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. 

Monday 25th May 2026

 

Decidedly hot for May. Another 100 Brent went out then north, 10 Sanderling were on the beach & the first Little Tern of the year went past. On site 3 Chiffchaff & 2 Chaffinch (including a male singing briefly). Otherwise its baby bird time of the year.

Clouded-bordered Brindle puts in an appearance here about one year in three.

Ringing: 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Goldfinch, 1 House Sparrow, 1 Linnet, 1 Robin. 

Sunday 24th May 2026

 

Another 127 Brent headed out towards the far north. In the good old days they mostly left earlier in the spring & stopped at staging grounds on the way, but over the past 40 odd years or so many wait until the end of May before departing on the long flight to the high Arctic. Other migrants hard to come by included 2 Chiffchaff, Reed Warbler & Wheatear. An Avocet over the obs heading up river always worth a mention as we don't see many this close despite plenty of them in nearby locales. 5 Sanderling were on the beach & a single Barnacle flew south along the shore.

First Rosy Wave since 2012 although we have very few records at all prior to that. It's a Nationally Scarce species that lives on Sea-beet with this one looking a bit faded & tatty already.

Ringing: 4 Great Tit.

Saturday 23rd May 2026

 

Summer has definitely arrived with hot, sunny, sticky, humid conditions. 159 Brents departed out over the obs heading out to northern Russia. Few other migrants included 22 Swallow heading south, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Reed Warbler & a Wheatear. Otherwise more baby birds appearing by the day.

More species coming out including Burnished Brass which is noted in most years with just the occasional absence.

Ringing: 3 Goldfinch, 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Linnet, 1 Wood Pigeon.