Saturday 10th January 2015

Blowing a gale but very mild. 340 Golden Plover south offshore about the same time as yesterday suggests a regular movement is developing between feeding & roosting grounds. Offshore still very poor considering the gale with southbound 9 Kitts, 4 Brent & Curlew plus north bound 20 Brents & an Oyk. Crystal Brain Exidea nucleata  (above) was correctly identified yesterday thanks to the advice of a local expert - us fungi beginners in here are struggling with some fungi identification but at least it keeps us of the streets whilst the birding is so poor.

Ringing Recoveries

Male Chaffinch ringed here 20th October 2012 hit glass 1735km away at Overroda, Vasterbotten, Sweden on 22nd June 2014 which is presumably it's breeding area. A colour ringed Lesser Black-backed Gull ringed as a baby on the Itron roof in Carr Road last summer was noted at Anza, near Agadir, Morocco yesterday - this once again shows the value of colour ringing & how quickly the initial information can get back to us.

Friday 9th January 2015

Southbound 300 Golden Plover, 66 Brent, 43 Ringed Plover, 37 Dunlin, 3 Shelduck & Bonxie plus north bound 25 Brent & Oyk. Not really sure what the Golden Plover are up to as we normally only get mid-winter movements in cold weather conditions & as for the Ringos are they just local winterer's swapping estuaries ? Started looking at fungi on site again although only common stuff noted so far including Coral Spot.

Ringing: 2 Greenfinch

Thursday 8th January 2015

Heavy rain & poor visibility. Couple of Brents have gone past but nowt else. Me thinks we can waste our time doing something else rather than watch the pouring rain down here. Abandon ship !

Wednesday 7th January 2015

140 Golden Plover went out then south & a Fieldfare on site are the only birds of note. The biggest ship on the planet is due into the dock early afternoon with the car parks already choc-a-bloc so it's best to escape to avoid the chaos. On the plus side the gulls in the View Point car park will get well fed today.

Tuesday 6th January 2015

Sycamore's budding, Elder in leaf & even the Alexander by Custom's is in flower. The way things are going we will end up with a 12 month growing season before long. Ornithologically speaking we are very much in the doldrums at the moment. Offshore still very poor although 3 Red-throated Diver went north plus 2 Brent, 2 Shelduck & Curlew south. The highlight of a walk round the reserve was the first Meadow Pipit of the year !

2015 WARDEN

Landguard Bird Observatory require a Seasonal Warden from mid-March to mid-November 2015. Applicants must have a BTO "A" or "C" bird ringing permit as a minimum requirement and an interest in biological recording. For further information please e.mail landguardbo@yahoo.co.uk

Monday 5th January 2015

Southbound 40 Common Scoter, 5 Shelduck, 5 Knot, 2 Brent plus north bound 50 Wigeon, 11 Brent & Oyk. 6 Snow Buntings on the beach & 1 Fieldfare on site early on.

Sunday 4th January 2015

Red sky in the morning - pollution warning ! Single Goldeneye south & single Red-breasted Merganser north in limited time spent viewing. Single Fieldfare on site early on with 2 Snow Bunting on the beach & a Skylark south over the reserve.