Pre-rain ringing

I joined David Norman for a few hours ringing this morning before the forecast rain arrived — it looks like the next few days are going to be better for desk-based work rather than being in the field. Ringing was — at least in relation to how it could have been — fairly slow, though we did catch a number of warblers; the best of the lot was this juvenile Grasshopper Warbler:

The bird was still in the final stages of growing its flight feathers, indicating that it won't travelled far from the nest in which it hatched. We also caught several female birds of several species that had active brood-patches, suggesting that breeding is still on-going for individuals.