April 17th
The day began and ended with light northerly winds, the wind direction did not deter the Swallows and Martins that came through in similar numbers to yesterday though today there were more House Martins amongst them. A Yellow Wagtail flew over the Obs just after first light and later in the day 3 more were reported from the fields above Longis Reserve. 7 Wheatears were seen on Longis Common and Common Redstarts were reported from 4 locations including a fine Male in the Obs garden. A single ring Ouzel and 2 Redstarts were reported from the western end of the island (photo below) and a Dartford warbler was seen singing at a potentially new breeding location for this species. Finally there were 4 Shelduck in Longis bay observed from the Observatory ramparts.
Common Redstart – photo Lois Le Lacheur
Todays ringing: Phyllosc numbers were well down this moring on the last few days but still 73 birds were processed. These included a Common Redstart and 2 Swallows. A huge thankyou from the ABO team to Keith Dean who ended his stint as ABO assistant warden today. Keith is being recommended for his trainers licence following his excellent work with our trainees. Well done to Keith who is returning to us in June to assist with the Seabird ringing, but for now is on his way home for a well deserved ‘long lye down’ having personally ringed around 1000 birds in a month !