Saturday 27th June 2015

Six-belted Clearwing, a nationally scarce species of moth, has begun to emerge again on site, with at least a dozen seen today. There are very few sites for this species in the whole of East Anglia.

Very little to report again today, the most noteable being a Great-spotted Woodpecker and a flock of around 60 Swifts circling high overhead.

In the moth traps the best moth was yet another Marbled Clover,(are they migrants or breeding locally).

Only 5 birds ringed, 1 each of Starling, Greenfinch, Linnet, Wood Pigeon and Magpie. 

Friday 26th June 2015

Another 51 Curlew, 3 Oyks, male Ruff & a Fulmar went south offshore. We don't see many Ruff here but this one will be coming into the UK to moult as will the 3 Lapwing on the reserve first thing that have moved in from somewhere like the Low Countries before heading inland. Talking of moult then the 13 Shelduck that headed straight out to sea first thing will almost certainly be British breeders off to the shallow seas on the Waddenzee, off the north-west German coast, for their annual regrowth of nice new feathers. On site a single Siskin paid a brief visit & a handful of Swifts were feeding over the reserve. An odd site for the time of year was a distant Crow heading south well out to sea. After a warm sticky night the moth traps are certainly picking up - today's featured moth is Barred Yellow which have started becoming regularly noted in recent days.

18 birds ringed: 7 greenfinch, 4 linnet, 2 robin, 2 dunnock, 2 goldfinch, 1 great tit.

Thursday 25th June 2015

This spectacular Privet Hawk moth, one of 2 caught overnight, was a very nice find when checking the moth traps this morning.

Still very quiet bird wise, with little to report, the best being the first Grey Wagtail heading south, hopefully the start of another good autumn here at Landguard for this species.

Only 14 birds ringed,  3 Greenfinch, 2 each of House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Blackbird and Robin, and 1 each of Chaffinch, Wood Pigeon and Wren.   

Wednesday 24th June 2015

Sandwich Terns like the one above, are still being seen regularly, they are probably failed breeders from elsewhere along the coast.

The south-westerly wind is hampering any late migration, so the best we can hope for are returning birds heading south for the autumn. These included Blackcap and Chiffchaff along with a Siskin, Sand Martin and 3 House Martins south, plus a Hobby chasing the Linnet flock first thing. Offshore 28 Curlew went south along with 1 Fulmar, whilst 3 Gannets went north.

The first Essex Skipper butterfly of the year was noted.

Only 11 birds were ringed today.  3 each of Linnet and Greenfinch, and 1 each of Starling, Goldfinch, Pied Wagtail, Blackcap and Chiffchaff. 

Tuesday 23rd June 2015

Two Reed Warbler singing on the reserve need to get a move on and find a reed bed if they are going to breed this year. Another 43 Curlew plus a Redshank headed south offshore so far this morning. 19 Swift & a Grey Heron came in off the sea but that's your lot on a fairly cold breezy morning with occasional light drizzle. Despite the fact that it is supposed to be summer the inclement conditions resulted in only a grand total of 30 moths in three traps - don't you just love the British weather !

9 birds ringed: 6 greenfinch, 1 wood pigeon, 1 linnet, 1 house sparrow.

Recent Ringing Recoveries

Lithuanian ringed Black-headed Gull photographed in the Manor Terrace car park on 24th February 2015 was ringed as a pullus 8th June 2009 1673km away at Kretuono ez, Svencioniu, Lithuania. Blackbird caught here 15th October 2014 ringed 4th October 2014 153km away at Westkapelle, Zeeland, Holland. Robin caught here 5th April 2015 ringed 3rd October 2014 235km away Kingston, Isle of Wight contrasts with a Robin caught here 2nd May 2015 ringed 5th September 2014 16km away on Hollesley Heath.

Monday 22nd June 2015

Ray's Knotgrass, a rare species found on coastal sand and shingle, is one of the site specialities and appears to be thriving at the moment as these pictures show. The bottom shot shows a close-up of the flowers.

It is still very quiet at the moment with little happening except for the return passage of Curlew, with 61 moving south offshore this morning plus a single Whimbrel. Apart from that, only a couple of dispersing juveniles in the form of a Chiffchaff and a Coal Tit raised the interest, along with a passing Hobby. The Starling roost is now up to at least 500 birds, and we are still managing to catch a few first thing before they head off to feed.

Moth-wise, we are still catching a few migrants, including another 3 Bordered Straw and a couple of Dark Swordgrass.

Birds ringed today totalled 22, of which 15 were Starlings, 3 Linnet,and 1 each of Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Dunnock and Wren. 

Sunday 21st June 2015

South westerly winds today brought small numbers of migrants to the observatory. Migrants included 42 Swift, 7 House Martin, 2 Swallow, 1 Common Tern, 2 Sandwich Tern, 17 Curlew, 5 Goldfinch and 3 Shoveler.

In the moth traps this morning was this pretty The Magpie, (above).

Slow Worm was also found on-site this morning, which we see now and again here.

Ringing: 10 birds ringed during the morning including 5 Greenfinch, 2 Blue Tit, 2 Woodpigeon and 1 Wren.