It has been a busy couple of weeks, hence the lack of recent posts. 

In the week to the 12th we ringed 1,096 birds between us and for this week we ringed 895, a total of nearly 2,000 birds, a great couple of weeks with some real highlights.

On the 12th a total of 958 birds were ringed here, between just three ringers, making that the highest number ringed here in one day since work started in 1978. On that day 580 Goldcrests and 295 Robin were ringed, each beating the previous best day total for the species. To get two records like that in one day gives some idea of how hectic it was, and that was in just a couple of hours before rain caused us to close all the nets!

These two weeks also saw us beat the prevous best year counts for Robin and Goldcrest. On the 14th we caught 241 birds and towards the end of the day we caught a flock of Long-tailed Tits (see pics below), one of which has the distinction of being the 10,098th bird ringed here this year, thereby passing the highest previous total of 10,097 from 2008. By the end of the 19th that total had risen to 10,729 and with six weeks left before we leave we are aiming to set a target that will be hard to beat. 

Away from all this record-setting stuff, we have had some great sightings of sea-eagle and there is a real sense now that autumn is well and truly here, with small flocks of Brambling feeding around the island, the first Waxwing have been seen and, later than last year, the Redpoll flocks have started to appear, though Bullfinch are still only seen occasionally.

Good numbers of Treecreeper (134) and Long-tailed Tits (112) have been caught this autumn with signs that they are still passing through, so a good chance of more of them. The occasional Blackcap is still caught but we have not caught any Crossbill or Great Grey Shrikes yet, they are just starting to move through. 

Here is hoping for an improvement in the weather which is currently very mild but windy, with rain due tomorrow, but clamer and drier conditions predicted for Tuesday - let's see.