Saturday 20th September 2014

A misty start to the day followed by rain until mid morning. A fair number of migrants were about including 20+ Blackcap, 20 Chiffchaff, 8 Wheatear, 6 Whitethroat, 4 Goldcrest, 4 Whinchat, 3 Siskin and single Reed Warbler, Redstart, Garden Warbler, Great Spotted Woodpecker and the Red-backed Shrike continued to show well all day. Southerly passage included 20 Swallow, 31 Goldfinch and 5 Grey Wagtail. Offshore a Grey Heron flew north and 15 Brent Geese, 5 Sandwich Terns and a Grey Heron flew south, also offshore were 3 Teal on the sea and a juvenile Little Gull.

Amongst the moths were a handful of migrants including 5 Pearly Underwings and a fresh Convolvulus Hawk-moth.

34 Birds ringed; 11 Chiffchaff, 11 Blackcap, 5 Grey Wagtail, 3 Robin, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Blackbird.

Friday 19th September 2014

A foggy start again but becoming bright and hot. An obliging Red-backed Shrike found in the bushes on the reserve was the highlight this morning. Amongst the other migrants on site were 2 Reed Warbler, 14 Swallow, 3 House Martin, 1 Whinchat, 1 Siskin, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Goldcrest, 6 Chiffchaff & 6 Blackcap. Overhead 10 Grey Wagtail, 1 Redpoll, 1 Yellow Wagtail and a Snipe flew south. Offshore 15 Brent Geese flew south and 1 Golden Plover headed north.

34 Birds ringed; 8 Grey Wagtail, 5 Chiffchaff, 4 Meadow Pipit, 3 Robin, 3 Blackcap, 3 Song Thrush, 2 Chaffinch, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Siskin, 1 Goldfinch & 1 Whitethroat.

September Litter Pick

Litter Pick this Saturday 20th September 0930hrs start. Usual arrangements - please see the events page on www.lbo.org.uk for further info.

Thursday 18th September 2014

A misty start becoming sunny later. A few new migrants in today including 10 Song Thrush, 3 Goldcrest, 5 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff, 7 Lesser Whitethroat, 3 Wheatear, 2 Siskin, and single Tree Pipit, Firecrest, Brambling, Whinchat and Redpoll. Overhead 2 Grey Wagtail and a Siskin flew south and 4 Swallow and 2 other Grey Wagtail flew north.

On the insect front a Clouded Yellow was seen on the reserve and  record 13 Western Conifer Seed Bugs were seen.

13 Birds ringed; 4 Song Thrush, 2 Grey Wagtail, 1 Blackbird, 1 Blackcap, 1 Redpoll, 1 Dunnock, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Blue Tit. Two controls were also caught, 1 Chiffchaff & 1 Reed Warbler.

Recent Recoveries

A first year female Chaffinch ringed here 31st March 2008 hit a glass window 76km away at Downham Lodge Farm, Norfolk on 11th June 2014 so was probably breeding there. A young Willow Warbler ringed here 7th September 2011 was controlled 650km away at Mizottes de Triaize, France on 28th August 2013. A young Blackcap ringed here on 12th September 1993 was controlled 133km away at Nieuwpoort, Belgium on 19th September 1994 but for some reason this information took 20 years to get back to us !

Wednesday 17th September 2014

A few migrants were scattered about the site in small numbers including a Redpoll, 15 Robin, 3 Chiffchaff, 6 Blackcap, 4 Lesser Whitethroat, 3 Wheatear and an early Brambling that was feeding amongst the 120+ Linnet on the reserve. Overhead a few Swallows were milling about as well as 14 north & 1 south, 7 Chaffinch and 4 Grey Wagtail also headed south. Offshore 4 Brent headed north, a Snipe flew south and 14 Teal headed up river.

12 Birds ringed; 3 Blackcap, 2 Grey Wagtail, 1 Robin, 1 Wren, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Linnet, 1 Meadow Pipit, 1 Blue Tit.

Tuesday 16th September 2014

A clear night last night despite the low level fog seems to have caused a clear out with very little new arriving to replace them. Apart from a number of Wagtails of 3 species logged on site or over, only singletons of Jay, Wheatear, Whinchat, Reed Bunting and Spotted Flycatcher were noted.
Insect wise this Western Conifer Seed Bug was noteworthy, as were the 10 Green Birch Shield Bugs found in the moth traps.

Only 3 birds were ringed today. 2 Grey Wagtail and 1 Meadow Pipit.

Monday 15th September 2014

A nice selection of migrants about this morning with 47 Swallow (south), 6 Grey Wagtail (south), 4 Yellow Wagtail (including 1 south), 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Goldcrest, Firecrest, Siskin, Tree Pipit, Turtle Dove, Grasshopper Warbler, Marsh Harrier (north), Spotted Flycatcher and the bird of the day a Red-breasted Flycatcher.

10 Birds ringed; 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Siskin, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Robin, 1 Great Tit, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Red-breasted Flycatcher. 1 Grasshopper Warbler was also caught that had been ringed here on 5th September.

Recent Ringing Recoveries

An adult female Chaffinch ringed here on 15/10/2012 became a road casualty near Videbank, Denmark 663km away on 04/06/2014 which suggests it met it's maker near it's breeding site. A young male Sparrowhawk ringed here on 16/10/2011 hit a conservatory 95km away at Aylsham, Norfolk on 7th June 2014 with this date also suggesting it was nesting in this area - we get lots of dead Sparrowhawks killed by flying into conservatory windows so please don't clean the glass on your conservatory !

Sunday 14th September 2014

With the winds coming from a north to north-easterly direction, autumn migration should be in full swing. However, with very little cloud to obscure the moon most migrants are passing us by at present. So very little was seen today, the only birds of note were a Turtle Dove, Great spotted Woodpecker, Whinchat, 3 Wheatear, Goldcrest , Spotted Flycatcher and very small numbers of common autumn migrants, whilst offshore 40 Wigeon south was about it.

Ringed birds totalled just 9, of which 2 were Song Thrush, and 1 each of Robin, Wren, Garden Warbler, Chiffchaff, Grey Wagtail, Great spotted Woodpecker and Collared Dove.