a smart summer plumage redshank