Saturday 27th July 2013

Not a lot of note. A Sanderling on the beach looked a lot healthier than the head & neck of a Barnacle Goose on the riverbank ! Couple of waders went past but to be honest the moth traps are taking an eon to go through at the moment & other birders with time to go birding on site were almost non-existent. Ringing: 3 Greenfinch, 1 Blue Tit.

Friday 26th July 2013

Another hot & humid day.The only only birds of note were a Green Woodpecker and single Whimbrel and Redshank south. A Grass Snake was present in the Obs pond. The moth traps continue to produce good numbers, with 4 Dark Sword-grass and single Large Emerald, Small Fan-footed Wave and Small Angle Shades of note. Ringing; 2 Blackbird and single Great Tit & Starling.

Thursday 25th July 2013

The day started hot and humid with heavy showers until mid morning. Offshore 6 Dunlin, 2 Turnstone, a Curlew, a Redshank & 9 Common Scoter headed south and a Great Northern Diver headed north. Other birds passing through were a 1st summer Hobby south and 4 Swift heading north. In the moth traps this morning amongst the 167 species was an Engrailed, another new species for the site. Also the first Ringlet seen in the compound was found in the moat. Ringing; 5 Greenfinch & a Chiffchaff.

Vacuum Cleaner

Unfortunately our heavy duty industrial vacuum cleaner, that we were given over 20 years ago, has died. Although it may come of a surprise to some of you - we do occasionally do some hoovering! Consequently we are on the scrounge for a "Henry" type vacuum cleaner, can anyone help? If so please drop an email to landguardbo@yahoo.co.uk

Wednesday 24th July 2013

Another hot and humid day. Few birds were seen, the most notable being 5 Whimbrel, 6 Swift and 4 Sand Martin all heading south.Whilst closing the nets a Lunar Hornet Clearwing was found in a net, this is a new species of moth for the site. Ringing; single Wren, Greenfinch & Linnet

Tuesday 23rd July 2013

Bit more action offshore this morning although the promised precipitation amounted to little more than a few spots. Assorted bits'n bobs on the move. Going south offshore 113 Black-heads, 7 Curlew, 6 Oyks, 6 Whimbrel, 6 Common Terns, 3 Common Gulls, Heron, Gadwal, Grey Plover, Redshank, Turnstone, Manx Shearwater & Little Stint. North bound were 6 Little Egret, 2 Common Scoter, Kitt & Sandwich Tern. Little jobs moving were 28 Swift north + 7 south, 9 Swallow north + 6 south & Yellow Wag south. 8 Med Gulls included 4 of this years juvs. A dispersing juv Blackcap was in the bushes & yesterdays Four-spotted Chafer was still with us. Moth traps, as you can imagine in this weather, are a tad busy with a substantial influx (or emergence) of Diamond-back Moths including 265 in the traps plus many more on site. Dotted Fan-foot is notable down here. Ringing: 2 Greenfinch, 2 Linnet, 1 Blackcap, 1 Dunnock, 1 Wren.

Monday 22nd July 2013

Hot & sticky. 3 Turnstone on the point plus a Lapwing on the reserve first thing. 2 Kitts went south but, otherwise, quiet offshore as it has been for days. At least 6 Meds knocking about. Four-spot Chaser on site is good for us. Ringing: 6 Greenfinch, 4 Starling, 2 Linnet, 2 Chaffinch, 2 House Sparrow, 1 Wren.

Sunday 21st July 2013

Murky with sea mist & fine drizzle coupled with a north-easterly breeze is not ideal. 19 Sanderling feeding on the beach is a goodly gang for here. Also present were 3 Lapwing near the point & 5 Ringos (+ 22 day old chick). A Dunlin went south & 3 Common Gulls came in off the sea. Otherwise it's just the usual birds in the usual places. Ringing: 4 Greenfinch, 1 Blackbird, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Ringed Plover (chick).