Saturday 21st May 2016

Hard graft this morning. Worth a mention were northbound 6 Barnacle Geese and southbound 11 House Martin, 10 Swallow, 8 Oyks, 6 Swift & 5 Shelduck. On site 3 Skylark is a notable count for this time of the year with 2 Jackdaw paying a brief visit and the Turtle Dove, Wheatear plus at least one Chiffchaff still with us.

A couple of Poplar Hawk-moths were the first of their kind noted this spring.

No birds ringed is indicative of the lack of migrants plus the paucity in the breeding success of local resident species so far this year.

Friday 20th May 2016

A day of mixed weather conditions today with spells of rain, strong winds from the south and thick and heavy cloud, the birds were keeping hidden.

Migrants found today came in the form of 12 Goldfinch, 4 Common Whitethroat, 2 Jackdaw, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Turtle Dove, 1 Cuckoo (1st of the year) and 1 Hobby.

Some of our resident Herring Gulls are back and have learnt the skills to hunt our little baby Rabbits.

Hirundines were on the move with 110+ Swallow, c.39 Swift and 11 House Martin moving south.

Starring out to sea produced 14 Brent Geese, 4 Common Tern, 2 Little Tern, 2 Fulmar, 2 Cormorant, 1 Whimbrel and 1 Oystercatcher.

Ringing: 2 birds ringed this morning including 1 Lesser Whitethroat and 1 Song Thrush.

May Litter Pick

Litter pick this Saturday 21st May 0930hrs start. Further information on the events page of www.lbo.org.uk

Thursday 19th May 2016

A lovely calm and warm day at the observatory. Spells of over night rain on an easterly breeze produced a few new arrivals today.

Arrivals came in the form of 10 Common Whitethroat, 5 Chiffchaff, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Goldfinch, 1 Blackcap, 1 Garden Warbler, 1 Wheatear, 1 Turtle Dove along with 15 Swallow also on the move with 3 Swift, 2 House Martin and 2 Jackdaw.

The continuing congregation of gulls and terns out on the point produced c.26 + Common Tern along with 5 Sandwich Tern plus 6 Brent Geese flew north and 9 Sanderling flew south. Several first-summer Common Gulls are also hanging out finding food on the changing flows of the tide.

This Pine Beauty moth found our moth traps this morning. A species found in coniferous forests so a really nice surprise and a species we don't see that often here.

Ringing: 7 birds ringed this morning including 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Wren, 1 Chaffinch and 1 Greenfinch.

Wednesday 18th May 2016

Plenty of gulls & terns on the falling tide again included an Arctic Tern this morning. Migrants in short supply but included 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Jackdaw, Wheatear Tree Pipit & Turtle Dove. On the move 10 Brents and 4 Barnacle Geese went out then north with 4 Grey Plover & 3 Fulmar heading south. A couple of new Robins caught over recent days are either foreigners late in heading back to the north-east of Europe or failed breeders going "walkabout".

1 bird ringed: 1 Robin

Tuesday 17th May 2016

Clear skies overnight produced very few new migrants but still a very pleasant morning at the observatory.

New arrivals consisted of 19 Swallow, 1 House Martin, 6 Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, 4 Goldfinch, 1 Wheatear, 1 Tree Pipit, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 4 Jackdaw and 1 Turtle Dove.

Sea watching produced 60 Common Tern, 11 Brent Geese, 7 Little Tern, 6 Common Gull, 2 Barnacle Geese, 1 Cormorant and 1 Mute Swan.

A beautiful male Serin was picked up feeding out on the nature reserve this morning, (above).

Ringing: 10 birds ringed this morning including 5 Chiffchaff, 2 Linnet, 1 Common Whitethroat, 1 Spotted Flycatcher and 1 Blackbird.

Monday 16th May 2016

Small numbers of Sanderling have been regular on the beach in recent days with 10 on site this morning, although birds often quickly move off in their rush to get north. Migrants noted this morning include 5 Chiffchaff, 2 Wheatear, Skylark, Reed Warbler, Firecrest, Turtle Dove & Whitethroat (plus the five pairs of Whitethroat that have settled in on site). Visible migrants include northbound 3 Sandwich Tern, 2 Greylags, 2 Swallow and southbound 11 Swallow, 5 Goldfinch, 3 Avocet & Sand Martin plus a Grey Heron west bound. A sizeable number of gulls and terns, once again, collected of the point on the falling tide. A Painted Lady butterfly was the first one of the spring.

Several more moth species put in there first appearance of the year (and not before time !) including the well camouflaged Poplar Grey.

7 birds ringed: 3 Chiffchaff, 1 Reed Warbler, 1 Firecrest, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Wood Pigeon.

Sunday 15th May 2016

Cool cloudy start clearing to a fine sunny day. A Shag flew north early on - not unprecedented in May as others have been noted going north at this time in previous years which are presumably immature non-breeding birds heading back to colonies having wintered further south. Also on the move 14 Barnacle Geese northbound plus a Greenshank heard going over. On site a handful of new migrants including 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Spot Fly, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler & Turtle Dove plus the elusive Tree Pipit that's been here a few days still with us. A good old mellee of gulls and terns off the point on the falling tide included this moulting first-summer Med Gull.

6 birds ringed: 2 Goldfinch, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Robin