I had never seen a “fall” of Blackcaps before today, but it was a wonderful experience. Most of the morning, the bushes in the valley were full of the birds: a pretty even mix of males and females. In total probably 40, and maybe 50: hard to be precise, but I frequently had five birds in the field of vision of my binoculars.
Of interest, they were remarkably silent: no sub-song or even contact calls. Instead they fed steadily, generally by “hawking”, and flying up from the top of willows and sallow to catch flies, before diving back down.
Also coming through the valley were good numbers of Whitethroats: 3 males singing, as well as Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs. A single Sedge Warbler started singing: terribly welcome, since they have not obviously bred here in recent years.
This evening at Marloes Mere, 15+ pairs of Teal, a Shelduck and the Pintail. 7 Black-tailed Godwits flew in and around, but I could not see them land to roost.
