May 2026 Ringing Totals

On the 30th May, a juvenile Coal tit, which must have just fledged further North towards to town, looking very yellow, like a Great Tit.  

May 2026 has been yet again anouther good month ringing total wise with 215 birds ringed, compared to recent years of around 150 birds ringed each may, with you having to go back to 2015 with 271 birds ringed to surpass this mays total. Chiffchaffs remain our most ringed species, with Linnets and Great Tits producing a reasonable number of young supplementing the ringing total. Our 10th site record of Melodious Warbler this month has to be also worth mentioning again!.  

Species	Ringed
Chiffchaff	45
Linnet	25
Great Tit	25
Blackcap	20
Goldfinch	17
Lesser Whitethroat	15
Willow Warbler	13
Reed Warbler	13
Robin	9
House Sparrow	6
Spotted Flycatcher	6
Whitethroat	5
Starling	4
Blackbird	3
Firecrest	1
Wren	1
Chaffinch	1
Garden Warbler	1
Pied Flycatcher	1
Melodious Warbler	1
Coal Tit	1
Dunnock	1
Woodpigeon	1
Total	215

Sunday 31st May 2026

 

Apart from what lives here & baby birds it's all quiet on the migration front with 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Swallow & a Swift as exciting as it got. A Peregrine put in an appearance.

Ephestia woodiella was first noted here in 1996 & is now very common. It has been moving north as a species for some time slowly colonising new areas. Living on dried & dead plant material, which is not in short supply especially in drought conditions.

Ringing: 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Robin.

Saturday 30th May 2026

Young Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) getting close to fledging, we ringed these individuals last week. 

A warm morning with little wind, most notable migration was that of the Painted Lady with some 50+ individuals flying around the compound!, other than that, few migrants with some Chiffchaff and an adult Mediterranean gull. The Ringed Plovers seem to have gone into hiding while the reserve is busier. A ringing highlight was processing a juvenile Coal Tit as yellow as a Great Tit juvenile, just noticeably smaller, this bird will have flown from the town southwards, possibly as close as the customs house.  

Moth trapping: 101 Species last night made their way into our 3 traps. Pick of the bunch was a Bordered Straw, this moth can be quite common in good migration years and absent in others. Sometimes the larvae can be found in coastal areas and contribute to a following late summer increase in numbers. 'Paler' individuals may have derived from desert origin, these often arriving with Saharan 'dust storms'. - UKmoths. 

Bordered Straw (Heliothis peltigera) 

Bird ringing: 5 Great Tit, 3 Goldfinch, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Coal Tit, 1 Robin, 1 Linnet. 

Friday 29th May 2026

Spot the Ringed Plover chick! (Charadrius hiaticula), fingers crossed for our two chicks surviving.  

 

A cloudy but humid morning with a SW wind. Few migrants around the compound, however some  straggling geese seen while seawatching. Most excitingly one of the Ringed Plover nests have been successful at hatching two young, however, the odds are still stacked against the tiny birds but as you can see from the pic they are well camouflaged.   

Seawatching produced: 8 Barnacle Goose, 1  Brent Goose and 2 Oystercatcher north. 7 Oystercatcher and a Cormorant south. 

Overland 7 Mute Swan and 1 Swallow north. 4 Swallow south.  

Moth Trapping: 97 Species of moths across our 3 traps last night following pretty perfect conditions for moth trapping, loads of new species for the year. Our most interesting moth of the bunch was the Obscure Wainscot, a moth with a local distribution and scattered throughout England and Wales, occupying marsh and fenland (this habitat perhaps leading to under recording i.e. fewer people moth trapping). The larvae of the moth feed on Common Reed. 

Obscure Wainscot (Leucania obsoleta), the first record from this site in 30 years! 

Bird Ringing: 7 Great Tit, 2 Goldfinch, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 House Sparrow, 1 Linnet, 1 Reed Warbler.  

Thursday 28th May 2026

Cetti's warbler (Cettia cetti), 3 Have been singing for most part of spring, occasionally 4, we have had 3 recaptures ringed last year and year previously. 

A clear morning with a moderate breeze from the E. A few migrants around the compound, with 2 Blackcap and 2 Chiffchaff and a Reed Warbler calling from Iccy ridge (the area to the left of the car park as you walk in through the main gate off the fort. 

Sea-watching produced 1 Common Scoter riding the waves, 3 Black-headed Gull and a Lapwing north. 1 Black-headed Gull south. 

Moth trapping: 23 Species in our 3 traps last night, a slight reduction on recent captures owing to the windy night. Today's focus moth is the Beet moth: It is a growing 'pest' on agriculture with larvae defoliating Beet crops making them susceptible to rot and reducing crop yields up to 25%, new pesticides have been developed however remain expensive. - BBC. The moth had only become a problem in past 5 years for farmers, matching the time period they have been occurring on our site which supports the hypothesis they entered the country through Suffolk.  

   Beet moth (Scrobipalpa ocellatella), 6 years ago we had our first one, now they regularly show up in our traps. 

Bird ringing: 3 Great Tit, 1 Blackcap, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Linnet. 

Wednesday 27th May 2026

 

A Swallow has been regularly singing & displaying to passing females.

A fair north-easterly built up throughout the morning. Cuckoo & Grey Wagtail flew south, 4 Chiffchaff, 3 Reed Warbler & Blackcap on site, Little Tern & Sanderling along the riverbank & a Lapwing on the reserve. This Lapwing might well be the start of autumn passage for this species as failed breeders start moving to moulting grounds as early as the end of May. A Ring-necked Parakeet also paid a visit.

Pale Tussock is one of those species that is apparently common but only visits us roughly one year in three.

Ringing: 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Blackcap, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Linnet, 1 Robin.

Tuesday 26th May 2026

Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola), an not so common visitor to the site this morning. 

Another glorious morning (mostly weather wise) at Landguard, most notable bird was a Grey Plover that joined a flock of Sanderling on the beach early morning. A Greenfinch was caught, a now less regular visitor to the site, however this individual had Trichomonosis, so not ringed and released.  

General migration: Brent: 33 north and 14 East. 1 Oystercatcher West, 2 North, and 4 South. 2 Swallow South. 

 Moth trapping: Many moths emerging in the heat, with 78 Species recorded today. Todays photographed moth below, the Marbled Clover, feeds on wasteland plants as larvae and adult moths feed on flowers such as viper's bugloss (Echium vulgare).   

Marbled Clover (Heliothis viriplaca) is a nationally scarce species seen in most years since 2014 but only once prior to 2005.

Bird ringing: 1 House Sparrow, 1 Lesser Whitethroat and 1 Linnet.