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Saturday 8th June 2013

Stuck in a rut weather wise. 7 Sanderling north the only sighting of note. Lesser Swallow Prominent worth a mention as we don't see this species every year & those we do are usually on the second, not first, emergence.

Friday 7th June 2013

The cool northerly airflow continues & we shall struggle for migrants. Only thing worth a mention is 2 Black Terns & 15 Common Terns north just offshore.

Thursday 6th June 2013

The northerlies persist. The only movement today was a Swift north early on and a Fulmar and 2 Kittiwakes north offshore. The first young Great Tits were seen today and a young Robins was seen on the wing for the first time since fledging.

Ringing; 4 Great Tits.

Wednesday 5th June 2013

4 Jays put in an appearance but apart from that it's a migrant free zone - it should be noted, however, that following a good Jay passage last autumn it has been a record spring passage for Jays by a considerable margin. Offshore 40 Common Scoter went north & over head 3 Swallow, 3 Swift & a House Martin went north plus 2 Goldfinch south. Out of the wind a few insects are around the site but totals from the moth traps are still pathetic.

Ringing 1 wood pigeon & 1 chaffinch

Tuesday 4th June 2013

An increasing NE wind as the morning went on. Single Wheatear & Chiffchaff plus 9 Swallows south - nuff said !

Monday 3rd June 2013

Early June & a northerly breeze is not ideal. Today's new migrant in the bushes is a Chiffchaff with a new Blacky presumably a failed breeder from nearby going walkabout. Assorted Gulls & Terns on the turn of the tide entertaining but nowt odd. A Wheatear is still with us & the first baby Linnet of the year was noted.

As several people have asked about Peregrines then an update is due - basically a "pair" earlier on in the season attempted breeding with the female laying 3 eggs. At some point in the proceedings a divorce took place with the adult male being replaced at some point by an immature male. The eggs failed to hatch but the new "pair" seem to have a very strong pair bond often hunting together & eating breakfast on the beach. Recent victims have included Feral Pigeon, Wood Pigeon, Stock Dove, Redshank, Starling & a Little Grebe ! The female is colour ringed & originates in Holland (although we have been unable to read the ring details) with the new male bird also colour ringed & originating from the Orwell bridge (although we have also been unable to read the ring details to work out which individual it is). Good quality photographs of the legs of these birds might help if any of you photograpthers out there get lucky - they often frequent the near dock cranes & the pair were seen to clobber a pigeon right next to the new Visitor Centre the other day.

Ringing: single Chiffchaff, Blackbird, House Sparrow & Starling.

Sunday 2nd June 2013

As spring grinds on we run out of migrants (but then again we have been short of migrants for the last 5 weeks !). Todays migrants include 2 Reed Warblers, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff & Wheatear. 30 hirundines have gone past as have 10 Goldfinch south although Goldfinch passage should grind to a halt fairly soon. A few more insects are finally starting to appear as the weather warms up following the coldest May for 50 years.

Ringing - 1 willow warbler & 2 pullus magpies.