Thursday July 30

A rather cool morning with sunny intervals and a moderate north-westerly breeze.

I walked around without finding too many new migrants. There were at least seven Green Sandpipers and a single Teal. The post-breeding Lapwing flock stood at 56 individuals.

The hedgerows still contained lots of birds, but probably only local breeders and their progeny. I particularly like seeing the crisp plumage of juvenile warblers.

juvenile Common Whitethroat

juvenile Lesser Whitethroat

Other young birds included two recently fledged Reed buntings barely able to fly, and two juvenile Bullfinches. A young Great Tit made a spirited attempt to catch a large moth (probably Large Yellow Underwing), but the insect was just agile enough to get away.

The moth wouldn't agree, but its time we had some Flycatchers here.