Wednesday 11th November 2026

 

3 Turnstone & 2 Purps on the jetty. Grounded migrants hard to come by. Snow Bunting towards the point flew up high. Offshore very quiet with southbound 6 Common Scoter, 2 Teal, Red-breasted Merganser & Shelduck & northbound 13 Common Scoter, 3 Brent, 2 Red-throated Diver & Curlew.

Ringing: 1 Blackbird.

Tuesday 10th November 2026

Purple Sandpiper (Calidris maritima). 

Starting foggy, after a night of dense fog, but clearing shortly after sunrise, a NNE wind building through the morning. Inside the compound: 1 Brambling, 5 Song Thrush and a Firecrest. Out on the reserve: 1 Purple Sandpiper, 1 Oystercatcher and 3 Turnstone near the point. 

Seawatching: 

North: 6 Common Scoter.  

east then north (out of the river then north): 2 Brent Goose. 

East: 75 Cormorant.

South: 21 Cormorant, 2 Common Scoter and 1 Gannet.  

West: 7 Cormorant.

Feeding offshore: 4 Black-headed Gull. 

 

Moth trapping: 6 moth species between our 3 traps.

Bird ringing: 4 Blackbird, 2 Song Thrush, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Meadow Pipit, 1 Redwing.  

Monday 9th November 2026

Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto).

Windless morning with banks of fog nearby, going from overcast to clear repeatedly. Inside the compound 2 Chaffinch, 2 Firecrest, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Greenfinch and a Redpoll. 2 Collared Dove perched on our MOTUS tower. Out on the reserve 3 Turnstone and a Purple Sandpiper all out at the point, 1 Stonechat near the cottage.   

Passerine movement: 9 Skylark south.

1 Meadow Pipit north.  

Seawatching: 

North: 1 Brent Goose.

East: 3 Cormorant and a Tufted Duck.

South: 6 Cormorant and a Brent Goose.

 

West: 1 Red-throated Diver.

Feeding offshore: 1 Common Gull. 

 

Moth trapping: 12 Species between our 3 traps. Dark Sword Grass is an immigrant species that keeps cropping up late in the year.

Dark Sword Grass (Agrotis ipsilon).

Bird ringing: 9 Blackbird, 2 Blackcap, 2 Song Thrush, 1 Robin. 

Sunday 8th November 2026

 

Dull, calm murky anticyclonic gloom with attempts by the sun to break through failing. On site migrants include 26 Mipit, 5 Chaffinch, 4 Fieldfare, 4 Songies, 3 Redwing, 2 Firecrest, 2 Stonechat, Blackcap, Brambling, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Redpoll, Rock Pipit, Short-eared Owl plus a couple of new Blackies. Very little vis mig with southbound 15 Chaffinch, 8 Mipit, 8 Skylark, 5 Goldfinch, 4 Song Thrush, 4 Stock Dove, Heron, Merlin & Rock Pipit. Purp still with us plus yet another Jay visited.

Ringing: 5 Blackbird, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Jay, 1 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Meadow Pipit, 1 Robin, 1 Wren.

Saturday 7th November 2026

Turnstone (Arenaria interpres). 

A slight NW wind, only brightening up by midday. 3 Firecrest within the compound, later being seen near the customs house. 3 Greenfinch, 1 Snow Bunting, a Purple Sandpiper and 2 Turnstone on the reserve and a Short-eared Owl early morning. 

Passerine/overhead movement

South: 90 Starling, 14 Skylark and 2 Redpoll. 

In: 80 Starling. 

Seawatching: 

South: 6 Brent Goose, 5 Shelduck, 3 Cormorant, 2 Egyptian Goose, 1 Kittiwake.   

North: 5 Brent Goose, 2 Little Egret, 1 Common Scoter and 1 Oystercatcher. 

East: 25 Cormorant. 

East then North: 3 Mute Swan. 

West: 22 Cormorant. 

Moth trapping: 14 moth species between our 3 traps. Moth of the morning goes to the Chestnut, which is a fairly common winter flying moth that we only rarely get down here. 

The Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii).
 

Bird ringing: 6 Blackbird, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Robin, 2 Song Thrush.  

Friday 6th November 2026

Firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla). 

An overcast day a slight E breeze. Inside the compound highlights included some of the 35 Blackbirds on site today, 5 Firecrest, 1 Woodcock and a Chiffchaff. Out on the reserve: 5 Rock Pipit, 2 Turnstone, 1 Oystercatcher, 1 Snow Bunting and some 20 Pied Wagtails by late evening.  

Passerine movement: 

South: 5 Chaffinch, 3 Skylark, 1 Reed Bunting 

North: 2 Skylark. 

Seawatching: 

North: 59 Common Scoter, 26 Brent Goose, 1 Gannet, 1 Shelduck

South: 55 Shelduck, 34 Common Scoter, 4 Wigeon, 3 Teal, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Grey Heron and a Red-throated Diver.  

Out of the river then north: 3 Greylag Goose. 

Feeding offshore/on: 34 Great Black-backed Gull, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 Mediterranean Gull and a Red-throated Diver. 

87 Cormorant out and 2 back in the river. 

Moth trapping: 12 moth species between our 3 traps. 

Bird ringing: 16 Blackbird, 6 Wren, 5 Long-tailed Tit, 5 Meadow Pipit, 3 Goldcrest, 2 Firecrest, 2 Song Thrush, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Robin.

 

Thursday 5th November 2026

Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis). 

Overcast and windy but brightening during the afternoon. 1 Chiffchaff and 5 Firecrest inside the compound. Out on the reserve: 1 Snow Bunting near the sea watching hide, 2 Rock Pipit and a Purple Sandpiper near the point. 

Visible migration

South: 127 Brent Goose, 23 Wigeon, 11 Common Scoter, 8 Shelduck, 5 Teal, 4 Velvet Scoter, 3 Lapwing, 2 Pintail, 1 Curlew, 1 Dunlin and a Mallard. 

North: 131 Cormorant, 88 Wigeon, 60 Common Scoter, 6 Brent, 5 Eider, 5 Gadwall, 3 Shelduck, 2 Red-breasted Merganser, 1 Gannet, 1 Great Northern Diver, 2 Greylag Goose, 1 Oystercatcher and a Red-throated Diver.  

East: 78 Cormorant. 

Feeding offshore: 45 Great Black-backed Gull, 1 Common Gull and a Mediterranean Gull. 

Moth trapping: 2 Species between our 3 traps. Moth of the morning goes to Eudonia angustea, a common species in the Autumn that is lingering on later in the year nowadays.  

Eudonia angustea.  

Bird ringing: 9 Blackbird, 6 Goldcrest, 4 Firecrest, 4 Goldfinch, 

2 Wren, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Redwing.