All action on CES 8

A busy Constant Effort Site session kicked off at stupid o'clock this morning with a Willow Tit calling and eventually showing near our base, before conveniently jumping into one of the nets half an hour later! Despite not being much smarter than the first bird (which we also retrapped this morning), close inspection indicated that it was a juvenile.

Next came a few interesting fly-overs: a Yellow Wagtail and my first Crossbills from the Lakes this year. Other goodies in the nets included a Kingfisher and this fine male Bullfinch:

A four tick day

Four species have fallen to Lodge birders today: first, a Bullfinch in Sandy Heath Quarry, then Great Crested Grebe on Warren Villas NR, a Brambling was seen in front of the hide and finally, a flock of c.100 Golden Plover wheeling over the Ivel Valley (which incidentally, was my 14,000th BirdTrack record). All birds outside the reserve boundary were observed from within it.

The Lodge year list moves steadily forward to a respectable 75.