Thursday 29th October 2026

Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe). 

Clear with little wind, very slight W turning to SSE. Inside the compound 3 Chiffchaff and 3 flocks of Long-tailed Tits over the duration of the day. On the reserve: 1 Black Redstart, 1 Yellowhammer and a Wheatear.3 Turnstone, 2 Rock Pipit, 1 Purple Sandpiper and an Oystercatcher on the beach. 

Overhead migration: 18020 Woodpigeon, 226 Stock Dove, 165 Goldfinch, 55 Chaffinch, 41 Skylark, 35 Linnet, 32 Meadow Pipit, 15 Song Thrush, 14 Greenfinch, 10 Brambling, 7 Blackbird, 5 Pied, 5 Swallow, 5 Siskin, 5 Wagtail, 4 Woodlark, 3 Reed Bunting, 2 Mistle Thrush, all south. 109 Starling off the sea. 

Seawatching: 

South: 27 Cormorant, 9 Shelduck, 6 Black-headed Gull, 4 Egyption Goose, 3 Brent Goose, 2 Great Black-backed Gull, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Common Scoter

West: 1 Great White Egret. 

Moth Trapping: 17 moth species present between our 3 traps. Turnip is a common species that we forget to feature as moth of the day. 

Turnip (Agrotis segetum).

Bird ringing: 36 Long-tailed Tit, 5 Blackbird, 2 Blue Tit, 2 Great Tit, 2 Meadow Pipit, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Dunnock, 1 Robin, 1 Magpie, 1 Woodpigeon, 1 Wren. 

Wednesday 28th October 2026

Busy vis mig with minimum figures southbound 18,344 Wood Pigeon, 770 Goldfinch, 709 Stock Dove, 460 Starling, 184 Chaffinch, 171 Mipit, 128 Linnet, 54 Skylark, 45 Siskin, 25 Swallow, 23 Greenfinch, 15 Redpoll, 13 Rook, 12 Brambling, 11 Jackdaw, 11 Woodlark, 10 Reed Bunting, 6 Pied Wag, 2 Heron, Curlew, Great Northern Diver & Little Gull. Offshore movements quiet. On site less hectic, at least 40 Mipit, 3 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Ring Ouzel, Black Red, Fieldfare, Long-eared Owl, Mealy Redpoll, Mistle Thrush, Reed Bunting, Rock Pipit, Song Thrush, Wheatear & a couple of new Blackies. 3 Peregrine had "fun" tormenting the Pigeons. 2 Clouded Yellow butterflies were on the Butts mid-day.

Ringing: 5 Lesser Redpoll, 3 Blackcap, 3 Meadow Pipit, 2 Blackbird, 2 Chaffinch, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Great Tit, 1 Mealy Redpoll, 1 Robin, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Wood Pigeon.

Tuesday 27th October 2026

Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola). 

Overcast with a S wind, fine drizzle then showers late morning. Inside the compound 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Blackcap and a Firecrest. On the nature reserve: 2 Rock Pipit, 2 Skylark, 1 Stonechat and 1 Wheatear. 

Overhead migration: 25 Meadow Pipit, 24 Siskin, 10 Linnet 8 Goldfinch, 5 Woodpigeon, 4 Pied Wagtail, 1 Greenfinch, 1 Swallow, all south.

826 Starling off the sea then West. 

Seawatching: 

South: 30 Wigeon, 17 Shelduck, 8 Cormorant, 6 Little Gull, 3 Grey Plover, 2 Tufted Duck, 1 Arctic Skua, 1 Brent Goose and a Common Gull.  

North: 2 Common Gull, 2 Gannet, 1 Arctic Skua and a Red-throated Diver.

East: 1 Cormorant and an Oystercatcher

West: 1 Cormorant. 

Feeding offshore: 4 Common Scoter, 2 Kittiwake, 1 Mediterranean Gull

Moth trapping: 5 moth species between our 3 traps. 

Bird ringing: 2 Robin, 1 Blackbird, 1 Blackcap, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Wood Pigeon.

Monday 26th October 2026

2 Ring Ouzel (Turdus torquatus) seen on the butts this morning. 

An overcast morning with SW wind and rain late morning. 3 Ring Ouzel on the butts, 1 Stonechat and 1 Wheatear, 3 Rock Pipit and 11 Pied Wagtail out on the reserve. 4 Firecrest, 6 Goldcrest, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, a Common Redpoll and a Redwing. 9 Greenfinch, 3 Collared Dove, 2 Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel and a Peregrine on site. 2 Turnstone near the point. 

Above head migration, 6230 Woodpigeon,  910 Goldfinch, 167 Linnet, 139 Stock Dove, 126 Meadow Pipit, 118 Chaffinch, 30 Skylark, 20 Brambling, 19 Siskin, 17 Starling, 9 Pied Wagtail, 7 Rock Pipit, 6 Reed Bunting, 5 Lesser Redpoll, 3 Jackdaw, all South

Seawatching: 

North: 2 Cormorant. 

South: 24 Black-headed Gull, 16 Dunlin, 9 Wigeon, 2 Cormorant, 2 Shelduck, 1 Brent Goose and a Curlew. 

West: 2 Cormorant. 

Feeding offshore: 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 Great Black-backed Gull and a Mediterranean Gull. 

Moth trapping: 4 moth species between our 3 traps. Moth of the morning goes to the Oak Rustic, which first turned up in 2019 and has colonised the holm oaks. 

Oak Rustic Mesapamea secalis. 

Bird ringing: 2 Blackcap, 2 Firecrest, 2 Goldfinch, 2 Wren, 1 Blackbird, 1 Common Redpoll, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Song Thrush.    

Sunday 25th October 2026

 

Gales gusting up to Force 9 are not conducive to easy birding. This didn't prevent 1,101 Woodies & 31 Stock Dove moving south. Worth a mention are 3 Swallow south, Little Egret, Marsh Harrier & Stonechat plus some lingering crests from recent days. A Wheatear was our first since 3rd October.

Moth trapping a waste of time. A tatty Common Blue is still lingering at the northern end of the reserve.

Ringing: 1 Blackbird, 1 Goldfinch, 1 House Sparrow, 1 Wood Pigeon.

Saturday 24th October 2026

2 Peregrines (Falco peregrinus) on the cranes of the port. 2 Peregrines were seen over the observatory today.

W winds. 1 Greenfinch within the compound heading south then turned back around. 1 Waxwing seen changing from south to North. 1 Brambling out on the reserve. 2 Peregrine over the observatory. 1 Turnstone on the beach. 2 Stonechat on the reserve then south. 

Overhead migration:  846 Wood Pigeon, 439 Goldfinch, 211 Meadow Pipit, 137 Skylark, 125 Linnet, 60 Chaffinch, 8 Swallow, 7 Siskin, 5 Rock Pipit, 3 Reed Bunting, 1 Shorelark, all south. 

Seawatching: 

North: 26 Cormorant and 6 Brent Goose. 

South: 23 Black headed Gull, 9 Teal, 7 Brent Goose, 6 Wigeon, 4 Shelduck, 1 Greylag Goose, 1 Red-throated Diver and a Pintail. 

Feeding offshore: 36 Great Black-backed Gull and 4 Common Gull. 

Moth trapping: 4 moth species present between our 3 traps. Moth of the morning is the Green-brindled Crescent, which occurs in low numbers at this time of the year.  

Green-brindled Crescent (Allophyes oxyacanthae). 

Bird ringing: 2 Blue Tit, 2 Firecrest, 2 Goldcrest, 1 Blackbird, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Greenfinch, 1 Jay, 1 Robin, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Wren.                          

Friday 23rd October 2026

Today brings the first named storm of the Autumn, Storm Austen, producing strong winds from the SSE, and rain by mid morning. A Greenfinch seen flying in front of the observatory and a Firecrest recaught in a mist net.  

Seawatching: - challenging conditions with mist and rain.  

South: 5 Common Scoter, 4 Brent Goose, 3 Red-throated Diver, 2 Common Gull, 2 Shelduck, 2 Wigeon, Arctic Skua and a Curlew.

North: 9 Cormorant, 6 Common Scoter, 4 Gannet, 2 Gadwall, 2 Goosander, 1 Great Skua(Bonxie), 1 Little Gull and a Red-throated Diver.

West: 1 Cormorant.

Feeding offshore: 41 Great Black-backed Gull, 2 Common Scoter and 2 Mediterranean Gull.

 Moth trapping: 13 Species recorded between our 3 traps this morning. Moth of the morning goes to the Red-headed Chestnut, which is an immigrant from the continent, noted on only a handful of previous occasions.

Red-headed Chestnut (Conistra erythrocephala).

Bird ringing: 1 Blackbird, 1 Blackcap, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Robin, 1 Song Thrush.