Wednesday 4 August, A Bird Day

The 4.30 am. alarm this morning was optimistic as it was raining. The early start was for a bird ringing morning and it can’t be done in the rain as the birds quickly become chilled in the nets.

Trevor, my trainer, was sure the weather would improve so after a short extra ziz I had a message at 5.45 am that bird ringing was on. We aim to be at the sight putting up the nets at daybreak so this was a late start but the rain passed over and we were able to get cracking.

The autumn migration is now underway and we have been busy over the past couple of days ringing warblers such as Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Reed and Sedge Warbler as well as some resident birds. Today as it turned out, was surprisingly quiet, with only a handful of birds ringed.

The star of the show was a Garden Warbler, not as common in Guernsey as they used to be. The Garden Warbler is one of those ‘Little Brown Jobs’ and its plumage is quite plain. This is only the second one I’ve seen. The first was about four years ago on Bird Race Day when Rob Lihou was pointing to a very hard-to-see nondescript bird lurking in the middle of a bush. So today, it was lovely to have one in the hand to have a really good look. If you look closely, there is a tick over one eye. They are part of nature and we do not touch them as this could injure the bird. It will fall off of its own accord eventually.

The image at the top of today’s blog is La Claire Mare. This reserve, owned and managed by La Société, is opposite Le Catiorocq on the west coast. I enjoy going there in the evening as you never know what may turn up and the light can be soft and golden with the reeds that are reflected in the water – a tranquil way to round off the day. This evening there were three Green Sandpipers and a Greenshank – a treat as waders are my favourite birds. There was scarcely a ripple on the water which was great for reflections and the birds were scooting around, especially the Greenshank which was running to and for, feeding on small invertebrates. These birds are also on migration and Guernsey is a pit-stop for them as they fly down from their northerly breeding grounds, taking time to re-fuel before continuing to fly south to Spain or North Africa for the winter. Some Green Sandpiper overwinter in the UK, as it is milder than the taiga in Russia where they breed. They are about the same size as a thrush, the Greenshank is bigger and longer legged.