Tuesday 29th September 2026

A misty morning with overnight rain and wind blowing from the west. Our first Siskin, Redpoll and Redwing of the autumn around the compound. A Snipe heard this morning and last night. A Redstart and Chaffinch ringed alongside 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers with the latter on one net round! A Rock Pipit on the beach. 4 Swallows south and 6 Meadow Pipit remaining on site. 

Shorelark spotted on the nature reserve opposite the observatory 18:00 - 18:30. 

Seawatching: 

South: 201 Wigeon, 72 Teal, 6 Shelduck, 5 Brent Goose, 4 Cormorant, 3 Mediterranean Gull, 2 Pochard, an Arctic Skua, a Common Gull, a Great Crested Grebe, a Little Egret and a Pintail. 

North: 3 Common Scoter, 2 Cormorant, 2 Gannet North, an Oystercatcher and a Red-throated Diver.

Feeding offshore: 22 Sandwich Tern, 4 Great Black-backed Gull, 2 Black-headed Gull. 

Moth trapping: 36 moth species recorded in our 3 traps and around the compound today. Moth of the morning goes to to the several male vapours flying around by day presently.

Vapour Moth (Orgyia antiqua).

Bird ringing: 5 Robin, 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Brambling, 2 Linnet, 2 Song Thrush, 1 Blackcap, 2 Blue Tit, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 House Sparrow, 1 Meadow Pipit, 1 Redstart.

Monday 28th September 2026

 An overcast morning with a slight NNW wind. Quiet within the compound with a small mix of warblers and 2 Chaffinch, on the reserve: a single Wheatear near the Butts and 2 Rock Pipit on the beach. 4 Meadow Pipit and a Great Spotted Woodpecker overhead south. 

Seawatching: South: 220 Teal, 12 Wigeon, 9 Cormorant, 8 Brent Goose, 7 Wigeon, 2 Red-throated Diver, 2 Pintail, 2 Shelduck, a Common Gull, a Common Tern and a Gannet. North: a Brent Goose. West: 7 Cormorant. Feeding offshore: 4 Mediterranean Gull.           

Moth trapping: 32 species between our 3 traps. moth of the morning falls to the Red-line Quaker, which is a scarce autumnal visitor here from areas with willows. 

Red-line Quaker (Leptologia lota).

Bird ringing: 3 Blackcap, 2 Blue Tit, 2 Great Tit, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Willow Warbler. 

Sunday 27th September 2026

 

Onshore wind. Southbound 438 Brent, 303 Wigeon, 220 Teal, 92 Black-heads, 27 Shelduck, 8 Common Gull, 6 Pintail, 3 Med Gull, Curlew, Dunlin, Gannet, Knot & Red-throated Diver with northbound 5 Sandwich Tern & 4 Common Scoter. Onshore counts again poor with Vis Mig southbound just 3 Mipit, 2 Grey Wag, single Kes & Swallow. Grounded migrants are truly pitiful for the time of the year with just 3 Chiffchaff, 3 Wheatear, 2 Blackcap & Lesser 'throat with visitations from single Buzzard & Jay. 

We do appreciate that whinging about the poor state of migration & low dailly tallies is now so routine it has become the "new normal". However it's being so cheerful that keeps us going - we are resilient & defiant enough that we ain't going to let the bastards grind us down !

Probably told you before that Channel Islands Pug first turned up here five years ago & is now our commonest Pug moth. Living on Tamarisk this years flight period should be coming to an end soon, unless it decides to keep going in the mild conditions. Some very good positive news amongst all the "doom & gloom".

Ringing: 2 Blackcap, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Robin.

Saturday 26th September 2026

 

Common Gull (Larus canus).

Starting overcast but then turning sunny with a slight NW breeze. 2 Brambling over the observatory early morning. Lesser 'throat, Song Thrush, Skylark, Tree Pipit & Wheatear out on the reserve. Black Red on containers by the car park & 5 Buzzards soaring in the thermals over the Port late morning.

Seawatching: Earliest ever autumn Goldeneye with our only previous September record on the 30th, 2010. 

North: 7 Heron, 2 Arctic Skua,Common Scoter & Oystercatcher

South: 11 Wigeon, 8 Teal & 4 Shelduck.

Moth trapping: L-album Wainscot arrived in the year 2000 and has colonised and slowly spreading north in the UK. 

L-Album Wainscot (Mythimna l-album)

Bird ringing: 5 Blue Tit, 3 Goldfinch, 3 Meadow Pipit, 2 Great Tit, 1 Blackcap, 1 Dunnock, 1 Robin, 1 Starling.    

Friday 25th September 2026

Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros).  

A sunny morning with a light breeze from the south. Quiet within the compound, 3 Wheatear out on the reserve and a Black Redstart calling from the fort roof mid morning. A Grey Wagtail, 2 Jackdaw and 2 Rock Pipit over the reserve. A small number of Swallows with 8 south and 14 Meadow Pipit also south. A Jay briefly visited us again, imitated a Buzzard very well and then flew off. 

Seawatching: South: 78 Teal, 65 Wigeon, 16 Black-headed Gull, 13 Shelduck, 4 Cormorant, 1 Pintail, West: an Oystercatcher. Feeding offshore: 15 Sandwich Tern and a Common Tern. 

Moth trapping: 24 species between our 3 traps. Only the second Autumnal Rustic in the last ten years. It is declining species on the IUCN red list, classed as near threatened. 

Autumnal Rustic (Eugnorisma glareosa). 

Bird ringing: 6 Blue Tit, 1 Dunnock, 1 Meadow Pipit, 1 Song Thrush.

 

Thursday 24th September 2026

Jackdaw (Coloeus monedula).

A Sunny morning with little wind. Meadow Pipit migration reducing to 7 south and 4 feeding on site, 2 Rock Pipit and a Grey Wagtail also south. 3 Peregrine over the observatory. A Black Redstart heard on the fort and unusually, a Jackdaw perched on the motus tower at the observatory. A Jay being ringed is  also of note with few individuals passing through this area. 

Seawatching: South: 28 Teal, 13 Cormorant, 10 Spoonbill, 2 Common Tern, a Common Gull and a Grey Heron. 

North: 10 Common Scoter, 7 Common Tern, 2 Cormorant, an Arctic Skua, a Red-throated Diver, a Shearwater species and a Grey Heron. 

Feeding offshore: 5 Sandwich Tern and a Common Gull.  

Moth trapping: 27 Species between our 3 traps this morning. Moth of the morning goes to the Chequered Grass-moth, it has not had a good year so difficult to know why this late individual has come out.  

Chequered Grass-moth (Catoptria falsella).

Bird ringing: 9 Blue tit, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Meadow Pipit, 2 Tree Sparrow, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 1 House Sparrow, 1 Jay. 

Wednesday 23rd September 2026

 

The first site record of Fox was a one off sighting in 1994 & since 2001 they have colonised & are now ubiquitous across Felixstowe despite culling in the countryside nearby.

Garganey flying south was only the tenth site record & our first for ten years. Entertaining southerly movement including 502 Teal, 242 Wigeon, 64 Swallow, 35 Brent, 25 House Martin,18 Common Tern, 13 Shoveler, 12 Pintail, 7 Avocet, 6 Turnstone, 5 Common Gull, 5 Common Scoter, 5 Shelduck, 4 Red-throated Diver, 3 Gadwal, 3 Gannet, 2 Heron, 2 Knot, 2 Oyk, Arctic Skua & Sanderling with northbound Black Tern, Gannet & Red-throat + a Skylark in off. Measly numbers of grounded migrants with 10 Chiffchaff, 2 Wheatear, Songie & Whinchat best of a grim selection.

Barred Sallow wanders down here in the autumn from areas with Beech & Maple.

Ringing: 4 Chiffchaff, 2 Blue Tit, 1 Robin, 1 Song Thrush.