Saturday 4th March 2017

Rain up to 0930hrs. Migrants were 2 Skylark south, one north plus 2 Mipit south. Offshore sightings minimal. Oyk was displaying over the reserve in the rain and at low tide the pair were feeding along the river shore. The ringed bird is several years old and we really need to read the number just to confirm which individual it is.

March Moth is a common species inland but not noted here annually. The female is flightless so do we just get wandering males down here ?

Friday 3rd March 2017

Grim cold morning with rain starting half an hour after first light. It's one of those mornings where if we hadn't bothered to turn up it wouldn't have made much difference to the standard of recording (rather than reach for the Valium - jam donuts cheered us up !). Very little offshore and very little moving with the highlight being single Fulmar and Curlew. A Sparrowhawk is worth a mention as it's the first one noted down here so far this year. Some winters we get regular visitations from Sparrowhawks but not this one so today's bird is either the start of spring passage or a young bird driven out by adults as they set up their territories and is wandering looking for a place of it's own.

Dotted Border is today's moth which is a delicate flyer out and about at this time of the year that can be abundant in woodland but only occurs here in small numbers due to the habitat and the bleak often blustery conditions.

Thursday 2nd March 2017

Significant gale picking up this morning. Plenty of seagulls offshore again when shipping stirs them up being joined by a Gannet plus a Bonxie at one point. On the move southbound 9 Brent, single Red-throated Diver, Wigeon, Teal, Gadwal & Common Scoter plus northbound 37 Brent & a Curlew. If you see any colour ringed gulls please don't forget to make a note and send your records in. Both ZJF & WNU are regulars in the car parks but there should be others droping in occasionally.

Ringing: 1 Dunnock

Wednesday 1st March 2017

The start of the ringing and migration season here at Landguard began slowly as was to be expected, with very little migration on show. A solitary Fieldfare was on site first thing, along with 2 Meadow Pipit and 1 Skylark heading north to their breeding sites, whilst offshore 8 Brent Geese went north along with 1 Red-throated Diver, and 1 Great crested Grebe and 3 Carrion Crows went south. On site 3 Ringed Plover, 9 Goldfinch and at least 1 Peregrine and Kestrel are lurking.

7 birds were ringed: 2 Goldfinch and 1 each of Chaffinch, Robin, Blackbird, Blue Tit and Wren.

February Ringing Total

3 birds ringed of 3 species - 1 House Sparrow, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Blackbird. This low total is indicative of having no significant cold snaps during the month and is not unique by any means.

Tuesday 28th February 2017

At least 3,000 seagulls offshore this morning but just a single Gannet with a Bonxie also putting in an appearance on a couple of occasions. 19 Barnacle Geese went south plus 13 north but very little else moving offshore.

Monday 27th February 2017

Rain on and off all morning. Flock of 34 Redwing on site is interesting in the fact that we have had this species on several occasions recently whereas passage didn't used to start until into the first week of March. A definite increase in gull numbers following shipping in from out to sea plus at least 20 Gannet & a Bonxie. Very little else moving with the highlight being a single Fulmar.

Sunday 26th February 2016

Just 473 Cormorants heading out to sea fishing this morning but with dawn getting earlier they have been going out on many days before anyone arrives on site.Offshore movements included southbound 32 Gannet, 5 Brent, 2 Red-breasted Merganser, Red-throated Diver & Eider with northbound 3 Red-throated Diver. Migrant passerines were 5 Siskin south plus a Fieldfare on site early on. 2 Purple Sands were along the riverbank on the rising tide.

A Satellite was today's moth which is a species that is occasionally in the traps in the late autumn.

Ringing: 1 House Sparrow