A trickle of migrants first thing this morning brought some nice surprises for the garden. A female Common Redstart fed briefly at the Renny’s Slip end before being chased off by a male Stonechat. A Willow Warbler sang for about 5 minutes in the sallows before moving on. And an extremely large, well-marked Redwing attracted the ire of one of the two male Blackbirds holding territory here.
Later, what can only be described as a “gang” of 7 male Blackcaps came through: tightly bunched together, and rather purposeful: they didnt stay long.
This afternoon, 4+ Chiffchaffs and 2 Blackcaps in the sallows, and a Redwing on the Deer Park wall. And a delightfully confiding immature Black Redstart around the cottage: really nice to be able to compare the two redstart species on the day from the same room!
