26th & 27th Aug – Jack Snipe and a Storm Petrel with a French accent

Rich & Rebecca Taylor report that during a very wet, misty and rainy day on Sunday 26th they "mostly played Spot the Sea and, at times, Spot Brambles – from Little St John's!" However, they did manage to make it to Pondsbury, where they found a Sedge Warbler and a Jack Snipe – the latter an unusual record for late August. Other bits and bobs included a Dunlin heard over Castle Hill and five Teal, which settled briefly on Brick Field Pond before heading off in the direction of Pondsbury.

With a late improvement in the weather, they were able to ring 10 Manx Shearwater chicks on the night of 26th/27th.

Bank Holiday Monday, 27th, was another quiet day for birding, with the best of the bunch being single Teal, (Common) Snipe, Sedge Warbler and Willow Warbler at Pondsbury and a second Willow Warbler in St Helen's Field.

The night of 27th/28th saw them heading up north to trap Storm Petrels. They ringed six new birds and retrapped one that was ringed on Lundy last year. They also caught one bird that had probably been ringed elsewhere in Britain (to be confirmed) and, amazingly, one wearing a French ring!