By Greg Lee
A bit of breeze from the west today, fortunately, it wasn't enough to dampen the opportunity to set up the nets in Millcombe with the visiting Axe Estuary Ringing Group. Despite the less than optimal weather for an arrival, there was a fair amount of Blackcaps, Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs in the bushes. However, census duty called and it was a bit of slim pickings on the island, despite my ever-optimistic hope that the westerlies may ground some more Nearctic waders, especially with the good numbers occurring in Ireland and the south-west. A Grasshopper Warbler flicking up out of the Bracken at Pointless Wall was a bit of a surprise, as we are approaching the end of the main season of passage for this species. Whether this is the same individual seen at Pondsbury by myself earlier in the week I'm not sure, but given the weather it probably could be! Over the Airfield, a pair of Peregrines were wheeling around in close proximity to some Ravens.
Heading back into the Village, a Grey Wagtail flew over, the lovely yellow to the undertail and belly catching my eye. As I was due to drop some fresh bird bags down for the Ringing Team, I headed back to Millcombe, where the ringers reported a slower hour or so since I had left for census. Just as we prepared for the final round, I extracted a female Goldcrest before furling the lower Millcombe nets. However, two members of the ringing came down from the Slope and Secret Garden nets with a bird in a bag. As they took it out, I immediately saw the big, black eye and "cute" face of a Rosefinch, which was a bit of a surprise. Due to the recent weather keeping birds around on the island for some time, it is expected that this is the bird I encountered on the 7th, seen sporadically in Millcombe and at the Terrace since then. Certainly, the purple-staining on the beak was evident that it had been enjoying the Blackberries, so in theory, it had been hiding itself away in the scrub on the island and keeping a low-profile. This is not the first time I've been on a ringing session where a Rosefinch has been the last species to get in a net. I had a similar experience at Sandwich Bay in 2022, although Rosefinches, despite being a regularly-occurring scarcity on the East coast, are quite rare in the South-east and this individual was the first for Sandwich Bay in over 50 years!
Rosefinch, caught and ringed under licence by G.Lee
As the weather started to deteriorate as the day grew on, my next job was the monthly-inspection of the Rat Boxes around Old Light, the Village and down towards South Light and the Landing Bay. Fortunately, no news is good news and I had nothing to report from the boxes. It also gives a good opportunity to add a bit of extra birding although it was rather quiet, save for a mystery small passerine that dived into the scrub in the paddock by Stoneycroft. It was initially sat on the wall, but was off like a shot before I could raise my binoculars. I'm assuming for my sanity that it was just a shy Robin, but whatever it was, it probably won't be leaving the island with the weather as it is overnight.