Saturday 10th November 2012

The Water Rail still with us & screeching his head off - but we still haven't seen it ! A handful of new Blackies & thrushy types on site this morning plus a handful of goldies, 2 Swallows, Grey Wag & a Jackdaw heading south. A Bonxie harassed some gulls in the distance offshore & then it's down to the regulars - Peregrine, Little Owl, Med Gull & a few Turnstones along the shore.

Friday 9th November 2012

Quiet again as winter sets in proper. A dozen Lesser Redpoll were the main characters in the ringing today, with a couple of Chaffinches, a Blackbird and a Song Thrush thrown in for good measure. Raptors were well represented by Peregrine, Merlin,  Kestrel and A Sprawk. A few finchy things heading South along with the odd Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit. A Water Rail was again calling from the same bit of scrub and again could not be lured out to acquire a ring. Offshore were single figures of Brents, the usual flyby cormorants and still the odd Lesser Black-backed and Med Gull.

November Litter Pick

Litter Pick this Saturday 10th Novemberber 0930hrs start. All welcome. Further info on the events page of www.lbo.org.uk

Thursday 8th November 2012

Very quiet today with only a few Chaffinches and Goldies moving South. A large female Peregrine was on the beach at dawn and gave some good views as she headed up to the crane to join a smaller presumably male bird. A few Stock Doves and the odd woody also moved through with some Siskin and Meadow Pipits. A Water Rail was in the same spot as yesterday but remained elusive apart fro the odd call. Also on site a female Sparrowhawk, Firecrest, 3 Goldcrest, Single Snow Bunting and 5 Swallows.

Ringing: 2 Chaffinch, 2 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Greenfinch = 5

Wednesday 7th November 2012

Distinct lack of Blackbirds with only c40 around today after yesterdays flourish. A few Mipits, Chaffs, Siskins, Wood Pigs and Stock doves accompanied 2 lonely Swallows heading south. A water Rail was screeching in the bushes for an hour or so this morning but failed to show itself. Also seen were 2 Mistle Thrush, a Snow Bunting, the adult female Peregrine, a couple of Red-throated Divers, a lingering male Firecrest and a couple of Rock Pipits.

Ringing: 9 Blackbird, 6 Lesser Redpoll, Goldcrest, Chaffinch and Goldfinch = 18.

Tuesday 6th November 2012

Wood Pigs and Blackbirds were the order of today with the latter dropping in throughout and 13,100 Pigs heading South early on, accompanied by 242 Stock Doves. Also in off the sea with the Blackbirds were 60 Fieldfare, 16 Redwing, 4 Waxwing and 75 Starling. Otherwise a few other bits and bobs heading south including 14 Skylark, 10 Siskin, a Short-eared Owl, 16 Swallows, 3 House Martins, 2 Grey Wagtail and a handfull of Chaffs and Greenys in with 90 Goldfinch. At least 3 Woodcock were also on site.

Ringing: 91 Blackbird, 3 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Robin, Redwing, Jay, Woodcock, Blue Tit, Goldfinch and another juvenile Wood Pigeon = 102.

Monday 5th November 2012

More Woodies heading South in the cold this morning with over 6500 counted. Amongst them 219 Stock Doves, 1 Rook, a Male Hen Harrier, a handful of the usual finchy suspects, a Grey Wagtail, 4 Jays and a Mistle Thrush. Ringing was slow going with a few new Blackbirds, Goldcrests and a lone Pigeon. A female Bullfinch was a nice addition to the years species list and the first ringed on site since 2007.

Ringing: Blackbird 9, Goldcrest 4, Goldfinch 4, Chaffinch 3, Lesser Redpoll 2, Wren, Woodpigeon, Redwing and Bullfinch = 26.

Sunday 4th November 2012

What are we doing here ? Bucketing down with rain most of the morning & when not heaving down it's still raining. The wind has picked up to a fairly strong south-easterly which could be promising - but isn't ! Offshore very little going past with the highlights being a couple of Eiders & Kitts. An adult Yellow-legged Gull put in an appearance along the beach. Very little noted in the bushes but in these conditions it's hardly surprising.