Saturday 28th April 2018

 Shelduck on the reserve during the morning.

A heavy overcast and still morning with frequent showers. Last year Tree Pipit were not recorded at Landguard during the spring. This morning two Tree Pipit went South, high over the reserve, which were the first for this year at Landguard.

Noted on the reserve, 24 Wheatear, 12 Shelduck, 5 Meadow Pipit, 4 Whitethroat, 3 Lesser Whitethroat, 3 Willow Warbler, 2 Common Tern, 1 Blackcap & 1 Purple Sandpiper. Going North, 7 Swallow, 6 Cormorant, 1 Redpoll & 1 Whimbrel. Going South, 12 Swallow, 2 Tree Pipit, 1 Fulmar & 1 Oystercatcher.

Moth numbers still very low but did include the first V Pug of the year.

4 birds ringed: Blackbird 1, Blackcap 1, Willow Warbler 1, Wren 1.

Recent Ringing Recoveries

Goldcrest ringed Burgh Haamstede, Schouwen-Duiveland, Zeeland, The Netherlands 21st September 2011 retrapped 166 Km away at Landguard 4th October 2012 only taking over 5 years for the information to reach us. Blackbird ringed Knapp Castle Estate, West Sussex 14th December 2017 retrapped 160 km away at Landguard 17th March 2018. Chiffchaff ringed Chelmarsh Reservoir, Shropshire 25th July 2017 retrapped 261 km away at Landguard 14th April 2018. Blackcap ringed Levington 16th August 2017 retrapped 9 km away at Landguard 9th April 2018 on its way back in for the season. Great Tit ringed Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex 26th September 2017 retrapped 8 km away at Landguard 6th April 2018 plus a couple of other locally ringed Great Tits retrapped here this spring as they wander about.

Friday 27th April 2018

Purple Sandpiper at the point after high tide this morning.

The morning started fairly calm but overcast then with showers mid morning. Wheatear and Willow Warbler were the grounded migrants, both of which dispersed during the morning, Black-headed Gull and Common Scoter were the main movers offshore.

Noted on the reserve, 40 Wheatear, 20 Willow Warbler, 10 Shelduck, 5 Lesser Whitethroat, 5 Whitethroat, 2 Oystercatcher, 2 Sanderling, 1 Common Gull, 1 Purple Sandpiper & 1 Yellow Wagtail. Going North, 80 Common Scoter, 6 Cormorant, 4 Oystercatcher, 2 Fulmar, 2 Goldfinch, 1 Common Tern & 1 Swallow. Going out to sea East, 8 Cormorant. Going South, 45 Common Scoter, 40 Black-headed Gull, 6 Goldfinch, 4 Common Tern, 3 Carrion Crow, 3 Fulmar, 3 Med Gull, 2 Barnacle Goose, 2 Cormorant, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Kittiwake & 1 Whimbrel. Coming in off the sea going West, 2 Swallow.

41 birds ringed: Wheatear 22, Willow Warbler 14, Chiffchaff 2, Blackcap 1, Chaffinch 1, Linnet 1.

Thursday 26th April 2018

A male Wheatear At Landguard.

Overcast and strong Westerly wind for this morning. A peak count of 35 Wheatear were on the reserve during the first part of the morning, with some of them soon dispersing after they had been feeding.

Noted on the reserve, 35 Wheatear, 4 Willow Warbler, 3 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Turnstone, 1 Blackcap, 1 Purple Sandpiper, 1 Redstart, 1 Whitethroat & 1 Yellow Wagtail. Going North, 1 Curlew & 1 Hobby. Going out to sea going East, 3 House Martin. Going South, 24 Swallow, 16 Goldfinch, 15 Black-headed Gull, 15 Cormorant, 10 Whimbrel, 5 Common Scoter, 4 Swift, 3 Sand Martin, 2 Mallard, 1 Common Gull, 1 Med Gull & 1 Oystercatcher.

9 birds ringed: Wheatear 6, Willow Warbler 3.

Wednesday 25th April 2018

Sanderling are fairly regular on the shore recently with 7 this morning.

On the move this morning southbound 30 Black-headed Gull, 22 Goldfinch, 9 Swallow, 5 Common Gull, 4 Whimbrel, 3 Avocet, 3 House Martin, 2 Redshank, 2 Med Gull, 2 Common Tern, Carrion Crow, 2 Swift, Grey Heron, Gadwall, Common Scoter & Knot with northbound single Whimbrel & Swallow plus 3 Sand Martin coming in off. On site at least 28 Wheatear, 6 Willow Warbler, 5 Lesser Whitethroat, 4 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff, 2 White Wags, Merlin, Purple Sand, Turnstone, Meadow Pipit, Yellow Wag & Reed Bunting. Just been interrupted whilst writing this blog that a Red Kite was drifting south over Lidl's and sure enough it duly appeared gaining height going overhead. Finally the first Porpoise of the season was noted offshore.

The first Chocolate-tip of this year.

7 birds ringed: 4 Willow Warbler, 3 Blackcap.

Tuesday 24th April 2018

Turnstone coming into summer plumage at the Point.

A cool and overcast start to the day with a Southwesterly wind. A Little Tern going South was the first for this year at Landguard, there were 2 Swift going South, the first Swift at Landguard for this year was seen yesterday afternoon.

Noted on the reserve, 70 Linnet, 20 Wheatear, 6 Lesser Whitethroat, 4 Whitethroat, 3 Blackcap, 3 Willow Warbler, 2 Sanderling, 2 Turnstone, 1 Black Redstart, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Common Tern & 1 Purple Sandpiper. Going North, 2 Cormorant, 2 Shelduck & 1 Brent Goose. Going South, 31 Black-headed Gull, 19 Common Gull, 15 Goldfinch, 10 Swallow, 7 Whimbrel, 4 Cormorant, 4 Shelduck, 3 Oystercatcher, 3 Sparrowhawk, 2 Gadwall, 2 Jackdaw, 2 Swift, 1 Common Tern, 1 Curlew, 1 Dunlin, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 House Martin & 1 Little Tern.

9 birds ringed: Blackcap 2, Wheatear 2, Willow Warbler 2, Collared Dove 1, Linnet 1, Whitethroat 1.

Recent Ringing Recoveries

Blackbird ringed Landguard 15th November 2014 found dead after hitting a window 290 km away at Oss, Noord-Brabant, The Netherlands on 5th April 2018. Blackbird ringed Landguard 28th October 2016 found dead 1,726 km away at Kyronlahti, Ylojarvi, Hame, Finland on 4th April 2018. Brambling ringed Landguard 9th October 2017 retrapped 216km away at Mile, Romsey, Hampshire on 13th March 2018.

Monday 23rd April 2018

 Only the eleventh site record of Red Kite at Landguard this morning.

A strong Westerly wind and fairly clear skies this morning. There has been an increase in Linnet and Wheatear onsite since yesterday. A Red Kite was going South mid morning, the eleventh site record and the previous record was in March last year. The Swallow vismig has increased and the first Sand Martin at Landguard for this year went through going South.

Noted on the reserve, 70 Linnet, 20 Wheatear, 8 Chiffchaff, 8 Lesser Whitethroat, 6 Blackcap, 2 Greenfinch, 2 Whitethroat, 2 Willow Warbler, 1 Coal Tit, 1 Redstart & 1 Yellow Wagtail. Going North, 2 Whimbrel & 1 Black-headed Gull. Coming in off the sea going West, 4 Black-headed Gull, 2 Whimbrel, 1 Yellow Wagtail. Going South, 63 Swallow, 15 Goldfinch, 13 Woodpigeon, 12 Black-headed Gull, 4 Jackdaw, 4 Whimbrel, 3 House Martin, 2 Sand Martin, 2 Sparrowhawk, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Common Gull, 1 Med Gull & 1 Red Kite.

15 birds ringed: Blackcap 4, Wheatear 3, Lesser Whitethroat 2, Willow Warbler 2, Blackbird 1, Chiffchaff 1, Linnet 1, Redstart 1.

Sunday 22nd April 2018

Another Great-spot turned up in the bright sunshine early on. More summer visitors are slowly trickling in including 7 Lesser Whitethroat, 5 Whitethroat, 5 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff, 3 Wheatear & 2 Willow Warbler. Also worth a mention are 33 Goldfinch and 5 Swallow south with 2 Rook heading south before chickening out and going back north. A Sparrowhawk did the rounds with waders on the move represented by 30+ Curlew heading north at vast height plus a total of 16 Whimbrel coming & going.

Sunny weather has brought the Lizards out to play.

10 birds ringed: 4 Blackcap, 2 Willow Warbler, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Wren.