Holme Pierrepont, Sun 12 Sept

We've been pretty lucky with the weather recently, all things considered. And again, after several days of mixed conditions, we were greeted by blue sky this morning and the only thing that really affected us was the wind which got a bit much by late morning. We finished on 71 (including 9 retraps) which included a good range of species. Blackcap were dominant once again, but Robins were surprisingly numerous too and we wondered if this was a bit of early Autumn movement. We also caught Reed, Sedge, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat and Chiffchaff, but no Garden or Willow. We also caught a Goldfinch (something that whilst common in the area, seems not to find the nets too often) and a Willow Tit. Note the uniformly dark bill, matt black cap, bull-necked appearance, buffy cheek and pale wing panel - all of which help to separate it from Marsh Tit.

Other sightings included a flock of 5 Little Egrets, 8 Gadwall, a steady trickle of hirundines and Meadow Pipits overhead, a single Siskin and good numbers of Migrant Hawkers.
Pete