A Quiet, But Not Unexpected, Type of Morning

I headed to the coastal fields at the obs yesterday morning and although I didn't expect to ring very much I was keen to get a first ringing session in here for the autumn. You need grounded or diurnal migrants for this site as the restricted amount of habitat doesn't hold many breeding birds, but because of the lack of habitat migrants really stand out. It's coastal location (directly behind the sea wall) and green oasis (urban areas to the north and south) mean that it is attractive to migrants in the right conditions.

The conditions yesterday morning weren't the right conditions and I had clear skies and it was calm. On the front fields were a flock of fifteen Lapwings, but anything on the front fields doesn't stay long as they get flushed by early morning dog walkers. The only other wader I had during the morning was a Dunlin over.

The only vis I could detect were two Alba Wags south and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flying northeast was quite a good record for here. I had a Grasshopper Warbler 'reeling' but it's hard to know at this time of year whether that's a breeding bird or a migrant.

I only ringed six birds as follows:

Blackbird - 2
Dunnock - 1
Whitethroat - 3

 Whitethroat

I've got another of my reports out of the way and only have one outstanding at the moment, although I do have a few on the horizon once the surveys are finished, so I might just treat myself to a couple of hours birding in the morning. If I do I'll let you know how I get on.