Yellow-browed-tastic!

Finally the weather calmed down enough this morning to allow us to dash out an get some nets up. We still had to dodge the rain showers at Ponsanooth Sewage Works, but it was worth it with plenty of birds buzzing round the site. Whilst our total of 38 birds wasn't stunning, this was more than made up for in quality. The total included 13 Chiffchaffs, two of which were classic tristis Siberian Chiffchaffs, another was a bird we ringed at Ponsanooth in January 2013 and another had originally been ringed in Devon in September 2010. This was a juvenile when ringed so may have been on passage and may well have wintered in Cornwall each winter since then. Whilst we'll never know, it's a good age already so might even last another winter.

This Siberian Chiffchaff had a slightly funny eye (slight infection?), but didn't seem
to be inconvenienced by it, being a reasonable weight

After catching our first Yellow-browed Warbler of the year (but not the first of the winter of course), we then heard a bird calling just outside the site and when we finally tracked it down we noticed it was unringed, so we briefly put a playback call on and it was soon in a net. The first bird may well have been an adult, but these are quite hard to age confidently, but the second bird had a very pointed tail and was probably a first-winter.

Just to add to the above, we also ringed a single Firecrest, with another unringed bird around, so not a bad day all told!

Thanks to Emma Inzani for the photos, taken in very dim daylight!