An early start this morning to start the bird ringing as there was no wind!!!! It was very clear and bright which are not ideal conditions for ringing, but we did have a couple of Blackbirds, some Blackcaps and finished with a Chiffchaff.
Here in the valley we also heard – very tantalising – a Turtle Dove and Grasshopper Warbler alt hough they didn’t stay around. Harry knight and his family came to have a look and he and his sister helped to bring some of the birds back to the ringing station.
Each bird ring has a unique number for the Channel Islands ringing scheme which has been running for over 70 years. If a bird is retraced, or found dead, the ring number will give information about it. We have just had information about a Goldcrest which was ringed here at Le Vallon D’Or last October. It was found, sadly dead, in Crozet, France which is near Geneva. Quite a journey for one of Britain’s smallest birds.
This afternoon we went to L’Eperquerie Common in the north of Sark. A blaze of gold from the gorse – so bright in the sunshine it almost hurt the eyes. This is ideal habitat for Dartford Warbler. Trevor glimpsed one near Dixcart yesterday and there have been other sightings so we had great expectations.
We did see: Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, and large numbers of Swallows and House Martins making the most of the fine weather. Dartford Warbler – nil. Such is life. Lesley, Trevor’s wife, below right, tells me they’re much more obliging in Alderney. We had better luck with butterflies: Green Hairstreak, Common Blue (both first of the year for me), Wall Brown, Red Admiral, and on the way back a Painted Lady. Trevor spotted a Brimstone Moth at 50 paces, ‘That moth looks more yellow than white.’! And at about 3mm long a very smart Grapholita Internana – no surprise to learn that it’s food plant is Gorse.
Natural history of the Bailiwick of Guernsey 