8th May

I joined John & Beryl for a ringing session in the Magic Garden this morning. It started misty and cool only warming up from late morning. We ringed a slightly disappointing total of 40 birds of a dozen species, commonest being Blackbird and Blackcap. Pick of the birds was a Garden Warbler,  my first of the year and the first record for the Garden.

A pair of Treecreepers was also nice….

As the day rapidly warmed I saw six species of butterfly including a dozen Orange Tips and a couple of Speckled Wood together with the first odonata of the year (Large Red Damselfly)…

Yesterday in the walled paddock in the heart of the village I had Spotted Flycatcher….

…and earlier in the week there were two Sedge Warblers singing in the Magic Garden. To show how rapidly things move through at this time of year I had been down there a couple of hours earlier and there had been no sign. Similarly I came back early the next morning and they had apparently already moved on.