Today was a little breezy, but with winds from the South-East and the sun getting increasingly higher in the sky, it was a pleasantly warm day. 

looking up at Carreg Fawr from the Lowlands 

It was calm-ish this morning which meant Sam could open the nets at the Observatory and George could carry out his next breeding bird survey; today he was covering the Wetlands, Lowlands and West Coast up to just beyond Ty Nesaf. There were a good number of birds singing with lots of Wrens and Meadow Pipits and a few Wheatears, Pied Wagtails and Blackbirds thrown in too. 

while walking the Wetlands for the breeding bird survey, George found two Meadow Pipit nests, these can now be monitored for the British Trust for Ornithology's Nest Record Scheme.

It seemed quiet on the migrant front first thing, but as the day went on, it seemed that there had been another arrival. Early afternoon saw a male Common Redstart at the top of the Green Lane, just below the Obs, that was certainly a new bird as it hadn't been seen earlier and a few of us had walked past that area already today. There were also a small number of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs hopping around on the Observatory lawn, Chiffchaffs outnumbered Willow Warblers which was unusual, with it having been the other way around for the last couple of weeks.

male Common Redstart

After finding the Redstart in the Green Lane, Steve headed on to Nant to see what was about down there and to get away from his desk for a while. On arriving, there were three Pied Flycatchers along the fence-line, two females and the male that had been ringed at the Obs a few days earlier. His attention was then drawn to what appeared to be quite a long-winged Phylloscopus warbler fly-catching in the top of the spruces. After trudging around the plantation for the best part of half an hour, it became clear it was a Wood Warbler. It was, unfortunately, quite skulking and didn't allow for any good views.

 
female Pied Flycatcher

one of the three Pied Flycatchers at Nant, more of these should start coming through soon along 

with Spotted Flycatchers towards the end of the month.

A walk down Nant Valley saw a nice male Ring Ouzel on the mountain side, these thrushes are very distinctive with a white crescent on the breast in males and a pale creamy brown crescent in females. Steve then headed back through the plantation and saw a pale-looking warbler fly-catching on the edge of Tŷ Capel garden. It soon became quite obvious it was a 'Siberian' Chiffchaff of the race tristis. After having no records at all last year, it is nice to get one so early in the year, presumably on its return passage. 

a tristis Chiffchaff

the relatively dull plumage in comparison to collybita Chiffchaffs combined with rusty-coloured ear coverts and a distinctive call make these relatively distinctive to a trained eye

Later in the day, George and Steve headed down into the Lowlands and it was clear that more Wheatears had come in through the afternoon and were actually still on the move as some birds were moving Northwards quite rapidly and only stopping for a quick feed on some of the walls which run through the Lowlands.

a female 'Greenland' Wheatear of the race leucorhoa

Elsewhere at the Obs, Pied Wagtails are inspecting various nest sites in the court yard and it looks like they'll be nesting in the roof space of the ringing hut again. These monochrome birds are easily very underrated.

a male Pied Wagtail at Cristin

Other birds of note today were: one Bar-tailed Godwit, nine Whimbrels, two Curlews, two Sand Martins, 84 Swallows, one House Martin, one Robin, three Common Redstarts, 23 Wheatears, three Whitethroats, 49 Blackcaps, 12 Chiffchaffs, 12 Willow Warblers, two Great Tits and 58 Goldfinches.

Ringing today produced: Chiffchaffs 3, Blackcap 9, Goldfinch 3. Total 15 birds of 3 species.