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Arctic Warbler

Steve Eggleston finally got a photo of the elusive greenish warbler at the northern end of Shearwater Estate. However from the photo below it has been re-identified as an arctic warbler. A great bird to add to the list of scarcities found in and around Whitburn over the Bank holiday weekend.

arctic warbler © Steve Eggleston

26th August

Light NE winds with a clear sky there was a hope for a few more migrants than yesterday.  It started off well with a few willow warblers trapped.  Jason was netting in the nature reserve again but there was few birds there.  He did trap a sparrowhawk which got out of the nets twice yesterday and a reed warbler.   Best bird of the day was kingfisher which turned up in a net in the Big Mound!

Other birds in the area included a greenish warbler at Marsden Quarry and a second in the gardens on the northern edge of Shearwater Estate.  A red-backed shrike turned up in the nature reserve but agin evaded the nets.

Ringing totals were 11 willow warbler, 7 goldfinch, 3 robin, 2 whitethroat, wren, dunnock and greenfinch, reed warbler, blue tit, pied flycatcher and kingfisher.

kingfisher (c) Dougie

kingfisher (c) Dougie

25th August

After yesterdays barred warbler I had high hopes for todays catch.  It was a very quiet day with very few migrants trapped.  The best trapped bird of the day was a spotted flycatcher.  Elsewhere in the coastal park a wryneck was located in the nature reserve but evaded the nets.  An icterine warbler was in the gardens on the northern edge of Shearwater Estate.

24th August

The day started off with heavy rain.  When the rain stopped it was a murky afternoon.  However it didnt last very long and light rain turned into more heavy rain.  The light rain dropped a few migrants including a handful of garden warblers and a barred warbler, both species were trapped and ringed.

barred warbler © Steve Eggleston

23rd August

Nets were opened prior to sunrise. Ringing was slow until the afternoon when migrants started to appear.

The days ringing totals were 18 birds and consisted of:
5 willow warbler, 4 blackbird and blue tit, 2 whitethroat, and singles of pied flycatcher, wren and chaffinch.

22nd August

Its been a while seen the blog was updated but we have started the autumn ringing season so the blog should be updated more often now.

The weather forecast for the bank holiday weekend looked good for ringing with the possibility of some easterly winds.  Nets were set in the afternoon and the catch consisted of 3 chaffinch and blackcap, 2 wrens and a single robin.