I took a walk along the brook at lunchtime and was surprised to discover a small flock of warblers. For certain there was several Willow Warblers, possibly Sedge Warblers and Chiffchaff. I took a few distant photographs and then had a look on the mac when I got home. The bird on the left is definitely a young Willow Warbler and I am quite certain the other is a Chiffchaff. I am basing this on the yellow colour  and the supercillium (eye stripe) of the Willow Warbler and the more greyish back and leg colour and absence of supercillium of the bird on the right. however, Willow/chaffs are notoriously hard to tell apart and even in the hand they need careful consideration. 

You might be interested in the origin of the word "supercillium". The word supercilious means haughty  and refers to eyebrows raised. a supercillium is merely a scientific way of referring to an eyebrow!

Also seen today on my little walk was a pair of Raven soaring above and being pestered by gulls. I have included this for you to look at the tail, this diamond shape is a real indicator to this species as well as their croaky bark of a call which is very distinctive and unmistakable. 

Small Tortoiseshell Butterflies are not that unusual and I see them often by the brook. Today I saw and photographed two different individuals.

Evening Update

At around 5 this evening, I went for a session in the hide hoping to see a Kingfisher but no show I am afraid. The light was good and after some recent  rain the water looked inviting and fresh. I sat it out for around two hours and then returned home to be greeted by Jenny, my wife, who told me that I had just missed a Sparrowhawk in the garden.  By the description, it was a female. It had come in to the garden and perched on the tree stump right next to the feeding station and close to my pop up hide. Just lately, as I said yesterday, we have had lots of young Sparrows and a young Collared Dove in the garden so these would have been the intended prey for the Hawk. I have my suspicions that she was around yesterday because my laying hens were making a lot of noise which at the time made me very suspicious, when they had done that on a previous occasion I had found the corpse of  a warm and half eaten dove on the grass. This time she had sat there looking around for more than 10 minutes before seeing prey and flying off quickly in pursuit. I would say that we have a Sparrowhawk in the garden, on average every 3 months so it was a shame to miss her.  Also in the garden earlier on was a Holly Blue Butterfly and at the Brook, a Jersey Tiger Moth was by the entry gate. There appears to be a few more Jerseys around this year.