Saturday 12th October 2013

The heavy rain overnight had cleared by dawn and an east wind eased during the morning. Good numbers of birds were around today with 15 Blackbird, 60 Redwing, 10 Ring Ouzel, 8 Chiffchaff, Reed Warbler, 25 Blackcap, Whinchat, 5 Brambling, 4 Mistle Thrush, 3 Wheatear, 80 Robin, Grey Wagtail and 20 Dunnock. Southerly passage on shore included 9 Skylark, 5 Rock Pipit, 27 Goldfinch and 17 Swallow. Offshore southerly passage included 262 Brent Geese, 9 Common Scoter, 192 Black-headed Gull, 22 Teal, 303 Wigeon, 9 Common Gull, 4 Shelduck, a Red-throated Diver, 2 Leach's Petrels and 7 Barnacle Geese, whilst heading north were 24 Brent Geese, 40 Common Scoter, 3 Great Skua, a Kittiwake, 22 Gannet, 22 Little Gull and 2 Long-tailed Duck.

110 Birds ringed; 47 Robin, 21 Song Thrush, 13 Blackcap, 7 Dunnock, 4 Chiffchaff, 3 Chaffinch, 3 Brambling, 2 Wren, 2 Greenfinch, 2 Blackbird and single Reed Warbler, Woodpigeon, Sparrowhawk, House Sparrow, Goldfinch & Ring Ouzel.

Friday 11th October 2013

Strong north-north-easterlies easing for a while. Heavy showers at first, then heavy rain from 1030hrs. Sea watching was productive this morning with 6 Leach's Petrels including one very close in and a single Sooty Shearwater all heading north being the highlights. Other sea passage included 294 Brent Geese, 173 Black-headed Gulls, 15 Gannet, 9 Wigeon, 3 Great Skua and 4 Red-breasted Mergansers all heading south, whilst heading north were 24 Brent Geese, 37 Gannet, 4 Wigeon, a Manx Shearwater, 1 Arctic Tern, 1 Eider, 21 Common Scoter, 2 Guillemot, 2 Gadwall, an Arctic Skuas and 10 Pintail. Birds continued to arrive in off the sea all morning with amongst others 220 Redwing, 174 Chaffinch, 9 Brambling, 3 Fieldfare and a Crossbill noted. Grounded migrants included 20+ Blackbird, 40+ Song Thrush, 2 Swallow, 4 Mistle Thrush, 2 Ring Ouzel, 3 Blackcap, 2 Rock Pipit and a Yellow-browed Warbler was seen in the southern most Holm Oak.

Ringing; single Greenfinch, Robin & Goldcrest.,

October Litter Pick

Saturday 12th October 0930hrs start. All welcome. Usual arrangements. Please see the events page of www.lbo.org.uk for further info.

Thursday 10th October 2013

Strong northwest winds with heavy showers in the morning. Dawn saw the arrival of large numbers of thrushes with 8200+ Redwing, 1000+ Song Thrush, 60+ Fieldfare, 220+ Blackbird, 3 Ring Ouzel and a Mistle Thrush noted, along with 46 Brambling, 15 House Martin, 5 Swallow and a Grey Heron also arriving in off the sea. Grounded migrants included 20 Redwing, 80 Song Thrush, 15 Chaffinch, 13 Brambling, 20 Goldfinch, Chiffchaff, 3 Skylark, 2 Blackcap and a Wheatear. Southerly passage included a Great Skua, a House Martin, a Red-breasted Merganser, 2 Marsh Harrier, 4 Brent Geese, 2 Gannet, 82 Black-headed Gull, 2 Golden Plover and 4 Teal.

Ringing; 2 Redwing, 1 Song Thrush & 1 House Sparrow.

Wednesday 9th October 2013

An overcast day with a steadily increasing westerly wind. A Coal Tit, 6 Wheatear, 6 Chiffchaff and 7 Blackcap were the only grounded migrants of note. Southerly passage included 23 Chaffinch, 40 Meadow Pipit, 18 Pied Wagtail, 2 Skylark, 353 Goldfinch, 30 Siskin, 12 Greenfinch, 8 Swallow, Marsh Harrier, and a Grey Wagtail. Offshore southerly passage involved 2 Dunlin, 161 Black-headed Gull, Common Tern, 5 Brent Geese, 2 Canada Geese, 3 Teal, 18, Sanderling and 4 Great Crested Grebe.

15 Birds Ringed; 4 Blackcap, 4 Chiffchaff, 3 Greenfinch, 3 Goldfinch & 1 Song Thrush

Tuesday 8th October 2013

A foggy start but cleared as the morning went on, the wind was slight south-westerly gusting at times. There was a scattering of migrants about this morning with 10 Blackcap, 7 Chiffchaff,  2 Reed Bunting, 1 Brambling, 1 Redwing, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 3 Wheatear and a Whinchat all seen. Viz mig included 16 Pied Wagtail, 31 Goldfinch, 20 Swallow, 7 Skylark, 2 Siskin and a Rock Pipit heading south. There were several butterflies about including a Clouded Yellow and a male Long-tailed Blue.

Long-tailed Blue - photos by Tim Bagworth

 

 

12 Birds were ringed; 4 Chiffchaff, 2 Wren, 2 Meadow Pipit, 2 Starling & 1 Song Thrush.

Monday 7th October 2013

A slight south-westerly today and generally sunny. During the morning southerly passage included 15 Skylark, 46 Meadow Pipit, 27 Pied Wagtail, 3 Grey Wagtail, 17 Chaffinch, 178 Goldfinch, 3 Reed Bunting, 18 Linnet, 52 Swallow, 11 House Martin and a Siskin. There were few ground migrants about apart from 15 Robin, 5 Song Thrush, 2 Redwing, 2 Reed Bunting, 1 Goldcrest, 5 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap and a Firecrest. In the moth traps 2 Delicate and 4 Scarce Bordered Straw were the highlight. At about noon a female Long-tailed Blue was seen in front of the Obs, but unlike the male yesterday lingered a little longer before disappearing over the Holm Oaks.

20 Birds were ringed; 3 Chaffinch, 3 Chiffchaff, 3 Robin, 3 Meadow Pipit, 2 Blackcap, 2 Song Thrush and single Blackbird, Goldcrest, Wren & Great Tit.

Sunday 6th October 2013

A sunny day with slight westerly breeze. A few migrants were about this morning starting with a Hawfinch in the Tamarisk in front of the Obs, other birds were 3 Blackcap, Whinchat, Brambling, Firecrest, 20 Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting and a Purple Sandpiper was at the Point again. Southerly passage included 24 Chaffinch, 51 Meadow Pipit, 41 Linnet, 58 Goldfinch, 2 Grey Wagtail, 7 Pied Wagtail, 11 Skylark, 15 Swallow, 2 House Martin and a Siskin. Migrant moths in the traps this morning included 5 Scarce Bordered Straw and a Convolvulus Hawk-moth. At about 1pm a male Long-tailed Blue was seen on Vipers Bugloss in front of the Obs, this is the first record for the site.

27 Birds were Ringed; 11 Chiffchaff, 5 Meadow Pipit, 4 Robin, 2 Chaffinch and single Grey Wagtail, Goldfinch, Blackcap, Dunnock & Great Tit.