Saturday 21st October 2017

This Wood Mouse was busy loading the larder this morning.

Blustery wind from the South and pre-dawn showers, brightening up as the morning progressed. Cormorant are increasing with 141 going out from the harbour this morning, otherwise an increase in Woodpigeon but passage much quieter today.

Noted on the reserve, 100 Woodpigeon, 15 Goldfinch, 4 Redwing, 3 Firecrest, 3 Goldcrest, 2 Brambling, 2 Wheatear, 1 Ring Ouzel & 1 Sparrowhawk.

Going South, 411 Goldfinch, 60 Linnet, 28 Brent Goose, 22 Meadow Pipit, 16 Cormorant, 11 House Martin, 11 Skylark, 9 Starling, 8 Siskin, 7 Chaffinch, 6 Greenfinch, 6 Rock Pipit, 6 Wigeon, 4 Redpoll, 2 Curlew, 1 Dunlin, 1 Great Skua & 1 Swallow.

14 birds ringed: Blackbird 9, Blackcap 2, Firecrest 1, Redwing 1, Ring Ouzel 1.

Friday 20th October 2017

 Brent Goose offshore this morning.

Strong wind from the South with brief but heavy showers. Most of the grounded migrants from yesterday have moved on, an increase in activity offshore gave plenty to see during the seawatch.
Noted on the reserve, 50 Goldfinch, 6 Meadow Pipit, 5 Redwing, 3 Brambling, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Firecrest, 1 Ring Ouzel, 1 Stonechat, 1 Short-eared Owl & 1 Wheatear. Offshore, 22 Gannet & 1 Glaucous Gull.
Vismig going South, 496 Goldfinch, 86 Starling, 29 Swallow, 27 Song Thrush, 21 Chaffinch, 18 Siskin, 18 Meadow Pipit, 12 Skylark, 6 Rock Pipit, 5 House Martin, 2 Redpoll, 1 Mistle Thrush & 1 Reed Bunting.
Offshore going South, 1710 Dunlin, 1386 Brent Goose, 603 Wigeon, 601 Knot, 53 Teal, 34 Shelduck, 20 Sanderling, 12 Lapwing, 6 Golden Plover, 5 Grey Plover, 43 Turnstone, 14 Common Scoter, 13 Ringed Plover, 8 Pintail, 7 Gannet, 6 Goldeneye, 5 Red-breast Merganser, 3 Curlew, 3 Oystercatcher, 2 Eider, 2 Great Skua, 2 Redshank, 2 Snipe, 1 Arctic Tern, 1 Pochard & 1 Tufted Duck.Going North, 15 Gannet, 2 Shelduck & 1 Great Skua.

Lack of moths due to the wind so today's moth is The Satellite.

3 birds ringed: Blackbird 1, Robin 1, Song Thrush 1.

Thursday 19th October 2017

 Rock Pipit at the point.

Bearded Tit is a major site rarity with previous records of one 16th February 1887, an unknown date in September or October 1973, one 12th October 1988 and another 15th October 2010. The 10 that arrived on site today came in going South, landed briefly, then went back North.
Noted on the reserve, 70 Redwing, 50 Blackbird, 50 Robin, 20 Song Thrush, 10 Bearded Tit, 7 Brambling, 7 Firecrest, 6 Goldcrest, 4 Fieldfare, 3 Ring Ouzel, 2 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Mistle Thrush, 2 Rock Pipit, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Short-eared Owl, 1 Snipe & 1 Wheatear.
Vismig going South, 413 Goldfinch, 50 Chaffinch, 28 Meadow Pipit, 22 Skylark, 10 Pied Wagtail, 7 Siskin, 7 Swallow & 4 Redpoll.
Offshore going South, 1829 Brent, 242 Wigeon, 214 Teal, 64 Dunlin, 42 Common Gull, 40 Shelduck, 26 Golden Plover, 17 Knot, 12 Grey Plover, 12 Shoveler, 10 Gadwall, 10 Lapwing, 4 Avocet, 3 Pintail, 2 Common Tern, 2 Curlew, 1 Goldeneye & 1 Red-throated Diver. Going North, 20 Gannet & 1 Common Scoter.

Several migrant moths this morning, including this female Gem.

79 birds ringed: Blackbird 21, Robin 20, Redwing 15, Song Thrush 6, Brambling 4, Goldcrest 3, Chiffchaff 2, Firecrest 2, Meadow Pipit 2, Blackcap 1, Goldfinch 1, Willow Warbler 1, Wren 1.

Wednesday 18th October 2017

Ring Ouzel's are a bit few and far between this autumn & do not wish to pose ! At least 5 Firecrest were the first of their kind this autumn. Other grounded migrants were in very low numbers including 6 Redwing, 4 Chiffchaff, 4 Blackcap, Wheatear, Grey Wag & Stonechat. Vis mig very quiet with southbound 45 Goldfinch, 11 Linnet, 7 Mipit, Rock Pipit, Redpoll, Reed Bunting & Grey Heron. Offshore a handful of Brent on the move. Cock Pheasant on View Point Road was probably the one reported a couple of days back - we have roughly 25 records of Pheasant since records began.

A Cypress Carpet is only our second site record with the earlier one being in 2010 when it was an addition to the Suffolk list. This species was first noted in Britain in 1984 and has slowly colonised southern areas. Also of note in the moth department was a Vestal.

17 birds ringed: 4 Blackcap, 3 Song Thrush, 3 Robin, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Firecrest, 1 Blackbird, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Goldfinch

Tuesday 17th October 2017

Vis mig a lot quieter this morning - did all that pinky orange sky yesterday evening full of smog from Portuguese fires & Saharan dust have anything to do with it? South bound just 509 Goldfinch, 13 Redpoll, 13 Starling, 12 Linnet, 11 Swallow, 8 Chaffinch, 6 Skylark, 6 Mipits, 4 Rock Pipit, 2 Reed Bunting & Grey Wag with offshore 13 Knot, 11 Brent, 6 Wigeon, 6 Dunlin, 5 Shelduck, 2 Teal, Common Scoter, Sanderling, Turnstone & Ringed Plover plus 10 Ringed Plover heading north for some obscure reason (just changing estuaries?). Grounded migrants very few & far between with the ringing figures only saved by a dose of Long-tailed Tits late morning. Still 2 Wheatear loitering but grounded groups of finches & Mipits becoming much lower in numbers over the past week.

Despite the mild start with the wind strong overnight only 6 moths in the traps but they did include a Large Wainscot.

24 birds ringed: 16 Long-tailed Tit, 4 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Great Tit, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Grey Wagtail

Monday 16th October 2017

A warm, cloudy start with a Southerly wind gathering pace through the morning. Noted on the reserve, 30 Linnet, 18 Robin, 15 Goldfinch (pictured), 15 Meadow Pipit, 5 Redwing, 4 Goldcrest, 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Sparrowhawk, 1 Black Redstart, 1 Brambling, 1 Little Owl & 1 Wheatear.
Vismig going South, 1895 Goldfinch, 118 Starling, 112 Meadow Pipit, 93 Linnet, 77 Redpoll, 50 Chaffinch, 21 Siskin, 15 Greenfinch, 7 Pied Wagtail, 5 Reed Bunting, 4 Swallow, 3 Skylark & 2 Rock Pipit.
Offshore going South, 46 Wigeon, 31 Dunlin, 22 Shelduck, 15 Golden Plover, 6 Knot, 3 Black-headed Gull, 3 Brent Goose & 2 Common Gull. Going North, 5 Goosander & 1 Gannet.

Bee moth is late in the year to pay us a visit, the larvae inhabit the nests of Bumble Bee and Wasps.

8 birds ringed: Meadow Pipit 2, Robin 2, Blackbird 1, Blackcap 1, Great Tit 1, Wren 1.

Sunday 15th October 2017

An exceptionally warm day for the time of year see's the continuation of Finch movements south over the site, with 1515 Goldfinch making up the bulk, along with 80 Linnet, 41 Chaffinch, 39 Lesser Redpoll and 34 Greenfinch + 32 Meadow Pipit, 14 Skylark, 11 Reed Bunting, 11 Swallow and 7 House Martin. On site were 2 Wheatear, 1 Stonechat, 3 Chiffchaff, 4 Goldcrest and a late Willow Warbler.

Insect-wise, 10+ Clouded Yellow's were seen, and the moth highlight was this Grey Shoulder-knot, a species normally found around Oaks.

22 birds ringed: 6 Blackbird, 4 Robin, 4 Great Tit, 2 Chaffinch, 2 Redwing, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Wren, 1 Grey Wagtail and 1 Willow Warbler.