17th-18th August

With the winds in the right direction all we need are avian its accompaniments and they're starting to trickle through as we speak, the 17th was really dominated by finishing off the Fulmar chick ringing, but in doing so some migrants were found hanging around in spots not yet visited that day, a Merlin was seen hanging around the Garso area, a single Lesser Whitethroat was feeding around the pund by the lighthouse, a Woodpigeon was seen flying into Holland and a Green Sandpiper was on Gretchen.
Census was limited due to the ringing, but still a good sign of birds starting to move our way 3 Ruff , singles of Collared Dove, Curlew Sandpiper, Redpoll and Willow Warbler rounded off the day nicely.
With the Fulmar ringing done and everybody rested the 18th promised much, a morning net session provided us with our first Pied Flycatcher of the autumn, which was joined by 5 new Willow Warblers and the long staying Chiffchaff and Robin.
Waders that showed noticeable increases in their numbers were Lapwing, rising to 216, Knot up to 144 and Snipe numbers rose to 130. The previous days Green Sandpiper and Curlew Sandpiper were still present also.
An extra 3 Willow Warblers were added in the afternoon taking the day total to 8, a female Merlin was hunting the golf course and a young male Peregrine was seen heading over the obs. The two surprise packages for the day came in the shape of a Common Tern on Gretchen and a Grey Wagtail in the irrigation ditch at Cauldhaim.
The forecast for Saturday looks very promising, so we'll be eating our Weetabix and finding those migrants!
On a side note it's the Birdfair in Rutland this week, so make sure you head over to the birds obs council stand and say hello to Kevin and Alison, you'll find them at marquee 1 stand 9. They'll be happy to answer any questions about North Ron and it's birds.
Cormorant - George Gay

Gavin and Larissa ringing a Fulmar chick - Finlay Wallis

Grey Wagtail - George Gay

Merlin - George Gay

Pied Flycatcher - George Gay

Willow Warbler - George Gay

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