Saturday 18th October 2014

The Great Grey Shrike showed it self again on the reserve and a couple of Ring Ouzels were at the back of the Obs. Overhead a few birds were passing over including 37 Goldfinch, 9 Swallow, 7 House Martin, 6 Skylark and a couple of Grey Wagtails. Offshore a selection of waders and wildfowl headed south including 139 Wigeon, 46 Dunlin, 20 Brent, 13 Knot, 9 Teal, 7 Common Scoter, 3 Red-breasted Merganser, 2 Snipe and 2 Eider.

4 Birds ringed; single Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush & Grey Wagtail.

Friday 17th October 2014

A small number of migrants about this morning the best of which was a Great Grey Shrike (above) that was located on the reserve, other notable birds were 3 Wheatear, 4 Ring Ouzels and a Black Redstart. Southerly passage included 295 Goldfinch, 38 Meadow Pipit, 31 Chaffinch, 23 Skylark 22 Linnet, 18 Swallow, and 2 Grey Wagtail. Offshore the only notable birds were 15 Brent and 3 Wigeon flying south.

6 Clouded Yellows were present on the reserve and the highlight in the moth traps was a Merveille du Jour (below) a species that has only been recorded here in six previous years.

21 Birds ringed; 3 Goldfinch, 3 Chaffinch, 2 Blackcap, 2 Wren, 2 Blackbird, 2 Greenfinch, 2 Great Tit, 1 Ring Ouzel, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Robin, 1 Dunnock, 1 Song Thrush.

Ringing Recoveries

Amongst the recent batch recieved are a Wren ringed here 14th October 2013 found dead 110km away at Overstrand, Norfolk 1st August 2014 which is a good movement for a Wren. A Robin ringed at The Fleet Dorset on 22nd July 2013 retrapped here 305km away on 26th May 2014 which is a difficult recovery to explain as this bird is probably native near to the area it was ringed & Robin migration at the end of May is non-existent. A Chiffchaff ringed at Fawley, Hampshire on 6th October 2013 was retrapped here 224km away on 20th March 2014. A Chiffchaff ringed Dungeness, Kent on 22nd September 2013 was retrapped here 224km away on 11th April 2014. The other recoveries are all fairly local including a Dunnock ringed at Walton-on-the-Naze 17th October 2013 retrapped here 31st March 2014, Blackcap ringed Leiston 13th April 2011 retrapped here 17th April 2014, Blackcap ringed Hollesley 23rd September 2013 retrapped here 18th May 2014, Chiffchaff ringed Thorpeness 18th September 2013 retrapped here 18th May 2014 & a Chiffchaff ringed here 19th September 2013 retrapped 77km away at Beccles, Norfolk 21st April 2014.

October Litter Pick

Litter Pick this Saturday 18th October 0930hrs. Usual arrangements. Further info on the events page of www.lbo.org.uk

Thursday 16th October 2014

A few new migrants were in today including a few thrushes, 7 Wheatear, 2 Short-eared Owls and single Ring Ouzel, Turtle Dove and Purple Sandpiper. Overhead viz mig produced a reasonable selection of species including 592 Goldfinch, 126 Chaffinch, 107 Linnet, 35 Swallow, 24 Meadow Pipit, 14 Siskin, 14 Sky Lark, 4 Wood Lark and 3 Grey Wagtail. Offshore southerly passage was fairly quiet apart from 69 Brent, 68 Teal, 18 Wigeon, 11 Shelduck and a Great Northern Diver.

Amongst the lepidoptera today were a Clouded Yellow on the reserve and in the moth traps this morning the highlights were a Scarce Bordered Straw and a micro-moth that is a good candidate for Acleris notana.

19 Birds ringed; 4 Blackbird, 4 Robin, 2 Song Thrush, 2 Wren, 2 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Greenfinch, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Great Tit, 1 Dunnock.

Wednesday 15th October 2014

A nice selection of migrants in again today including 50 Redwing, 60 Song Thrush, 35 Blackbird, 35 Robin, 3 Ring Ouzel, 12 Blackcap, 2 Brambling, 10 Long-tailed Tit, 3 Wheatear, 1 Black Redstart and a Pied Flycatcher. Overhead 4 Swallow, 3 House Martin, 59 Goldfinch and 2 Jackdaw were amongst those heading south. Offshore a party of 27 Little Gulls were on the sea, our first Great Northern Diver of the autumn flew north and only 69 Brent flew south.

On the insect front 4 Clouded Yellow were on the reserve and a Hummingbird Hawk-moth was by the Obs. A few migrants were in the moth traps this morning, the best of which were 2 Scarce Bordered Straw (above) and 2 Palpita vitrealis.

65 Birds ringed; 12 Robin, 9 Blackbird, 8 Song Thrush, 8 Chiffchaff, 7 Blackcap, 7 Long-tailed Tit, 3 Great Tit, 3 Blue Tit, 2 Goldfinch, 2 Goldcrest, 2 Wren, 1 Woodpigeon, 1 Pied Flycatcher. We also caught a Dutch ringed Blackbird.

Tuesday 14th October 2014

A goodly arrival of fairly typical mid-October fare today including 132 Redwing, 100 Song Thrush, 70 Robin, 40 Blackies, 35 Goldcrest, 33 Ring Ouzel (an excellent count with many birds clearing off in land during the morning), 30 Chaffinch, 20 Blackcap, 20 Long-tailed Tit, 8 Chiffchaff, 5 Skylark, 4 Brambling, 3 Grey Wagtail, 3 Wheatear, 2 Jay, Turtle Dove, Stonechat, Whinchat, Redstart, Black Redstart, Rock Pipit, Reed & Lapland Bunting. Visible movements included south bound 41 Mipits, 38 Greenies, 24 Skylark, 23 Chaffinch, 9 Swallow, 6 Pied Wags, 3 Grey Wags & Kestrel with offshore 3216 Brent Goose, 108 Black-headed Gull, 27 Teal, 22 Wigeon, 13 Shelduck, 8 Common Gull, 3 Golden Plover, 3 Dunlin, 2 Gannet, 2 Oyk, Red-throated Diver, Mallard, Red-breasted Merg & Snipe. In the moth department 6 Rusty-dot Pearls was the best morning of the autumn for them so far.

109 birds ringed: 35 Robin, 17 Long-tailed Tit, 20 Goldcrest, 8 Song Thrush, 7 Blackcap, 4 Blackbird, 4 Goldfinch, 3 Wren, 2 Jay, 2 Grey Wag, 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Collared Dove, 1 Ring Ouzel, 1 House Sparrow, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Brambling + a control Great Tit.

Monday 13th October 2014

A wet and windy day. Seawatching was highly productive this morning with a steady stream of birds heading south all the time including 7551 Brent, 75 Wigeon, 62 Teal, 43 Little Gull (all but one were in the late afternoon), 26 Common Scoter, 15 Dunlin, 9 Shelduck, 7 Tufted Duck, 7 Gannet, 5 Red-breasted Merganser,  2 Shoveler, 2 Little Terns (late for us), 1 Goldeneye, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Arctic Tern and a large all dark petrel that flew though with 2 Sooty Shearwaters but remained unidentified. Also offshore were a Red-throated Diver, Bonxie and a Manx Shearwater & Arctic Skua that headed north. Around the bushes 13 Goldcrest, 8 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Firecrest, Black Redstart, Redwing (1st of autumn & possibly our latest ever autumn arrival date) and a male Brambling were the highlights. N.b. - this blog was updated late pm.

21 Birds ringed: 6 Robin, 4 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff, 3 Goldcrest, 2 Great Tit, 2 Blackbird, 1 Song Thrush.

Sunday 12th October 2014

After a still, clear night, daybreak saw cloud beginning to roll in from the east, bringing with it some reasonably good visible migration. With finches, Wagtails and Pipits being the most common movers. 5 Swallow and 17 Skylark along with Reed Bunting and Brambling along with 66 Brent Goose and 15 Shelduck south offshore. On site, 4 Wheatear, 8 Blackcap, 7 Chiffchaff, 15 Robin, 2 Goldcrest, 1 Jay, 1 Great spotted Woodpecker, 1 Tree Sparrow, 1 Black Redstart and a sprinkling of new Great Tits.

On the insect front 5 Clouded Yellow Butterflies were seen on site.

Ringing total 20 birds. 6 Blackcap, 4 Great Tit, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest, 2 Chaffinch, 2 Robin, 1 Dunnock and 1 Jay.