A busy Bideford crusing left little room for birding past census. The morning rounds largely consisted of the native breeders, with the one migrants within the type of 9 Willow Warbler. The Millcombe Swallow pair are going for a second brood within the Gasoline Retailer, busying themselves with sourcing contemporary nesting materials. A color-marked Wheatear flitting across the Touchdown Bay confirmed that a few of the native breeders are nonetheless knocking about, albeit vastly outnumbered by the variety of juveniles on the wing. Elsewhere, a juvenile Gray Heron skulked round Pondsbury and one other Storm Petrel ringing session gently ticked over by means of the night with one other 19 new birds, 2 between-year Lundy re-traps and a brand new management – though the clear night time sky and shiny moon noticed a big drop within the variety of ‘stormies’ coming in to the colony.

Storm Petrel © Luke Marriner