Saturday 22nd August 2015

Warm & muggy. A Little Stint flying over calling in company with a Dunlin is always a good one to get here. Also heading south 265 Swallow, 11 Yellow Wagtail, 4 House Martin, 3 Curlew, 2 Grey Wagtail & 2 Oystercatcher. Deadly quiet for migrants around the observatory with 5 Common Whitethroat and singles of Wheatear, Willow Warbler & Whinchat on the reserve. 5 Swifts were loitering over the site all morning. Unbelievably this is only the third Wheatear of the autumn here which is very poor.

4 birds ringed: 2 Robin, 1 Great tit, 1 Greenfinch.

Friday 21st August 2015

Another day of heavy cloud and southerly winds produced a very small scattering of migrants to the observatory today which included 6 Common Whitethroat, 3 Willow Warbler, 1 Sedge Warbler, 8 Goldfinch, 24 Swallow, 22 Sand Martin, 25 Oystercatcher, 8 Ringed Plover, 6 Avocet, 47 Teal, 2 Shoveler, 1 Wigeon, 1 Great-Crested Grebe, 19 Common Tern and 2 Sandwich Tern.

This Migrant Hawker (above), sunning itself in the afternoon hot sun.

Always good to get an example of the red data book species, Tawny Wave. 

Ringing: 2 birds ringed during the course of the morning which included 1 Song Thrush and 1 Robin.

Thursday 20th August 2015

Heavy cloud and heavy rain during this morning which then cleared giving a much warmer feel to the day. Albeit, rather quiet on the migrant front.

New migrants today included 66 Teal, 4 Common Scoter, 3 Shoveler, 26 Oystercatcher, 20 Dunlin, 9 Ringed Plover, 2 Golden Plover, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Redshank, 1 Grey Plover, 1 Sanderling, 7 Sandwich Tern, 1 Common Tern, 3 Cormorant, 3 Grey Heron, 8 Willow Warbler, 1 Common Whitethroat, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Pied Flycatcher, 9 Goldfinch, 1 Sparrowhawk, c. 100 Swift and 14 Swallow.

There's plenty of young gulls hanging around the observatory at the moment with some showing quite close - a good photographic opportunity.

Ringing: 1 bird ringed today which included 1 Robin.

Wednesday 19th August 2015

After yesterdays rain, today was a far better day, encouraging the birds and insects to put on a bit of a show. Offshore and in the harbour several Terns were still hanging about , including 15 Common, 9 Sandwich and 2 Little Tern, as well as this Fulmar(top), which came out of the river and over the common. On site, one of yesterdays Tree Sparrows was still present, along with at least 8 Willow Warblers, 6 Whitethroats, 3 Blackcaps and 10 Robins. Wader passage south included 15 Oyster Catcher, 7 Golden Plover and 1 Common Sandpiper, along with 14 Teal. Although the moth traps were not surprisingly quiet due to the poor weather yesterday, this Light Emerald(above) did make up for the lack of numbers. Also on the insect front, a Hummingbird Hawk moth and at least one Small Red-eyed Damselfly was also noted.

7 birds were ringed, 4 Willow Warbler, 2 Wood Pigeon and 1 Robin.

Tuesday 18th August 2015

The unfortunate light rain persisting to heavy rain for the whole of the day put a stop to much movement here at the observatory. Westerly winds and rain were not what we had hoped for, for mid August.

The only new migrants seen today, dodging the showers were 5 Common Tern, 4 Sandwich Tern, 1 Swallow, 1 Grey Heron, 15 Oystercatcher, 2 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Mediterranean Gull, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Willow Warbler and 1 Hobby.

The Gem moth, pictured above, gave us a visit today in our moth traps, a migrant to our shores, mainly found in the south.

Ringing: 3 birds ringed today including 2 House Sparrow and 1 Greenfinch.

Monday 17th August 2015

A cold feel to the morning today, brightening up with sunny spells into the afternoon. A small scattering of new migrants today and with Autumn now upon us we should start seeing a wider variety of species turning up during the coming months.

New migrants today included 5 Oystercatcher, 4 Common Tern, 1 Gannet, 5 Goldfinch, 28 Swallow, 12 Willow Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat and 4 Common Whitethroat.

A small group of 6 Tree Sparrows paid us a short visit with 3 trapped and ringed and 1 individual bearing a ring that had been ringed elsewhere, so we look forward to hearing back where he was originally ringed soon.

Ringing: 26 birds ringed during the day including 11 Starling, 8 Willow Warbler, 3 Tree Sparrow, 2 Robin, 1 Common Whitethroat and 1 Lesser Whitethroat.

Sunday 16th August 2015

With the weather good, now is the time to be looking for butterflies on Buddleia bushes, like this Red Admiral for example.

On the bird front, a small fall of Willow Warblers and Robins first thing, but little else of note apart from 2 Sparrowhawk and a Great-Spotted Woodpecker briefly.

17 birds ringed,  7 Willow Warbler, 3 Robin, 3 Wren, 2 House Sparrow, 1 Linnet and 1 Blue Tit.