Monday 25th September 2017

Single Reed Bunting have been seen on Landguard during the last few days.

A warm and hazy morning with light fog. Plenty of butterflies seen today on the reserve, Clouded Yellow, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Small Copper, Speckled Wood, Large and Small White.
Birds noted on the reserve this morning, 25 Meadow Pipit plus 3 going South, 21 Pied Wagtail, 20 Robin, 6 Goldcrest, 6 Wheatear, 4 Swallow, 2 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Common Tern, 2 Sandwich Tern, 1 Med Gull, 1 Redstart, 1 Reed Bunting & 1 Sparrowhawk.
Passage going South 32 Brent Geese plus 2 coming in West off the sea, 25 Wigeon, 13 Black-headed Gull, 13 Teal, 12 Chaffinch plus 2 on the reserve, 2 Greylag Geese, 1 Curlew & 1 Yellow Wagtail.

13 birds ringed: Meadow Pipit 5, Robin 4, Chaffinch 1, Chiffchaff 1, Goldcrest 1, Song Thrush 1

Sunday 24th September 2017

 The Woodpigeon on Landguard continue nesting into the autumn.

A clear start to the day with a steady South Easterly breeze.
Noted on the reserve 20 Meadow Pipit, 15 Pied Wagtail, 6 Chiffchaff, 6 Goldcrest, 6 Wheatear, 2 Blackcap, 1 Chaffinch & 1 Purple Sandpiper at the point. Offshore 9 Common Tern & 4 Sandwich Tern.
Passage going South, 230 Brent Geese, 125 Wigeon, 50 Teal, 46 Swallow, 8 Shelduck, 3 Kestrel, 3 Canada Geese, 2 Greylag Geese, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Oystercatcher,

Considering the lack of migrants in the moth traps this morning this Four-spotted Footman found on the reserve is noteworthy.

11 birds ringed: Chiffchaff 4, Blackcap 2, Blue Tit 2, Chaffinch 1, Goldcrest 1, Song Thrush 1

Saturday 23rd September 2017

Two Purple Sandpiper were at the point on Landguard this morning.

A clear and warm start to the day with showers late morning. Noted on the reserve 25 Goldfinch, 19 Pied Wagtail, 6 Wheatear, 5 Goldcrest, 2 Purple Sandpiper, 1 Blackcap & 1 Sparrowhawk.

Vismig going South over the reserve, 72 Swallow, 18 House Martin, 7 Meadow Pipit, 5 Chaffinch, 4 Grey Wagtail, 3 Sand Martin, 1 Tree Pipit & 1 Yellow Wagtail. Some migration is not always quite as obvious, Blue Tit are also currently moving through with 7 new birds here today.

Offshore 7 Common Tern & 6 Med Gull. Offshore passage going South 76 Teal, 75 Brent Goose plus 4 on the Sea, 25 Wigeon, 3 Pintail, 2 Dunlin & 1 Bar-tailed Godwit. Going North, 2 Common Scoter.

21 birds ringed: Blue Tit 5, Chiffchaff 5, Goldcrest 4, Meadow Pipit 3, Blackcap 1, Grey Wagtail 1, Sparrowhawk 1, Wren 1.

Friday 22nd September 2017

A second winter Caspian Gull was on the Dock yard late morning.

Clear blue skies and a warm breeze, a beautiful day at Landguard but not a busy day for migration. Noted on the reserve, 35 Meadow Pipit, 18 Pied Wagtail, 6 Blackcap, 5 Chiffchaff, 4 Common Tern, 4 Med Gull, 4 Wheatear, 2 Common Gull, 1 Caspian Gull, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 Sparrowhawk & 1 Yellow Wagtail.

Passage going South, 20 Goldfinch, 20 Swallow, 15 Greenfinch, 14 Meadow Pipit, 4 House Martin & 2 Sand Martin.

21 birds ringed: Blue Tit 7, Blackcap 3, Chiffchaff 3, Dunnock 3, Goldcrest 1, Great Tit 1, Lesser Whitethroat 1, Meadow Pipit 1, Wren 1.

Thursday 21st September 2017

A change in the wind today as it swings round to a South Southwest. House Martin and Swallow are moving through again today, otherwise passage was quiet. Barnacle goose (pictured) do tend to pass rather than land at Landguard so it was uncharacteristic for the 3 that stopped off here today to do so.
Noted on the reserve, 30 Meadow Pipit, 18 Goldfinch, 18 Pied Wagtail, 4 Blackcap, 4 Sandwich Tern, 4 Wheatear, 3 Barnacle Geese, 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Reed Bunting & 1 Sparrowhawk.
Passage going South, 480 House Martin, 310 Swallow, 5 Goldfinch, 4 Teal & 2 Meadow Pipit.
Late news of a Yellow browed Warbler in the poplars just before 2pm.

Black Rustic is another autumnal moth that occurs here in small numbers.

6 birds ringed: Blackcap 2, Blue Tit 2, Goldcrest 1, Robin 1.

Wednesday 20th September 2017

The clear skies overnight saw an upturn in migrants on the move south, with especially large numbers of Hirundines as 1170 Swallows, 350 House Martin and 15 Sand Martin passed through this morning. Also 74 Meadow Pipit went south, with a further 30 on site feeding with the 26 Pied Wagtails and 2 Wheatear(above). 3 Grey Wagtail also passed through along with 35 Goldfinch, 10 Chaffinch and larger than average numbers of Blue Tits arriving on site with 18 seen along with the same number of Chiffchaffs.

The moth traps had more of interest than of late, including this Deep-brown Dart, a species that seems to be erratic in its appearance here, as we do not get it regularly despite its common and widespread  distribution in southern Britain.

Ringed 30 birds: 10 Chiffchaff, 7 Meadow Pipit, 5 Blackcap, 3 Goldcrest and 1 each of Grey Wagtail, Wheatear, Blue Tit, Sparrowhawk and Wood Pigeon.

Tuesday 19th September 2017

A single Rock Pipit (pictured) was present on the beach, also on the beach, but only briefly, 3 Lapwing which then went West, inland. Although low in number Wheatear are moving through with 4 on the reserve this morning, also noted on the reserve 40 Meadow Pipit plus 22 going South, 20 Chiffchaff, 20 Pied Wagtail, 2 Blackcap, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Med Gull, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Knot, 1 Reed Warbler, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Willow Warbler,
Passage recorded going South 28 House Martin, 19 Swallow plus 2 on the reserve, 10 Teal, 4 Brent Geese & 3 Sandwich Tern. Going West (inland), 29 Black-headed Gull & 2 Common Gull plus 1 going South. Going North 5 Jackdaw.

Lunar Underwing is another autumnal species out and about at present.

14 birds ringed: Chiffchaff 5, Blue Tit 3, Blackcap 2, Meadow Pipit 2, Goldcrest 1, Willow Warbler 1