Saturday 9th August 2014

A windy day following overnight rain. A Wheatear was the only notable bird on the deck whilst overhead 26 Swallows, 4 Swift & a House Martin headed south. Offshore however was busier with a steady trickle of waders and duck heading south including 146 Oyks, 9 Ringed Plovers, 6 Dunlin,  6 Greenshank, 5 Grey Plover, 3 Barwits, 3 Curlew, 1 Golden Plover, 8 Gadwall, 2 Tufted Duck, 1 Shelduck & 2 Little Egret. Going against the flow and heading north were 11 Barnacle Geese, 1 Fulmar & 1 Gannet.

Ringing; 1 Greenfinch.

Sanderling Ringing Recovery

Details have just been received of a Sanderling photographed here on the beach on 16th July this year. This bird was originally ringed by the Dutch on 16th July last year at Zackenberg, Greenland & was later reported at Vlieland, The Netherlands on 21st September 2013. The fact it was here a year after it was originally ringed in Greenland suggests that it failed in its breeding attempt in Greenland this year & was already on its way south.

Friday 8th August 2014

A stiff easterly breeze & overcast conditions should, in theory, bring us some "eastern promise" - unfortunately it's brought us next to nowt with the site being a bit of a migrant free zone this morning with the highlight in the bushes being 1 willow warbler. Offshore very meagre returns with 12 Teal, 7 Oyks, 3 Whimbrel, 2 Little Tern, 1 Dunlin & 1 Turnstone heading south plus heading north 11 Sandwich Tern, 1 Gannet, 1 Redshank & 1 Common Tern. 2 Little Terns were also feeding in the river mouth. Plenty of birds feeding on the reserve at the moment including 250 Starling, 100+ Linnets, 50+ House Sparrows, 25+ Greenies, 10 Pied Wags & 3 Goldfinch suggesting that there's plenty of food for little birdies on the reserve.

Thursday 7th August 2014

A fairly quiet morning with few birds about apart from 4 Willow Warblers and single Chiffchaff, Skylark and Common Sandpiper. An African Grey Parrot flying over was a surprise and not something you see everyday. Southerly passage was light although 39 Swallows and single Swift & Sand Martin were noted. Offshore 41 Barnacle Geese and 4 Little Egrets headed north.

Another Clouded Yellow was located near the bungalow.

5 Birds ringed; Wren, Willow Warbler, Blackbird, Robin & Chiffchaff.

Wednesday 6th August 2014

The southerly winds overnight picked up bringing with it heavy, showery rain from soon after dawn until mid-day at least, curtailing all activities except sea watching. A juvenile Marsh Harrier south started the ball rolling, followed by pulses of birds between showers which included waders heading south, along with 15 Common Tern, and 40 Common Scoter. The wader numbers included 12 Grey Plover, 9 Whimbrel, 24 Oyster Catcher, 7 Sanderling, 1 Curlew, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Greenshank and 3 Turnstone. To round off
with there were also 2 Fulmar and a few Gannets .

Moth numbers were down with the best of the day being 1 Bordered Straw.

Only 1 Blue Tit was ringed today.

Tuesday 5th August 2014

Best day of the autumn so far with 8 Willow Warblers, Nightingale & Green Woodpecker around the bushes, overhead passage included 169 Swallow, 3 Sand Martins & a House Martin. Offshore 14 Common Scoter & a Gannet north, 3 Turnstone & a Golden Plover south and a Grey Plover west.

Highlights amongst the insects were a Hummingbird Hawk-moth and a Clouded Yellow of the 'helice' form.

13 Birds ringed; 3 Willow Warbler, 3 Linnet, 2 Greenfinch, 1 Wren, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Pied Wagtail, 1 Nightingale, 1 Great Tit, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Whitethroat.

Monday 4th August 2014

A small number of migrants about this morning with 3 Willow Warblers in the bushes, a Green Woodpecker and a Wheatear on the reserve, a juv Yellow-legged Gull at the point and overhead were 39 Swallow, 8 Sand Martin & a Swift south.

3 Birds ringed; 2 Willow Warbler, 1 Blue Tit.

Sunday 3rd August 2014

Despite another warm still night and a very pleasantly warm day today very little of anything was noted. The pair of Peregrine Falcons are still hanging around the cranes on the dock, a Sparrowhawk was seen briefly on site and a flock of 17 Barnacle Geese went north. Large numbers of Common Blue butterflies are on the wing at present and the Brown Rats are having a good year.

Ringing was poor with only 3 birds ringed, all were young Greenfinches.
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