As expected today's catch was down on yesterdays.  This trend is expected to continue for the next few days as the strong south-easterly wind seems to be inhibiting most migratory movement.  For visiting ringers this can sometimes be a negative but its the reality of the functioning of a bird observatory.  A bird observatory does not necessarily equate to large numbers of birds passing through each day (O, how we wish)!  Its an observatory and it observes, records and with long term data sets compiled from consistent and constant effort monitors trends in avian populations.

So we didn't catch much today but it allowed us to do other jobs that are an essential part of observatory work, such as: clearing brambles from the rides and paths; cleaning bird bags, drying them in the sun, and then chasing the few that blew down the proverbial garden path; and a bit more interaction with some passing visitors.

The only birds that seemed to be moving were starlings - flying strongly out over the sea; goldfinches and from mid-morning some yellow wagtails.  Our captures of these last two species came in that period.

Tomorrow we suspect that the catch will be even lower - how one sometimes longs to be wrong!  But that is how it goes.

People at the station: Henrik Jørgensen and Chris Sharp