Saturday 6th January 2018

Female Stonechat still surviving the winter down here on the Butts. Not a lot else of note although 11 Linnet, single Redwing & Fieldfare worth a mention. 1,958 Cormorant went out fishing early on despite the misty murky conditions which normally delays them in the morning. Starring out to sea a complete waste of time.

Ringing: 1 Blackbird

Friday 5th January 2018

Never sure whether Grey Seal pups on the beach are lost or have been parked there by mum - this one did a runner back to the sea just before the British Divers Marine Life Rescue arrived to have a look. 1,787 Cormorants went out early this morning in the half light. Offshore southbound 24 Golden Plover, 12 Kitts, 11 Common Gull, 9 Black-headed Gull, Red-throated Diver, Brent Goose, Red-breasted Merganser & Oyk with northbound 9 Red-throated Diver, 2 Brent, Eider & Oyk. Single Fieldfare plus the first Linnet of the year are the only other offerings.

Thursday 4th January 2018

Dull, misty, murky morning with 1,210 Cormorants heading out 25 minutes later than they did yesterday presumably due to the weather. Rain and very poor visibility all morning prevented any meaningful sea watching with a gale picking up mid-afternoon after the rain stopped. It must be grim when the best offering today is one of the tame Rabbits that grab any apples put out for the local Blackies.

Wednesday 3rd January 2018

No volunteers to survey the birds along the riverbank this morning ! Blowing a force 7 - 8 with an overnight gust of 49.92 knots at 0410 hrs (force 10) which is a tad naughty. Offshore southbound 78 Kitts, 54 Knot, 26 Golden Plover, 8 Wigeon, 6 Red-throated Diver, 2 Teal & Bonxie with northbound 9 Red-throats & 5 Brent. 795 Cormorants went out fishing early this morning but with last nights wind they probably got no kip overnight and were glad to get out, fill their bellies and find somewhere out of the wind to catch up.

Tuesday 2nd January 2018

Clear first thing quickly becoming overcast and the rain is now starting. A mere 365 Cormorant went out early on. On the move southbound 31 Teal, 18 Wigeon, 18 Kitts, 16 Common Gull, 11 Black-headed Gull, 2 Red-throated Diver, Brent Goose, drake Goosander & a Guillemot that plonked itself off the river mouth with northbound 8 Red-throated Diver & an Oyk. 2 Mipits on the reserve but otherwise it's just the usual common garden type birds in the usual places and not to many of them to be honest with you.

Monday 1st January 2018

985 Cormorant went out fishing but some of them were later on parade this morning. Limited time spent sea watching produced southbound 40 Knot, 35 Kitts, 14 Common Scoter, 10 Wigeon, 4 Barwit, 3 Brent, Bonxie, Red-throated Diver & Great-northern Diver which characteristically hung a right hander into the river. Northbound 4 Red-throats. A walk around the site produced nothing of note.

December Ringing Total

25 birds of 5 species ringed with over half of these in the first two days of the month:

20 Blackbird, 2 Song Thrush, 1 Fieldfare, 1 Redwing, 1 Chaffinch.

Sunday 31st December 2017

The strong wind eased and the weather improved as the morning went on. Best day of the winter for Kitts so far with 90 heading south and 25 following the Stenna Hollandica out which may, or may not, include some of the same birds. On the move this morning southbound 123 Wigeon,76 Golden Plover, 43 Knot, 37 Teal, 19 Common Gull, 18 Brent , 5 Pintail, 4 Black-headed Gull, 3 Red-throated Diver, 2 Gannet & 2 Shelduck plus northbound 50 Teal, 4 Red-throated Diver & Gadwal plus a Bonxie on the prowl offshore. This was all a bit more than envisaged when the day started. Just 927 Cormorant headed out fishing early on with a quick sprint around part of the reserve between belts of drizzle mid-morning producing the highlight of a single Meadow Pipit.