Monday 13th April 2026

 

Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopuson) on the beach early in the morning. A little delve into the scientific name; it derives from Greek and Latin, with numenius meaning a "new moon" (referring to the bill shape) and phaeopuson "dusky foot". 

An almost windless morning, with a very slight SW, starting cloudy then brightening up for a short while before becoming overcast. A Whimbrel was present along the shore line first thing, with a Collared dove and a Greater spotted woodpecker present in the compound later. 5 Wheatear remain on the peninsular.    

Sea watching produced the first 2 Sandwich tern of the spring heading north, with a Teal also heading north. Birds moving south included; 25 Black-headed gull, 6 Barnacle geese, 5 Swallow and 2 mediterranean gull. With 6 Cormorant heading out to sea.     

Moth trapping: Only 2 moths present, the first for spring V pug and an Angle shades moth. Interestingly, the larvae of the V pug prefer feeding on the flowers rather than the leaves of their food plants, including Elder, Bramble, Dog-rose, and Hemp-agrimony.  

First V pug (Chloroclystis v-ata) of the year

Bird ringing: 5 Blackcap, 3 Whitethroat, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Goldfinch, 1 House sparrow, 1 Linnet, 1 Wren.

Sunday 12th April 2026

 

Still the odd Mipit passing through.

A healthy arrival of at least 16 Wheatear on a windy morning plus the first Lesser Whitethroat of the spring. Other migrants include 10 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff, 3 Willow Warbler, 2 Whitethroat, Reed Bunting & White Wagtail. Southbound 14 Swallow, 4 Canadas & 2 Sand Martin with northbound 24 Barnacles & 2 Common Scoter.

Moth catches still pathetic with just two in total this morning including the first Agonopterix arenella of the year.

Ringing: 6 Blackcap, 3 Wheatear, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler, 1 Wren.

Saturday 11th April 2026

 

Silver Y (Autographa gamma) - about two weeks earlier than most years. A little look into the scientific name: gamma is Greek for the letter Y.

A windy overcast morning with wind blowing from the SE. Very few migrants passing through, with ringing saying it all, with mostly retrap Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs from yesterday. A Redpoll was seen early in the morning in the compound, and a Whimbrel on the beach, 5 Wheatear remain on the peninsula. 

An easterly wind can be promising for blowing migrants closer to the shore, however today few were seen, with 7 Black-headed gull, 5 Swallow, 2 Whimbrel and an Oystercatcher flying south. Just 2 Cormorant moving North.  

Evening sea watching, whilst keeping an eye on tent traps for Wheatear, produced 6 Black-headed gull, 3 Mediterranean gull and a Curlew all heading south.  

Moth trapping: 3 moths, in a total of 3 traps, somewhat not surprising with the strong winds overnight. One of them being our first Silver Y of spring. The Silver Y is probably the most common immigrant moth in the UK, numbers tend to build in autumn, as the breeding population from spring migrants is swelled by further migration.    

Bird Ringing: 3 Wheatear, 2 Linnet, 1 Chiffchaff. 

A male Wheatear. Great to be catching these large winged individuals, with all 5 Wheatear caught to date this spring having wing lengths above 102 mm, making them all likely to be of the Greenland subspecies, making their way back up from Africa - one of the longest transoceanic crossing of any passerine - sub species leucorhoa.  

Friday 10th April 2026

 

One of our resident pair of Common turnstone (Arenaria interpres)

A cold morning, with the wind initially coming from NW, however dropping steadily and then changing to ESE by late morning and now a SSW. A reasonable number of migrants present around the peninsular, with 8 Wheatear, a Whitethroat and a singing Willow warbler. A Buzzard was notably seen circling, with very few seen in this area.     

Fine viewing out to sea produced 93 Black-headed gull, 8 Common gull, 7 Swallow, 2 Mediterranean gull and a Common scoter flying south. 5 Swallow and a Common scoter flying north.  

Moth trapping: The Oak-tree pug takes the limelight, with it being first for spring, although very tatty... with more of the usual with Quakers, and a Swallow prominent again.  

Ringing: 6 Chiffchaff, 3 Blackcap, 3 Linnet, 1 Willow warbler, 1 Wheatear.

Thursday 9th April 2026

Our earliest recorded spring arrival Reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) by 2 days (2025), using our daily census records dating back to 1986. 

A calm morning produced some decent migrants, with today bringing our first; Reed warbler, Whimbrel and Yellow Wagtail of this spring. Other birds on site included 6 Wheatear and at least 2 Willow warbler singing.

A few migrants were seen out to sea with 6 Mediterranean gull, 6 Meadow pipit, a Swallow, and the Whimbrel flying north. Flying south; 8 Oystercatcher, 3 Swallow, 2 Brent Geese, a Little egret, a Meadow pipit and a Jackdaw. Also notably the Blackbird ringed was recently fledged but well developed - quite early!  

Moth Trapping: Bloxworth Snout (Hypena obsitalis) was the most noteworthy, once migrating but recently building small populations on the southern coast, first for spring alongside the Diamondback moth and Light-brown apple moth... slowly getting a more diverse mix.   

Ringing: 15 Chiffchaff, 13 Blackcap, 1 Blackbird, 1 Robin, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Linnet, 1 Reed warbler, 1 Sparrowhawk.

Wednesday 8th April 2026

 

Starlings are investigating the nest boxes on the cottage.

Glorious clear calm sunny morning with a small handful of common migrants including 7 Blackcap, 7 Swallow,  5 Chiffchaff, 5 Wheatear, 2 Willow Warbler & Mipit plus visits from both Jackdaw & Stock Dove. Southbound 5 Barnacles & 4 Med Gull with offshore activity non-existent. 2 Turnstone & the singing Skylark still with us.

Ringing: 5 Blackcap, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Linnet, 1 Wheatear.

Tuesday 7th April 2026

 

A female Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe), the scientific name originates from Greek, meaning "vine" (oenoē) and "bloom" (anthos), referring to the birds' arrival in Greece in spring, coinciding with the blossoming of grapevines. 4 Wheatear have been seen today.

A clear morning with a brisk wind from ESE produced some more interesting migrants. A group of 12 Little gull where seen flying north with our first Common tern of the season flying shortly behind. A little later in the morning we ringed our earliest ever Whitethroat, beating the previous record by a day. Signs of nesting are starting to happen around the site, with a Linnet seen collecting nesting material.

Sea watching also produced 3 Avocets, 2 Curlews and 2 Black-headed gulls, all flying north. 3 Shelduck where seen flying south. 

Moth trapping: usual mix of Quakers joined by the Swallow prominent, the larvae feed on Poplar trees and the adult emerges from a chrysalis underground post winter.  

Swallow Prominent (Pheosia tremula).

Ringing: 4 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, 1 Linnet, 1 Pied wagtail, 1 Whitethroat. 

Whitethroat (Curruca communis) - Todays nice adult male with a reddish orange iris compared to a more grey iris seen in birds born last Spring. *Supporting other ageing criteria: such as rr4-5 showing distinct white markings*.