On arrival there was quite a bit of birdsong from the copse and we were quite hopeful of a decent catch. The nets were all up inside of an hour and we had caught 7 birds by the first round. The most striking thing about the session was the number of female Chiffchaffs captured. We've been hearing Chiffs for a couple of weeks now, but most caught have been males. The females caught today were probably recently in due to number ( there are usually only three or four pairs breeding there in the summer) and some were carrying fat. There were Blackcaps with fat too, five of the six being male. We've noticed before that males usually arrive ahead of the females for some migrant species. Our best bird of the day was undoubtedly a Willow Warbler, and we were pleased to get a Jay and control Chiffchaff and Long-tailed Tit.
Total: 22 (7)
Blackcap - 6
Chiffchaff - 10 (2)
Dunnock - 0 (2)
Goldcrest - 1 (1)
Great Tit - 1
Jay - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 0 (2)
Robin - 2
Willow Warbler - 1