Saturday 14th October 2017

Med Gull on the beach at Landguard.

A warm and breezy day and with it a few Dragonflies, Common Darter, Migrant Hawker and Southern Hawker seen.
Noted on the reserve, 30 Linnet, 16 Meadow Pipit, 8 Goldcrest, 7 Pied Wagtail, 4 Med Gull, 3 Redwing, 2 Blackcap, 2 Wheatear & 1 Little Owl.
Vismig going South, 1656 Goldfinch, 245 Linnet, 92 Meadow Pipit, 65 Chaffinch, 59 Greenfinch, 43 Skylark, 43 Swallow, 37 Starling, 27 Redpoll, 23 Woodpigeon, 19 House Martin, 18 Pied Wagtail, 6 Siskin, 5 Reed Bunting, 2 Rock Pipit, 2 Sand Martin, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker & 1 Woodlark. Coming in off the sea going West, 128 Starling.
Passage offshore going South 52 Black-headed Gull, 17 Shelduck & 3 Common Gull, going North 1 Oystercatcher.

34 birds ringed: Meadow Pipit 8, Blackbird 5, Chaffinch 4, Chiffchaff 4, Goldcrest 4, Lesser Redpoll 3, Blackcap 2, Dunnock 2, Great Tit 1, Woodpigeon 1.

Friday 13th October 2017

The Woodpigeon at Landguard are late nesters, these squabs should be ready to fledge quite soon.

A windy start that remained overcast for the duration of the morning. With the recent 6th record for Great White Egret the 7th has been logged this morning with the second record this autumn of 2 together going South offshore, also noted going South, 970 Goldfinch, 141 Linnet, 40 Meadow Pipit, 19 Redpoll, 18 Greenfinch, 13 Swallow, 12 Pied Wagtail, 12 Skylark, 9 House Martin, 9 Siskin, 7 Chaffinch, 4 Knot,  3 Grey Wagtail, 3 Reed Bunting, 3 Rock Pipit, 2 Gadwall, 2 Wigeon, 1 Brent Goose, 1 Curlew, 1 Grey Plover & 1 Red-breast Merganser. Going North, 1 Red-breast Merganser. Coming in off the sea going West, 1 Shoveler.
Noted on the reserve, 45 Linnet, 25 Meadow Pipit, 11 Pied Wagtail, 6 Goldcrest, 6 Redwing, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Wheatear, 1 Blackcap, 1 Med Gull & 1 Stonechat.

15 birds ringed: Blackbird 4, Redwing 3, Goldcrest 2, Wren 2, Blackcap 1, Chiffchaff 1, Goldfinch 1, Grey Wagtail 1.

Recent Recoveries

Robin ringed Titchfield Haven, Hampshire 13th August 2017 retrapped 217km away at Landguard 3rd September 2017 - bit of a strange movement but presumably just juvenile dispersal in a random direction. Whitethroat ringed Minsmere 31st August 2017 retrapped 41km away at Landguard 5th September 2017. Chiffchaff ringed Witnesham 6th July 2017 retrapped 21km away at Landguard 10th September 2017. Finally Magpie ringed Landguard 18th May 2011 road casualty in Felixstowe 1st October 2017 - although the longevity record for a Magpie is over 21 years the typical lifespan is 5 years so this one was slightly above the average.

October Litter Pick

Litter pick this Saturday 14th October 0930hrs start. Usual arrangements on the events section of www.lbo.co.uk

Thursday 12th October 2017

Entertaining October morning with a good selection of common migrants on the move. Three groups of Goosander totalling 16 birds going south then heading inland (to Abberton ?) is notable in terms of number and its still early in the autumn for this species. Other notables were Whinchat, Coal Tit, adult Yellow-legged Gull & the first Black Redstart for a while. Vis mig & offshore movements comprised of southbound 1491 Goldfinch, 293 Linnet, 92 Lesser Redpoll, 72 Wood Pigeon, 32 Chaffinch, 30 Greenfinch, 28 Black-headed Gull, 23 Skylark, 17 Starling, 16 Knot, 7 Swallow, 6 Reed Bunting, 4 Common Gull, 3 Shelduck, 3 Rock Pipit, 3 Grey Wagtail, 2 Pied Wagtail, 2 Starling, 2 Great Black-backed Gull, Brent Goose & Grey Plover. A selection of typical grounded migrants for the time of the year as represented in the ringing totals.

Green Brindled Crescent is another autumnal species that is common enough inland but only occasionally pays us a visit. In the butterfly department we are still getting Clouded Yellows on the reserve.

30 birds ringed: 12 Lesser Redpoll, 4 Blackbird, 4 Wren, 2 Great Tit, 2 Blue Tit, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Wheatear, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Goldcrest

Wednesday 11th October 2017

Back to windy conditions after a couple of calmer days. Vis mig much lower with southbound 202 Goldfinch, 58 Linnet, 21 Starling, 16 Swallow, 8 Pied Wags, 4 Mipit, 3 House Martin, Skylark, Rock Pipit, Siskin & Grey Wagtail. Grounded migrants bit scarce with just a very small handful of new Blackbirds, Redwing,  Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs & Goldcrests on site. 2 Wheatear & a Stonechat on a windy nature reserve. Offshore movements almost non-existent despite good overcast conditions for staring out into the abyss. Worth a mention is a Little Owl the last couple of days which is presumably a dispersing youngster - our resident pair disappeared this summer with a desiccated corpse of one of them that was at least seven years old being found dead in the Fort accounting for one half of our resident pair. Hopefully they can recolonise.

7 birds ringed: 2 Blackbird, 2 Blackcap, 1 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Chiffchaff.

Tuesday 10th October 2017

A warm but windy morning today, a Red-breasted Merganser going South was the first of the autumn and a Dartford Warbler on the Ickie ridge is the 7th site record with the previous site record being this day in 2016!
Noted on the reserve, 30 Meadow Pipit, 20 Pied Wagtail, 10 Meadow Pipit, 7 Redwing, 6 Goldcrest, 5 Chiffchaff, 4 Blackcap, 4 Chaffinch, 4 Song Thrush, 1 Brambling & 1 Wheatear.
Going South, 988 Goldfinch, 75 Linnet, 37 Meadow Pipit, 30 Skylark, 27 Brent Goose, 21 Redpoll, 12 Chaffinch, 10 Teal, 9 Wigeon, 8 Greenfinch, 7 Rock Pipit, 5 Pied Wagtail, 5 Shelduck, 5 Swallow, 2 Common Gull, 2 Grey Wagtail, 1 Dartford Warbler, 1 Dunlin, 1 Mallard, 1 Red-breast Merganser & 1 Siskin.

Beaded Chestnut is another autumnal species that is common enough elsewhere but only occasionally visits us.

18 birds ringed: Lesser Redpoll 6, Blackbird 3, Goldcrest 3, Great Tit 3, Blackcap 2, Chiffchaff 1.

Monday 9th October 2017

 Brambling in-front of the Observatory during the morning.

A still, overcast morning and plenty of activity. Noted on the reserve, 45 Linnet, 30 Robin, 20 Goldfinch, 15 Meadow Pipit, 14 Chiffchaff, 11 Redwing, 10 Song Thrush, 7 Pied Wagtail, 6 Blackcap, 5 Goldcrest, 4 Grey Wagtail, 4 Wheatear, 3 Brambling, 3 Stonechat, 2 Chaffinch, 2 Greenfinch, 2 Sparrowhawk, 1 Pied Flycatcher, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 Rock Pipit, 1 Short-eared Owl, 1 Snipe & 1 Yellow-browed Warbler.

Vismig going South, 1420 Goldfinch, 75 Linnet, 47 Meadow Pipit, 38 Starling, 28 Chaffinch, 25 Redpoll, 24 Swallow, 14 Skylark, 11 Greenfinch, 10 Pied Wagtail, 6 Rock Pipit, 3 Blue Tit, 3 Siskin, 2 Tree Pipit & 1 Jackdaw. Coming in off the sea going West 36 Redwing.

Offshore going South, 253 Wigeon, 112 Black-headed Gull, 39 Brent Goose, 20 Teal, 13 Common Gull, 10 Knot, 7 Dunlin, 7 Pintail 4 Shelduck, 3 Cormorant, 3 Grey Plover, 2 Curlew, 2 Oystercatcher, 2 Ringed Plover & 1 Sanderling. Going North, 11 Wigeon, 4 Pintail, 3 Brent Goose, 1 Common Tern & 1 Sandwich Tern.

Red-green Carpet is a common moth but one that can only get in the traps when the wind drops!

61 birds ringed: Chiffchaff 10, Robin 9, Lesser Redpoll 6, Blackbird 5, Goldcrest 5, Redwing 5, Blackcap 4, Brambling 3, Meadow Pipit 3, Blue Tit 2, Goldfinch 2, Great Tit 2, Grey Wagtail 2, Chaffinch 1, Pied Flycatcher 1, Song Thrush 1.

Sunday 8th October 2017

A very good day, with light north-westerly winds and plenty of birds to go with it. The undoubted highlight being a Yellow-browed Warbler, but 2 Ring Ouzel, one of which above, 2 Jack Snipe, 2 Stonechat, 1 Marsh Harrier and 1 Common Buzzard, both going south and a good sprinkling of Thrushes and finches on the move that included 118 Goldfinch, 30 Redpoll, 4 Brambling and small numbers of Greenfinch, Chaffinch and Siskin. Of interest was a flock of 30 Redwing arriving in off the sea late in the day at 1515 hrs pitching in for a brief rest before towering off inland. Finally the Caspian Gull present just over the dock fence a week or so ago was back on station again this morning.

58 birds ringed: 16 Lesser Redpoll, 11 Long-tailed Tit, 7 Chiffchaff, 7 Great Tit, 4 Blue Tit, 4 Blackbird, 3 Blackcap, 2 Chaffinch, 1 Wren, 1 Dunnock, 1 Song Thrush and 1 Yellow-browed Warbler.