Little Egret.

A female Garden Warbler

and a female Whitethroat both rung at Thornton

Little Egret off Wood bank

A pair of Kingfishers at the Sand Martin wall, Church Farm.

Small Skipper, Brown's Wood.

A single Little Egret was off Wood bank at 8am and still present at 5pm. Two Kingfishers were at Church Farm Sand Martin bank. Plenty of Small Skippers were at Brown's Wood, but as yet no sign of an Essex Skipper.

Black-tailed Godwit.

The black barring on the breast indicates a male perhaps just starting to come out of breeding plumage.

Even more mud and still the level drops as water is abstracted.

Three fly over Little Egrets from the house? Honest Guv!

A single ,what seemed to be a male Black-tailed Godwit was on the dam at 4pm. today, 8th July. This is a peak time for this elegant wader and a Thornton tick for me. This follows on from 3 Little Egret that flew around the res on 6th July. Hopefully the mud will attract more waders over the coming weeks.

Summer successes and some Moths.

Some moths caught by Dave Wright. The top one is Small Emerald, then Large Emerald and finally Swallow Tailed Moth.

For those who look at the Charnwood R.G. site you will have noted our ringing successes. This has included 2 Jackdaws and 17 Sand Martins rung at Church Farm. We have also rung 5 Barn Owls and 5 Kestrels around the village. New species added to my Thornton list have included a Marsh Tit that visited the garden, a Reed Warbler at Dessy Lakes, and a single Shoveler on the res. The 4 Quail between Bagworth and Nailstone were just outside my local patch, so don't count, but their "Wet me Lips" call was still great to hear.

A Common Sandpiper on the 27th June was perhaps the first glimmer of return migration. With even more mud now exposed there is a good chance of some more waders in the late summer. On the 4th July there were 4 Oyster Catchers and 4 Pochard, demonstrating some kind of movement.