Saturday May 7th 2011

The weather early morning consisted of a slightly gentle south-easterly wind with complete cloud cover. Later in the morning there was a few spots of rain but nothing serious. It was extremely quiet yet again today! The first Swift of the year went south as did a Cormorant, 15 Swallow and a Goldfinch. A Sandwich Tern was seen heading north and 3 Common Tern were also on the move. Only 1 Wheatear was recorded out on the reserve. Only 2 birds ringed today; 1 Lesser Whitethroat and 1 Woodpigeon. A Slow Worm was seen on a path whilst undertaking the morning bird ringing.

PHOTO COMPETITION

For those of you out there of the photographic persuasion you might want to take a look at the competition currently being run by the Landguard Partnership. If you go to the bottom of the home page on the LBO web site a link to the partnership web site will give you further details,

Friday May 6th 2011

Highlights today were a female Marsh Harrier and Hobby both heading south. Other birds on the move were 3 Tufted Duck, 8 Arctic Tern, 1 Little Tern, 55 Swallow, 1 Sand Martin and 4 Siskin. 5 Wheatear were found out on the reserve. Only 3 birds ringed today; 2 Common Whitethroat and 1 Swallow. Butterflies present including Peacock, Large White, Small Copper, Holly Blue, Green Hairstreak and Orange Tip. 5 Large Red Damselflys were found by the Heli pond within the Bird Observartory compound. In the moth traps a Bordered Sallow was early, the species not normally appearing until June.

Thursday May 5th 2011

The wind direction was south-easterly and slightly breezy, becoming more windy as the day went on. There was quite a bit of cloud cover. Birds migrating through were 48 Common Tern, 3 Arctic Tern, 1 adult Mediterranean Gull, 4 Cormorant, 3 Whimbrel, 30 Swallow, 1 Sand Martin, 1 Skylark and 17 Goldfinch. Out on the reserve was the long staying Shorelark and 5 Wheatear. 3 Lesser Whitethroat and 5 Common Whitethroat were recorded. Only 1 bird ringed today; 1 Woodpigeon. Very poor considering the weather conditions and the time of year!

Wednesday May 4th 2011

Thankfully the north-easterly gale has subsided. Terns on the move again this am with 117 Common, 58 Arctic, 44 Little, 4 Black & 3 Sandwich making their way northwards. Also on the move a handful of waders going north & 46 Swallows south. In the bushes 4 Willow warblers plus a new Whitethroat & Robin in addition to those that live here. The Shorelark is still with us but Wheatears numbers have declined to 5. A Muntjac gave us a visitation & the first Brown Argus of the year was noted,

Tuesday 3rd May 2011

Another windy day with a fairly breezy east north-easterly wind. The Shorelark was still here out on the reserve along with 8 Wheatear. Birds migrating through consisted of 19 Common Terns heading north, 7 Cormorant, 2 Fulmar, 3 Common Gull and 12 Knot. Also found within the recording area were 3 Lesser Whitethroat, 4 Common Whitethroat, 1 female Blackcap and 2 Willow Warbler. Only 1 bird ringed today; 1 female Blackcap.

Monday 2nd May 2011

A fairly quiet day with surprisingly little bird migration of note. The winds continue to blow in an east north-easterly direction. Seawatching early to late morning produced 57 Common Tern flying north along with 3 Arctic Tern, 1 Fulmar, 7 Cormorant, 38 Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Oystercatcher and 25 Common Gull. The highlight of the day is the Shorelark still present on the reserve along with 8 Wheataer, 8 Shelduck and 10 Meadow Pipit. 2 Lesser Whitethroat were heard singing and 5 Common Whitethroat and 1 Willow Warbler were also recorded. 2 birds ringed today: 1 Common Whitethroat and 1 Willow Warbler. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day here at Landguard!

April Ringing Total 2011

336 birds were ringed in April 2011 of 28 species. This is a much higher monthly total than the last two years. In April 2010 244 birds were ringed and in April 2009 the ringing total was 226.

The top 3 species ringed were:      Chiffchaff   82      Blackcap   57      Willow Warbler 51

Sunday 1st May 2011

The north-easterly gale continues. Prolonged sea-watching produced over 320 Common Terns, 22 Arctic Terns, 6 Little Terns, 2 Black Terns, 3 Fulmars, 3 Kittiwakes, 3 Arctic Skuas, 66 Barwits, 12 Whimbrel, 2 Gadwal, Great-crested Grebe, Red-throated Diver & a Velvet Scoter. The Velvet went north at 0630ish & is probably the first of its kind to be reported in May here at Landguard. Shorelark and at least 10 Wheatears on the reserve. A couple of new Willow Warblers struggled in regardless of the wind and a Hobby shot past with the wind up its backside at vast speed. A porpoise was seen despite the rough seas making re finding it impossible.