There was an eerily misty start to this morning which was then burnt off later on at about 8am. It was again a very calm day, however, the wind began to pick up late afternoon.

This morning, George headed up to Nant to open the mist nets there and Sam stayed at the Obs so that both ringing sites were operated. The misty start held promise that something may have dropped in overnight, so all fingers were crossed for something good!

On arriving at Nant, a Coal Tit could be heard singing - though relatively common on the mainland, these are unusual birds here, and rare in spring. Back at the Observatory, there were ten in total through the morning along with two Great Tits, two Blue Tits, one Bullfinch and five Bramblings, too. At Nant, the Coal Tit tally hit seven, five of which were caught, and a single Great Tit was present also. 

Coal Tit, there were 17 recorded today

Blue Tit, there were four recorded today

It seemed some of yesterday's Black Redstarts had departed but two stuck on at Nant and the bird which had been ringed at the Observatory was also still present. The two Hooded Crows were seen over Nant Plantation at the North End and Goldcrests were still present in reasonable numbers with 80 noted on the island.

Raptors also made their presence known with a Merlin and a Sparrowhawk at Nant, and in the early afternoon, once the ground had warmed up, there were three Common Buzzards soaring over the Observatory.

Common Buzzard over Cristin

Other sightings today included: 9 Blackbirds, 29 Redwings, 10 Chiffchaffs, 8 Redpolls, 12 Siskins, 6 Bramblings, 26 Chaffinches and 2 Robins.

Ringing totals today (Re-traps in brackets): Goldcrest 42(5), Chiffchaff 2(1), Wren 1(1), Robin 1, Blackcap 2, Coal Tit 6(1), Great Tit 3(1), Redwing 1, Goldfinch 0(1), Blue Tit 1, Lesser Redpoll 1, Chaffinch 1. Total: 61 birds of 11 species. 

Moths today: Common Quaker 8, Dark Sword Grass 2, Hebrew Character 4, Early Thorn 2, Red Chestnut 3, Blossom Underwing 1.

Early Thorn

Blossom Underwing