We made a quick reccie and assessed that the water level in the river and lake had again risen after the previous night's rainfall and that the track had accumulated even more water in the wide and often deep depressions formed by heavy vehicles moving earth around the site. We put 3 nets up along the track hoping to capture one of the Cetti'sWarblers that move up and back along the Colne bursting into song periodically, or the two Grey Wagtails that had teased us with their presence on our last visit. We saw the Grey Wagtails briefly, confirming that they were still in the vicinity, and heard the Cetti's often but caught neither species.
However, we improved on our capture rate from the visit before by managing to catch a retrap Robin that was first done as a 3J in June 2013 - posing the question - Did it stay all winter or has it recently returned? We also caught our first Chiffchaff (and summer migrant) of the year, but it seemed likely that the bird would not be staying long as it carried fat scored at 4 with muscle of 2. The Chiff weighted in at 8.3g.
Chiffchaff aged 4
Totals: 1 (1)
Robin - 0 (1)
Chiffchaff - 1