Sunday 21st June 2026

 

Summer solstice at 0924 hrs this morning after which its all downhill - it's being so cheerful that keeps us going. Maybe we need to tap into the Opium Poppies on the reserve !

Very few sightings of Black Redstart recently so 2 together this morning was a bit unexpected as they were both first-summer plumaged males that were having an altercation & are breeding in the adjoining dock area. One a fairly standard "paradoxus" morph with the other a "carii" morph that looked "female-ish" but was a far bigger bird than the other one, with no signs of a brood patch, so must be a male. Males take no part in incubation in this species. Otherwise it's dispersing baby birds including single Great Spotted Woodpecker & Grey Wag.

Moth traps hectic. Celypha rosaceana is today's chosen one as it likes it here down here by the seaside.

Ringing: 2 Black Redstart, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Great Tit, 1 Robin, 1 Wood Pigeon, 1 Wren.

Ringing Recoveries

Chiffchaff ringed LBO 2nd April 2026 retraped Deer Park Croft, nr. Avoch, Highland, Scotland 719 km away on 17th April 2026 will be on spring passage at LBO & possibly on the Black Isle also or near its potential nesting area ?

Blackbird ringed LBO 4th November 2017 with the ring only found with a metal detector 42 km away 11th September 2025 at Heveningham, Suffolk so circumstances of its demise unknown.

Saturday 20th June 2026

 

Baby bird time of the year with dispersing youngsters visiting on their juvenile wanderings. Chiffchaff have never bred here but do so as close as Langer Park. Other youngsters visiting included 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker & a Grey Wag. Going past southbound 4 Curlew & an Oyk in limited observation time. 3 Sanderling were on the beach at high tide pm.

First site record of Portland Riband Wave. which is a species first noted in Suffolk only a couple of years ago & may well be contemplating colonisation.

Busy moth traps with several species originating in coniferous woodland turning up that we don't get down here very often including the first Rhyacionia buoliana for nine years & only the third this century.

Ringing: 3 Blue Tit, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Great Tit, 2 Wren, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Dunnock.

Friday 19th June 2026

Carrion Crow with chick, right, (Corvus corone) almost as big as the adult. 

A clear day, with little wind, a mix of species present with a Greater Spotted Woodpecker once again visiting.. and fully exploring the reserve right to point on the sea brake!. 1 Reed Warbler also out on the reserve. Essex Skipper have now been seen yesterday afternoon and this morning near the manor road car park. 

Seawatching produced 2 Curlew south, 1 Cormorant west. 

Moth trapping: 104 Species across our 3 traps. Pick of the moths is the Lilac Beauty, formerly an infrequent visitor, it has now more recently become annual, occurring in small numbers. The adult folds its upper wing tips in an interesting way to mimic a leaf (shown in the picture - not seen in many moth species. The caterpillar feeds on honeysuckle (Lonicera) and privet (Ligustrum).  

Lilac Beauty (Apeira syringaria)

Bird Ringing: 7 Blue Tit, 2 House Sparrow, 1 Linnet, 1 Whitethroat.   

Thursday 18th June 2026

Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), all juveniles, with one of individuals we ringed in the cottage box, seen in the middle of the group, coping well with independent living. 

Starting clear but then clouding over and then breaking late morning again, quite humid and not too much wind. 66 Swift south over the reserve early in the morning with a Swallow and House Martin also heading south. Inside the compound a Greater Spotted Woodpecker was seen and heard flying around as well as two Coal Tit. A male Black redstart was once again calling from the fort.

Seawatching produced: 22 Black- headed gull and 11 Curlew, 4 Sandwich Tern, 2 Common Tern, all south.  

Moth trapping: 107 Species across our moth traps, owing to the calm and warm night. Today's moth of the day is the Pine Hawk-moth - an occasional visitor to our site considering it lives less than 1km away as the crow flies at the Customs House on pine trees, adults feed on Honeysuckle.      

Pine Hawk moth (Sphinx pinastri)

Bird ringing: 4 Blue Tit, 2 Blackcap, 2 Coal Tit, 2 Linnet, 2 Reed Warbler, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 House Sparrow, 1 Robin.  

Wednesday 17th June 2026

 

Curlew passage picking up with at least 26 south. Also southbound 11 Swift, 2 Common Scoter & 2 Tufted Duck. 2 Lapwing were on the reserve plus 2 Chiffchaff & 2 Reed Warbler in the bushes. The first dispersing juvenile Blackcap of the summer turned up plus a well developed young Whitethroat which may have wandered down from the Butts. A Coal Tit was at the north end.

First site record of what looks like Elachista triatomella was nearly overlooked. Obsidentify misidentified it (but this may be due to the poor quality photo taken on an antique mobile) & thought it looked like a similar Elachista that we get here so just as well a better photo was taken with the camera so it could be re-identified.

We have very few records of Ingrailed Clay so good to get the first one for nine years of this declining species.

Ringing: 2 Linnet, 1 Blackcap, 1 Dunnock, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Great Tit, 1 Reed Warbler, 1 Ringed Plover (pulli), 1 Whitethroat.

Tuesday 16th June 2026

 

4 Coal Tit (Periparus ater) ringed today is on par with the sites ringed record set on 20/09/1996, with 6 ringed this year it appears to be a good year for them, alongside other Tits. 

A weird morning with a random shower at half 4 in the morning producing a double rainbow seen across Felixstowe, followed by a group of 7 Swift moving south. Late morning becoming warm with a nice sea breeze. All quiet within the compound except for a Coal Tit and a Whitethroat. Mostly quiet on the reserve, with our Ringed Plover chick still surviving.

Seawatching produced a Curlew south and a Mediterranean Gull north. Evening: 2 Sandwich Tern east, 2 Kittiwake and 2 Black-headed Gull and an Oystercatcher south.  

 

Moth Trapping: 72 Species across our 3 traps last night owing to the warm and overcast night and less wind. Moth of the day is the L-album Wainscot, a moth first recorded in Suffolk at Landguard in 2000. This moth is now well established in Suffolk, with plenty of coastline grass species for the larvae to feed on. 

L-album Wainscot (Mythimna l-album)

Bird Ringing: 4 Coal Tit, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Dunnock, 1 Linnet.