Today was a glorious day! There were clear blue skies and sunshine all day, the wind was from the north but you could hardly feel it at times and birds were heard and seen heading over the obs throughout the morning.

The morning saw lots of ringing at the observatory with nets open in the garden and a new set of nets in the fied in front to try and catch Meadow Pipits. It was evident from the early hours that things would be heading over today with Grey Wagtails numbering 23 over in the morning a lot with the first few finches with 12 Chaffinch, two Goldfinch, a single Redpoll and three Siskins. One highlight from birds heading over were two Lapland Buntings heard heading south down the narrows.

The nets at the observatory proved fruitful with 41 Meadow Pipits caught, about a third of the number seen over the obs during the morning.

Other birds of interest included three Grey Herons, singles of Buzzard and Peregrine, three Dunlin, 48 Curlews, eight Skylarks, 14 White Wagtails, a single Spotted Flycatchers, and 21 Carrion Crows with our first Hooded Crow of the autumn.

Mum and pup that is only a few days old