Holme Pierrepont, Saturday 14 April

First visit to the Grange end of Holme Pierrepont this morning and what a glorious morning it was, so different to the last few days. Sue, Gary, Mick T and I set a limited number of nets (very high water levels) and waited to catch some of the numerous singing Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers. We were not disappointed with the catch of the first two, 26 in total, but somehow we managed to not catch any Willow Warblers. They were probably too busy proclaiming territory from the top of the (now) very tall vegetation. A steady morning that saw us end with a total of 47 including 8 retraps, made up of (new/retrap): Blackbird 2/1, Dunnock 0/1, Wren 4/0, Blackcap 18/1, Chiffchaff 7/0, Blue Tit 1/1, Long-tailed Tit 0/2, Goldfinch 1/0, Greenfinch 2/0, Bullfinch 1/1, Reed Bunting 3/1. The oldest retraps were from 2016, a returning Blackcap and a Long-tailed Tit. A few hirundines passed overhead, one Sedge Warbler was also heard along with a Cetti’s Warbler but the biggest rarity was the blue sky!

Kev

 Processing a Greenfinch (S. Lakeman)