Long-tailed Shrike, Gloucestershire - 20th July 2026

 This bird being somewhat closer than the one that turned up in Fife a short while ago, we decided to go and see it. The heat haze was bad but the bird showed well and the farmer had allowed parking in a nearby field making life in the narrow lanes around the site much easier. With a mainly well behaved group hoping to see it (just the usual few photographers that had to push on closer as usual) it was one of the more civilised twitches we've been at.

Then a little while looking for damselflies and butterflies at Dry Sandford and Parsonage Moor before the drive back.

Common Blue

Southern Damselfly

Keeled Skimmer

Deepdale Farm - 16th July 2026

 An evening try hoping to catch Quail, between the arable fields, as staff had reported seeing them. Unfortunately we saw, heard or caught none so had to be content with the 12 passerines that we caught in what is probably the best 18m net at Hilly Piece. The birds make their way along the hedgerows then cross to the hill, cutting the corner and if we're lucky end up in this net.

After the toils of the breeding season, summer migrant birds, including this Whitethroat, tend not to look

their best as they moult in advance of the migration southwards.

Primary feathers in the process of being renewed, 4332100000

Lesser Whitethroat adult female in body moult

Total: 12

Blackcap - 3
Chiffchaff - 1
Great Tit - 1
Lesser Whitethroat - 1
Whitethroat -4
Wren - 2

Blakeney Point - 11th July 2026

 This morning we joined the warden and staff at Blakeney Point hoping to find Little Terns, Oystercatcher and Ringed Plover chicks suitable for becoming part of three separate projects.

We only got a single Little Tern as the the chicks that we were targeting had actually fledged just before our efforts. Two Oystercatchers received codes with a third only large enough to take a metal ring. Three well grown Ringed Plover chicks became the first colour marked birds that Blakeney Point staff have been able to add to a joint project with the RSPB/NOA.

There may be more Little Terns darviced  over the 

coming days, but for now this is the only one.

Looking for chicks

Total: 7

Little Tern - 1
Oystercatcher - 3
Ringed Plover - 3

Deepdale Farm - 9th July 2026

 This was an early morning visit to trim back the bramble and waist height strands of grass. We had thought that the paths would be kept quite clear by the badgers that move through here, but the rabbits have not been keeping the rides short and some attention was needed especially after the bright sunshine.

CL got to work with the strimmer and I had a single 18m net up. I was fortunate and the net connected with two  mixed flocks of birds moving through, unexpected but one of the benefits of studying a site and knowing how the birds tend to move through. Net opened 8:45am and closed 10:30am.

Juvenile Lesser Whitethroat

Total: 23 (3)

Blackcap - 7 (1)
Blue Tit - 2
Chiffchaff - 3
Goldcrest - 2
Great Tit - 2
Lesser Whitethroat - 1
Whitethroat - 4 (2)
Wren - 2

Norfolk Rivers Trust, Ingoldisthorpe - 8th July 2026

 We arrived at about 5.30pm, ready to get three doubles up in preparation for when the temperature would drop later. The first thing to happen was an observation of one of the juvenile Marsh harriers wing tagged close by. There were other untagged young birds hunting over the fields and a second nest, possibly serviced by the same male, clearly wasn't far away.

The farmer had cut the vegetation around the lagoons and it was easy work getting the nets up. We started catching shortly after 6pm with quite a few Acros including some Reed Warblers from previous years with two from 2023 and three from 2024. We've not worked this site in the evening before and were surprised to see good numbers of Pied Wagtails roosting in the two lagoons either side of one of our nets. Later, Swallow numbers started to build up and they also dropped in to roost in the reeds in good numbers.

Male Pied Wagtail

Cetti's Warbler

Juvenile Swallow

Whitethroat

Total: 47 (6)

Blackbird - 1
Blackcap - 7
Cetti's Warbler - 1
Dunnock - 1
Greenfinch - 2
Pied Wagtail - 2
Reed Warbler - 4 (6)
Sedge Warbler - 4
Sand Martin - 1
Swallow - 22
Whitethroat - 2

Scolt Head - 8th July 2026

 We started the day with a boat trip over to Scolt. There were three Oystercatcher chicks that had reached a decent size and they needed darvic rings. The survival rate of Oystercatchers is causing concern and the colour ringing is a pre-curser to the radio tracking of chicks from hatching due to start next year.

We did better than expected and marked 4 youngsters with a fifth only large enough to take a metal ring. A chick marked on the 25th June was also observed. The hope is that these later broods will have a better chance of survival now that the local harriers and kites are no longer feeding chicks in the nest.

This area on Scolt Head shows the tell tale patches of feathers where 

avian predators pluck prey before returning to the nest.

Colonies of gulls and terns once discovered are regarded as an open buffet 

and other species also suffer from the sustained attention.

Total: 5 (1)

Oystercatcher - 5 (1)

Dersingham Bog - 7th July 2026

 We tried the bog in the cool of the evening in hopes of contributing to the Nightjar feeding routes project using tail mounted trackers, but found we were unable to capture the target female and had to be content with a couple of birds from the double we'd erected for Stonechat in the hour or so before they go to roost.

We managed a single juvenile Stonechat that was marked for the darvic marking project and also a male Nightjar.

Total: 2

Stonechat - 1
Nightjar - 1 

A farm in North Norfolk, another field another Quail - 5th July 2026

 Back again for another few hours in the evening. With temperatures set to raise again, this seems the most sensible and efficient way to ring birds at the moment. The last few morning sessions ended with around 20 or so birds for an early start, 6 hours in the field and taking down between 11am and midday was still uncomfortably warm. This way it's around three hours if we have the energy at the end of the day, start at 7pm and have the nets down as it's getting dark.

We set an 18m in the wood and brought that in for 9pm. Tried the field across the track this time and a double by the barn where we base ourselves. We saw a Quail in flight as we set the single, and eventually, just as we were about to pack up got a male in the double net. This evening we also heard a female calling, so there are no less than three birds in this relatively small area. We've also heard birds calling from other fields around our house, confirming this as an exceptional year for Quail in Norfolk.

Male Quail

A lot of the cereal crops in this part of Norfolk look ready for harvesting early, although extremely short stemmed. One of our farmers tells us that they usually expect to harvest in mid to late July, and the crop condition is a result of the weather, with much of the crop dead. I've noticed that the grains look very small and the harvest will not be a good one. Hopefully the birds using the fields will have time to move out before harvesting. The birds at this site can sometimes be heard in adjacent uncultivated fields with rank vegetation so they are quite mobile.

Juvenile Whitethroat

Total: 10

Blackcap - 3
Blue Tit - 1
Chiffchaff - 1
Quail - 1
Whitethroat - 4

Snettisham for ring reading and Pectoral Sandpiper - 4th July 2026

 There was a highish tide and we went along to try for some color ring combinations on waders and darvic codes on gulls. As it turned out we didn't do well at all, only finding birds with codes that were either too far away to be read, or partially obscured or in the case of a couple of Mediterranean gulls broken and incomplete.

However, it did mean we were in the right place when a scare passage migrant was found along the shore line as we walked back.

Pectoral sandpipers bred in the arctic regions of North America and Siberia and are the most common North American wader to occur in the UK.

A farm in North Norfolk - 3rd July 2026

 An evening outing to a site of ours where we've heard Quail, We didn't expect much since we had only heard one bird calling, but the endorsement was now on our licences and we thought we'd give it a go, along with a singe 18m net in the wood where passerines go to roost.

Amazingly, we did catch a Quail, even seeing its gradual approach before flying straight into the second panel of our net. A second bird approached close to the net but remained on the ground and evaded capture.

We haven't done much mist-netting of late and the smattering of summer warblers from the wood net were much appreciated.

Total: 12 (1)

Blackbird - 2
Blackcap - 4
Chiffchaff - 2
Dunnock - 0 (1)
Lesser Whitethroat - 1
Quail - 1
Whitethroat - 2

Sculthorpe Moor - 30th June 2026

 We are not getting out for much mist netting between the weather and other commitments, so went and monitored the area of the reserve that we have rather unimaginatively designated as general area A.

The terrain was lumpy and the species limited, but we got some nice retraps and a even managed a new Grasshopper Warbler.

Adult Sedge Warbler

Adult male Grasshopper Warbler

Adult female Reed Warbler

Total: 18 (5)

Chiffchaff - 13
Grasshopper Warbler - 1
Reed Warbler - 1
Sedge Warbler - 3 (4)
Willow Warbler - 0 (1)

There was also a Lesser Emperor Dragonfly removed from a mist net and released.

Scolt Head, mostly gulls - 25th June 2026

 The best tide for returning to the island coincided with the second heatwave of the year. Thankfully there was a strong onshore breeze to bring the temperature down to a very comfortable 20 degrees.

We had 6 staff from Natural England and 4 ringers, with two NE staff that are training with Chris for restricted Cs for Oystercatchers, although the majority of recent hatchings have been predated early on in their development.

The first priority was to get the gazebo up for shade and prepare the keeping boxes. We have filled our Sandwich Tern quota so have no need to use a corral on this second visit. Our main priority was to attain just over the 100 for Black-headed Gulls and Mediterranean Gull. Two areas of the colony were targeted separately to limit the amount of time that birds were kept.

CL, DW & GD

Sandwich Tern

Med gull receiving a darvic ring

The tide was already receding at the end of the day. The onshore breeze and 

fog bank in the distance kept the temperature low.

Total today- 148 (2)

Black-headed Gull - 27 ( plus 1 with metal only)
Mediterranean Gull - 88 (plus 11 with metal only) 2 with metal only last time given darvic rings)
Oystercatcher - 4 (plus 2 with metal only)
Sandwich Tern - 11

Total for Scolt Head colony 2026 - 494

Black-headed Gull - 106 (plus one with metal ring only)
Mediterranean Gull - 136 (plus 25 with metal only)

Sandwich Tern - 212 (plus 4 with metal only)

Also

Oystercatcher - 4 (plus 2 with metal ring only)

Hopefully there will be more survivors amongst the later nesters.

A big thank you to everyone involved in bringing this project to fruition. We already have a great deal of information from observations of birds ringed last year.

A prickle of Hedgehogs - 24th June 2026

 At 7pm today, we were delighted to see a family of hedgehogs leave one of our borders, trail through the garden and head off for an evening foray. This is where we noticed the hedgehog busily taking leaves and bark during May. She has been there ever since as hoglets remain in the nest for four or so weeks before the sow takes  them out for first feeding foray.

Chris had a camera to hand as they made their way through the back garden.

I caught them heading into the neighbour's front garden.

Scolt Head, Gulls and Terns - 18th June 2026

A return to the breeding colony for the second year of this project working with Natural England. The colony has been closely monitored to ensure that there is no indication of any reason not to ring the birds. As always, numbers were limited by the number of people plus kit that could be accommodated in the two boats used to take everything across to the island.

We had organised a team of six ringers, CL, DKL, PWL, EMS & BIB from year one plus a local C ringer CVG. This year the Natural England contingent also included two staff with C permits so RMC and OLB also ringed birds.

We started by setting up a gazebo as a holding and ringing area and preparing the keeping boxes, and setting out ringing stations for three teams. Meanwhile a corral was set up along the beachside edge of the colony.

Once ready, half the group took up positions to direct the young Sandwich Terns towards the corral with the other half of the team walking along the outside edge of the colony and towards the corral. Many birds peeled off back into the colony but the group that was finally confined within the corral totalled 201 with only 4 too small to take a darvic ring.

Some birds remained in the corral and were brought to the ringing station later 

to limit time spent in the boxes.

Three ringing teams of three, one to ring, one prepping the darvic and a third to scribe.

The second catch for gulls involved hand catching and taking back to the base. There were plenty of people to monitor birds while in the boxes and to take them back to the colony once ringed.

We are already getting a great deal of information from the birds ringed last year.

All ringing activities conducted under appropriate licences. Images by Neil Lawton, Scolt Head warden. Many thanks to all concerned with this project.

Total: 346

Black-headed Gull - 79
Mediterranean Gull - 46 (plus 16 with metal only)

Sandwich Tern - 201 (plus 4 with metal only)

Sculthorpe Moor - 15th June 2026

 It's two weeks since our last mist netting session, partly due to windy conditions but also as we've been busy with Barn Owl boxes.

We worked the beaver enclosure and ended with 21 birds.

Adult Reed Warbler

Totals: 12 (9)

Blackbird - 1
Blue Tit - 1
Chiffchaff - 3
Jay - 1
Marsh Tit - 1
Reed Warbler - 3 (1)
Robin - 1 (1)
Sedge Warbler - 0 (3)
Whitethroat - 1
Willow Warbler - 0 (1)
Wren - 1 (2)

Barn Owls mainly - 12th June 2026

Today was a run out for Barn Owls in the main, with a side of Stone Curlew.

Three more broods, an adult caught leaving a box, then a second check where the farmer had definitely sighted Stone Curlews with a chick.

The boxes held broods of 3 and two fours.

The bulk of our Barn Owls are now done, leaving more time for terns, gulls and Oystercatchers in the coming months. If we're lucky there may even be some Nightjars, but nest finding has been hampered by wet or very hot weather when parties were due to conduct searches.

Age 7 female Barn Owl finishing main moult

At an undisclosed site, this became our second Stone Curlew of the season.

All ringed under the appropriate licences.

Totals: 13

Barn Owl - 12 (1 adult & 11 chicks)
Stone Curlew - 1

Marsh Harriers & Barn Owls - 11th June 2026

Rain was due by late morning but some of these Harriers were getting quite large so we took our chance.

There were 4 in the nest, three being quite well grown with the last to hatch rather lagging behind. All were ringed, but due to the size of the fourth chick it was decided not to tag it.

Handling raptors can be so variable. Red Kites, even adults, will just sat in your lap, and be non-aggressive, an indication of their main hunting strategy of scavenging, whereas Marsh Harriers are very aggressive, very active live prey takers, with one of the chicks giving an example of bill use, as it went for the hand, twisted it bill in a tearing motion opening up a small area of the hand.

Smallest chick

Largest chick

All four were returned to the nest.

Then onto a field barn where there were 5 well grown young owls in a box. Again Barn Owls, are relatively unaggressive, apart from occasionally trying to stick their talons onto to you, Tawny Owls can be the opposite, and adults need to be treated with a bit more caution due to their more aggressive nature. 

All five could be ringed.

The youngest of the first Barn Owl brood.

There had been an option for a second check for nesting waders, but the 

vegetation defeated us as the weather began to close in.

The last stop was to a Barn Owl box in a farm yard. The two chicks weren't of a suitable size for ringing yet and had to be left for another day. An Adult was captured at the box and subsequently ringed. By this time rain had set in, earlier than forecast but at least we'd achieved our main objectives.

Totals: 10

Barn Owl - 6 (1 adult and 5 chicks from another brood)

Marsh Harrier - 4 (Three also wing tagged)