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Saturday 4th October 2014

A south-easterly wind this morning strengthening as the morning progressed. There was a good movement of birds south this morning including 474 Brent Geese, 104 Teal, 61 Dunlin, 58 Wigeon, 21 Swallow, 19 Common Gull, 14 Skylark, 12 Common Scoter, 3 Grey Plover, 3 Curlew, 3 Gannet, 2 Grey Wagtail and single Red-breasted Merganser, Great Crested Grebe, Shoveler, Short-eared Owl and Pintail. The bushes and reserve were fairly quiet except for a few thrushes, 4 Wheatear and a Goldcrest.

Non-avian species of note were 2 Clouded Yellow on the reserve and a Grey Seal on the beach.

8 Birds ringed; 4 Song Thrush, 3 Blackbird, 1 Robin.

Friday 3rd October 2014

Good numbers of birds were passing by offshore this morning including 361 Wigeon, 261 Brent Geese, 184 Dunlin, 8 Shelduck, 6 Pintail, 6 Teal and 5 Little Egret. Overhead 84 Swallow, 43 Goldfinch, 17 Meadow Pipit, 8 Grey Wagtail, 5 Skylark and 2 Siskin flew south. Other birds about were 2 Wheatear, 3 Jay and a Coal Tit.

A few butterflies were about this morning including 4 Clouded Yellow.

21 Birds ringed; 4 Blackbird, 4 Robin, 3 Grey Wagtail, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Song Thrush, 1 Blackcap, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Great Tit, 1 Dunnock, 1 Wren.

Thursday 2nd October 2014



A few nice birds about today with a long winged Great Spotted Woodpecker that showed characteristics of the northern race, along with single Jay, Turtle Dove, Green Woodpecker and the Yellow-browed Warbler that reappeared late morning. Also seen were 4 Grey Herons overhead, 3 north & 1 west, 8 Skylark south and a Wheatear on the reserve.

The moth traps continue to be fairly quiet, although our second Pink-barred Sallow of the year was caught, this species has only be record in four previous years.

29 Birds ringed; 8 Chiffchaff, 4 Starling, 3 Chaffinch, 3 Great Tit, 3 Dunnock, 2 Wren, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Greenfinch.

Wednesday 1st October 2014

Overcast conditions promised much but delivered very little. The early morning smattering of Swallows and House Martins south totalled just 246 and 10 respectively along with a small number of both Chaffinch and Goldfinch on the move. Other species of interest were 2 Sparrowhawk, 10 Chiffchaff, 1 Brambling south, 1 Reed Bunting, 2 Yellow and 4 Grey Wagtail south, 1 Stonechat and 7 Wheatear on the common, and the Yellow-browed Warbler was seen again briefly around midday.

14 birds ringed today, of which 5 were Chiffchaff, 2 Robin, 2 Grey Wagtail, and 1 each of Sparrowhawk, Wood Pigeon, Great Tit, Blue Tit and Dunnock.

September Ringing Totals

September was a good month both for number of species and number ringed with 708 birds of 47 species being ringed, of these the most notable were Kingfisher and Red-breasted Flycatcher both of which are rarely caught here and Grey Wagtail which has had an unbelievable month breaking previous day, month and year totals.

Sparrowhawk 4 Wren 10
Kestrel 1 Starling 3
Woodpigeon 2 Ring Ouzel 1
Collared Dove 1 Blackbird 5
Kingfisher 1 Song Thrush 21
Wryneck 2 Spotted Flycatcher 4
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 Robin 76
Jay 1 Redstart 2
Goldcrest 9 Red-breasted Flycatcher 1
Firecrest 4 Pied Flycatcher 14
Blue Tit 22 Wheatear 6
Great Tit 20 Dunnock 20
Coal Tit 1 House Sparrow 1
Swallow 3 Grey Wagtail 85
Long-tailed Tit 3 Tree Pipit 1
Chiffchaff 70 Meadow Pipit 104
Willow Warbler 50 Chaffinch 11
Blackcap 63 Greenfinch 7
Garden Warbler 8 Goldfinch 17
Lesser Whitethroat 12 Siskin 2
Whitethroat 17 Linnet 11
Grasshopper Warbler 2 Lesser Redpoll 1
Sedge Warbler 1 Reed Bunting 1
Reed Warbler 6

Tuesday 30th September 2014


Our first Yellow-browed Warbler of the year put in an appearance this morning showing briefly early morning and again later in the morning when it was on view for long periods. Other birds of note were 2 Firecrest and a Coal Tit around the Obs and a flock of 10 Long-tailed Tits and the male Stonechat were seen again at the north end of the reserve Overhead 32 Swallow, 27 Meadow Pipit, 9 Siskin, 6 Grey Wagtail, 6 Skylark, a Yellow Wagtail and a Rock Pipit flew south.

The highlight of the insect world today were 2 Clouded Yellows on the reserve.

19 Birds ringed; 4 Grey Wagtail, 3 Wheatear, 2 Meadow Pipit, 1 Dunnock, 1 Firecrest, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Robin, 1 Wren, 1 Coal Tit, 1 Blackcap, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Great Tit, 1 Linnet.

Monday 29th September 2014

A foggy morning with little moving. A Rock Pipit was present at the point, 12 Long-tailed Tits and a male Stonechat were at the north end and 3 Wheatear were on the reserve. Other birds of note were a Firecrest, 9 Chiffchaff and 2 Reed Bunting. Overhead 5 Grey Wagtail and 2 Snipe headed south.

17 Birds ringed; 5 Chiffchaff, 3 Blackcap, 2 Starling, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Robin, 1 Wheatear, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Great Tit, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Song Thrush.

Sunday 28th September 2014

With very light north-easterly winds and overcast conditions, the weather was perfect for the time of year to bring in lots of good migrant birds. Although few in number, some good birds were recorded on site today, including 3 Firecrest, 11 Grey Wagtails, 4 Wheatear, 2 Stonechat, 1 Skylark, 1 Reed Bunting and a sprinkling of autumn species which included the first arrivals of some of the commoner Thrushes. In the early afternoon the first Long-tailed Tit flock of the autumn turned up & at least 15 Med Gulls were offshore later on.

Total birds ringed today was 32,  these being, 5 Grey Wagtail, 4 Robin, 4 Great Tit, 3 Meadow Pipit, 3 Wren, 3 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Firecrest, 2 Blackcap, 2 Song Thrush, and 1 each of Chiffchaff, Dunnock, Blackbird and Blue Tit.