Saturday 23rd July 2016

A slight breeze again today, albeit very calm and sunny, it did prove to be a lovely day. A few niceties were on offer.

This juvenile Black Redstart found one our mist nets this morning which could well have fledged locally somewhere.

New arrivals came in the form of 4 Sandwich Tern, 4 Swift, 3 Lapwing, 2 Swallow, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Green Woodpecker and 1 Roseate Tern.

Tree-lichen Beauty was first recorded in 2003 with recent records probably now including some residents as well as immigrants.

Ringing: 10 birds ringed this morning including 2 Wren, 1 Dunnock, 1 Blackbird, 1 Great Tit, 1 Robin, 1 House Sparrow, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Green Woodpecker and 1 Black Redstart.

Friday 22nd July 2016

A calm and sunny day with varying wind directions. Still, a few good signs that the Autumn migration is well and truly under way.

Thiotricha subocellea (above), is an addition to the Landguard list. It is a nationally scarce species and only noted on a handful of previous occasions in Suffolk. Also worth a mention today is a Marbled Clover which is a red data book species and a couple of migrant Rusty Dot Pearl's.

Land birds came in the form of a singing Reed Warbler early am and a juvenile Spotted Flycatcher late am. Also, 2 Meadow Pipit, 2 Swift, 1 Yellow Wagtail and 1 Swallow.

Sea watching produced 8 Black-headed Gull, 2 Sandwich Tern. 2 Common Tern, 2 Curlew, 2 Oystercatcher, 2 Mediterranean Gull, 1 Great Crested Grebe and 1 Sanderling.

Ringing: 4 birds ringed this morning including 1 Great Tit, 1 Linnet, 1 Common Whitethroat and 1 Woodpigeon.

Thursday 21st July 2016

A slightly cooler and calmer day today at the observatory after yesterdays strong winds and spells of rain. Despite this, several new arrivals were evident on-site. 

These include 3 Black Redstart out on the nature reserve and 2 Yellow Wagtail, along with a small movement of hirundines in forms of 16 Swift, 8 Swallow and 5 Sand Martin. Others involve 1 Chiffchaff.  

Elsewhere, 2 Mediterranean Gulls flew South along with 2 Whimbrel, 1 Sandwich Tern and 4 Sanderling on the beach, (above).  

This Oak Eggar moth turned up in the moth traps this am.

Ringing: 6 birds ringed this morning including 3 Linnet, 1 Greenfinch, 1 Wren and 1 Great Tit.

Wednesday 20th July 2016

After an extremely hot night with temperatures falling no lower than 20 degrees celsius, the moth traps were fairly full, but the clear sky and full moon kept the better moths away. Little of note on site except 8 Sanderling on the beach and 30 Swifts moving through in quick time, whilst offshore 2 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Whimbrel, 1 Oyster Catcher and a Common Gull all heading south.

  
This Herring Gull was seen to catch this Crab from the surface of the sea and bring it ashore to devour, but the apparent victim seems to be fighting back, by grabbing hold of its lower mandible.

3 birds were ringed, 2 Great Tit and 1 Dunnock.

Tuesday 19th July 2016

Finally some hot sunny summer weather. Worth a mention are southbound 9 Barnacle Geese, Common Gull, Oyk & Redshank with a Fulmar flying up river over the obs plus 6 Sandwich Tern out of the river then north. A pheromone lure placed in an empty tea bag amongst Birds-foot Trefoil at several places around the point quickly pulled in several expectant male Six-belted Clearwing moths to the scent - unlucky boys it's just us confirming that this nationally scarce species is still with us !

Stinking Goosefoot has been out in one of the Rabbit scrapings on the Butts since the end of last month with a couple of them now getting to a reasonable size. Now all we need to do is get up the enthusiasm to survey other potential locations on site for this very rare "Schedule 8" plant.

No birds ringed.

Ringing Recovery

Lesser Whitethroat ringed here 3rd May 2015 retrapped a year later 695km away at Agger Tange, Snedsted, Viborg, Denmark on 1st May 2016 is apparently the first ever recorded movement of a Lesser Whitethroat to or from Denmark.

Monday 18th July 2016

Clear, calm and hot today and a decent day for observations to be made with a few notable species.

Migration was under way with totals of 70 Black headed Gull moving South offshore, along with 3 Sandwich Tern, 3 Mediterranean Gull, 2 Sanderling, 1 Lapwing, 1 Golden Plover and 1 Cormorant. Briefly, 2 Sanderling on the beach. Other migrants involve 19 Swift, 12 Swallow, 5 House Martin, 4 Goldfinch, 2 Yellow Wagtail and 2 Chiffchaff.

The warmer conditions have resulted in many species appearing for the first time this year including one of the site specialities Aphomia zelleri, (above).

We don't spend a lot of time looking at leaf names in mid-summer but with a couple of examples of Phyllonorycter geniculella turning up in the moth traps in recent years, a quick look at the sycamores revealed this which we are fairly confident was caused by this species minute caterpillar, (above).

Ringing: 12 birds ringed this morning including 5 Starling, 1 Great Tit, 1 Common Whitethroat, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Woodpigeon, 1 House Sparrow, 1 Wren and 1 Dunnock.

Sunday 17th July 2016

Baby birds but not a lot moving apart from 40 Black-headed Gulls & 31 Swallow southbound. Apart from the regular Pyramidal Orchid on the Butts three new ones have appeared just onto the reserve alongside View Point Road.

Moth traps not as hectic as they could have been considering how warm last night was but did include several species putting in their first appearance of the year including Grey Dagger.

14 birds ringed: 5 House Sparrow, 3 Whitethroat, 3 Wren, 1 Robin, 1 Blackcap, 1 Great Tit