Saturday 20th May 2017

The Whitethroat males have established territories with 7 seen around the reserve, the females are a little more reclusive but never far from the watchful males.
Passage over the reserve, 70 Swallow, 2 House Martin and 1 Swift all going South, 1 Kingfisher was heading South and then turned West to go inland.
Offshore 25 Common tern and 6 Little Tern gathered at the point during high tide and then dispersed, 169 Brent Geese went North and 1 Grey Heron South.

Vine moth is supposedly a "local" species but is common enough here. It is considered a pest on grape vines but is not feeding on that here.

11 birds ringed: 3 Great Tit, 2 Ringed Plover, 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Blackcap, 1 Wood Pigeon.

Friday 19th May 2017

The Starling population has increased greatly in a few days with fledged juvenile birds in the flock, they are still requesting food from parents but will soon be independent. Migrant birds noted on the reserve this morning 3 Wheatear, 1 Blackcap, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Sparrowhawk. Going South over the reserve 83 Swallow and 3 House Martin.
Leading into high tide at 7am Terns gathered along the seaward side of the point with a peak count of 47 Common Tern and 13 Little Tern, they then dispersed when the tide turned, offshore 2 Sandwich Tern were seen going North and passage going South 3 Oystercatcher, 2 Avocet, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Curlew, 1 Grey Plover, 1 Knot, 1 Sanderling, 1 Turnstone, 1 Gannet, 1 Kittiwake.

4 birds ringed: 3 Great Tit, 1 House Sparrow.

Thursday 18th May 2017

Steady overnight rain has provided a much needed drink on Landguard, it has also provided bathing facilities as this Woodpigeon is demonstrating with a quick freshen up!
A Serin was located at 6:40am flying over then circling around and landing on the reserve, viewed preening briefly before going into cover and unfortunately was not relocated. At the same time a Redpoll was also seen, likewise it landed and took cover. Other migrants seen on the reserve were 3 Spotted Flycatcher, 3 Wheatear and 1 Reed Warbler. Passage noted going South 39 Swallow and 4 North,, 1 Yellow Wagtail and 2 South, 1 House Martin 1 Turtle Dove. 2 Swift came in West off the sea. Movement offshore, 3 Common Tern going North and 2 South, 1 Little Tern South.

The diversity of moths continues to increase with milder conditions, this treble lines is an infrequent visitor to Landguard.

7 birds ringed: A single of Blackcap, Great Tit, Linnet, Spotted Flycatcher, Starling, Willow Warbler, Wren.

Wednesday 17th May 2017

A day when dodging the rain was the order of the day early on, but once it stopped a surprise adult male Whinchat was noted and duly caught. Whereupon it was revealed to have been ringed in Holland, apparently the first ever Dutch ringed Whinchat to be controlled in Britain.
Apart from that, 5 Wheatear, a female Whinchat briefly, and 2 Yellow Wagtails south was about it.
Offshore small numbers of both Little and Common Terns around the point.

Insect wise the humid overnight conditions saw an upturn in moths, with 53 species being recorded including yet another Marbled Clover, a notable species that must surely be breeding on site by now.

Ringed 2 birds: 1 Wheatear and 1 Chiffchaff.

Tuesday 16th May 2017

Hooded Crow came from the north loitered briefly being harassed by local corvids and left back northwards over the docks. It is only the 8th Landguard record although in days of old large numbers of "hoodies" wintered on the Suffolk coast so there is quite possibly old sightings of which we are not aware. Coincidentally the first sighting we are aware of here is on the 15th May 1981 almost 36 years ago to the day. Migrants again in short supply with some vis mig in the form of southbound 21 Swallow, 5 House Martin & a Yellow Wagtail. Offshore 6 Little Terns & a Little Egret were the highlight. On the locals front a couple of young Robins from different broods have been brave enough to come out of their respective nests this morning.

A few more micros starting to appear including Bryotropha terrella which is very common here but just the sort of creature to put people off moth identification as several very similar Gelichids also exist.

Ringing: 2 Robin, 1 Blackcap, 1 Whitethroat.

Monday 15th May 2017

Never sure how many Shelduck pairs attempt to nest here as unless we see any ducklings come out we don't know it's happened (which they often tend to do at night or early or late in the day and quickly take them onto the river and away from here). Grounded migrants in short supply with 3 Wheatear, 2 Willow Warbler, Skylark & Mipit the best of a paltry selection. Heading south 26 Wood Pigeon, 9 Swallow, 7 Black-headed Gull & 6 Jackdaw with offshore southbound 17 Common Scoter, 5 Grey Plover plus a Common Scoter heading north.

A few more moth species are coming out to play including Poplar Grey.

4 birds ringed: 2 Willow Warbler, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Blackbird.

Sunday 14th May 2017

 A few very light showers but not enough to make a difference - if anyone out there knows a good "Rain Dance" please can they give it a go on our behalf ! Fairly standard selection of mid-May migrants including the first Reed Warbler of the year. Also on site 2 Spot Fly, 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Blackcap, Chiffchaff & Garden Warbler plus the singing Whitethroats on territory. Wheatears are now decreasing with just 3 remaining. Also on the reserve a Skylark. 35 Swallow & a House Martin went south with offshore movements barely worth a mention with a Turnstone south the highlight.

Moth traps slowly picking up with Pebble Prominent today's featured moth.

7 birds ringed: 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Blackcap, 1 Garden Warbler, 1 Reed Warbler.