Saturday 5th October 2019

A favourable easterly wind saw a small fall of 8 continental Song Thrush, 20 Robin, 8 Blackbird (including a large male probably from the continent) and a group of 20 or so migrating Blue Tit. Other birds around the reserve were 15 Meadow Pipit, 12 Chiffchaff, 5 Redwing, 3 Goldcrest, 1 Firecrest, 1 Blackcap, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Brambling, 1 Redstart, 1 Whitethroat & 1 Yellow Wag. A Purple Sandpiper & Rock Pipit were down on the point.

Moving south there were at 2,447 Brent Goose with 173 Teal, 153 Wigeon, 62 Common Gull, 76 Black-headed Gull, 48 Cormorant, 20 Meadow Pipit, 18 Shelduck, 12 Skylark, 11 Common Scoter, 3 Pintail, 3 Grey Wagtail, 2 Gannet, 2 Sandwich Tern, 2 Gadwall, 3 Swallow, 1 Jay and 1 Great Northern Diver. One Arctic Skua was noted southbound and another northbound. There were also 265 Black-headed Gull, 5 Swallow, 4 Gannet and 4 Red-throated Diver on their way north.

Deep-brown Dart is having a good few days as some years we struggle to see any of this species that is apparently common elsewhere.

Ringing: 15 Blue Tit, 12 Robin, 5 Song Thrush, 3 Goldcrest, 3 Chiffchaff, 2 Wren, 1 Blackbird, 1 Blackcap, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Meadow Pipit, 1 Great Tit, 1 Goldfinch.

Friday 4th October 2019

 

A single Meadow Pipit was caught in our special mipit nets today.

Rain overnight meant that a lot of our migrants that were in yesterday were still here this morning, and most of the ringing effort today was dealing with retrapped birds from the last week. At least one of the Jays seen yesterday was still present today, and doing a remarkably good vocal impression of a Buzzard. Other birds around the reserve included 11 Meadow Pipit, 6 Chiffchaff, 4 Goldcrest, 4 Redwing, 4 Chaffinch, 3 Blackcap and 3 Song Thrush. Southbound there were 298 Brent Goose, 79 Wigeon, 42 Teal, 39 Dunlin, 10 Redwing, 8 Grey Plover, 6 Meadow Pipit, 5 Black-headed Gull, 5 Tufted Duck, 5 Swallow, 4 Knot, 2 House Martin, 2 Common Gull, 2 Med Gull, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 1 Golden Plover, 1 Gadwall and 1 Oystercatcher. One Scaup heading south was only the 7th recorded here this century!

Barred Sallow is another one of those good looking autumnal species that only occasionally visits us.

Ringing: 2 Song Thrush, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Meadow Pipit, 1 Chiffchaff.

Thursday 3rd October 2019

This Firecrest has been here 8 days which is unusual for a passage bird at this time of the year.

Assorted early October fare with the first 5 Redwing & 2 Jay of the autumn backed up by 20 Chiffchaff, 12 Blue Tit, 7 Chaffinch, 6 Blackcap, 4 Goldcrest, 2 Great-spots, 2 Jackdaw, 2 Song Thrush, Firecrest, Grey Wag, Purp Sand & Rock Pipit. Southbound 86 Goldfinch, 68 Black-headed Gull, 53 Brent, 34 Mipit, 28 Cormorant, 21 Dunlin, 16 Common Scoter, 11 Swallow, 4 Wigeon, 3 Shelduck, 2 Curlew, 2 Rook, Grey Heron, Greylag, Oyk, Knot, Marsh Harrier, Skylark & Teal with northbound 20 Cormorant & 3 Gannet. 15 Meds were off the point late pm.

The Sallow is an autumnal species that only occasionally shows up here.

Ringing: 16 Chiffchaff, 8 Blue Tit, 6 Dunnock, 4 Blackcap, 3 Chaffinch, 3 Goldcrest, 2 Great Tit, 2 House Sparrow, 1 Great-spotted Woodpecker, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Jay, 1 Magpie, 1 Meadow Pipit, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Wren.

Recent Ringing Recoveries

Starling juvenile ringed 15 km away in Ipswich on 9th July 2019 retrapped at Landguard 24th July 2019. Sparrowhawk ringed Landguard 20th August 2019 was found concussed having hit a window 13 km away at Frinton, Essex the next day and taken to a vet at Clacton was then released only to kill itself hitting wires at Walton-on-the Naze on 15th September 2019 (obviously not one of life's survivors but an awful lot of our Sparrowhawks get recovered having hit windows with this one doing the double whammy of impaling itself on a fence for good measures !).  Blue Tit ringed 41 km away at Minsmere on 5th September 2019 was retrapped at Landguard 18th September 2019. Sedge Warbler ringed Landguard 12th August 2019 was retrapped 570 km away at Reserve de Chasse du Massereau, Frossay. Loire-Atlantique, France on 23rd August 2019 - although this is on the normal migration route we ring few Sedgies here so the chances of getting foreign recoveries is consequently low.

Wednesday 2nd October 2019

A few interesting bits 'n bobs including the first Merlin & Yellow-browed Warbler of the autumn plus an October Swift with a supporting cast of 25 Mipit, 15 Blue Tit, 15 Chiffchaff, 7 Chaffinch, 6 Song Thrush, 6 Wheatear, 5 Sanderling, 4 Blackcap, 3 Snipe, 2 Jackdaw, Coal Tit, Lapwing, Redstart, Reed Bunting, Stonechat & Willow Warbler. On the move southbound 144 Black-headed Gull, 71 Goldfinch, 66 Mipit, 51 Brent, 27 Swallow, 19 House Martin, 9 Shelduck, 8 Chaffinch, 2 Avocet, 2 Common Gull, Skylark & Sparrowhawk with northbound 9 House Martin, 8 Common Scoter, 8 Swallow & Bonxie plus in off the sea 7 Med Gull & 5 Greylag Geese. Often speculate whether Greylags in off the sea in the autumn are part of the wild populations that winter in the Netherlands in vast numbers rather than feral birds that infest East Anglia.

Moth traps uninspiring with nothing to feature for "moth of the day" that hasn't been spoken about already this year unless we go into "repeats" so any gaps in this department are not down to lack of effort but due to the time of the year and weather conditions.

Ringing: 7 Blue Tit, 7 Chiffchaff, 3 Dunnock, 2 Blackcap, 2 Great Tit, 1 Coal Tit, 1 Robin, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Wood Pigeon.

Tuesday 1st October 2019

One of two Sanderling feeding in the surf on the beach today.

A decent passage of birds once again today with southbound 144 Swallow, 110 House Martin, 86 Meadow Pipit, 4 Common Scoter, 3 Sandwich Tern, 3 Knot, 2 Dunlin, 2 Teal, 2 Skylark, 1 Sand Martin, 1 Common Gull, 1 Golden Plover, 1 Grey Wagtail and 1 Yellow Wagtail. Two Gannet were northbound, whereas 3 Cormorant were heading east out to sea. A Bonxie was seen heading upriver before turning back out to sea, and there was a count of 21 Med Gull. On the reserve there were 35 Meadow Pipit, 10 Blackcap, 10 Chiffchaff, 7 Wheatear, 6 Chaffinch, 3 Reed Bunting, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Sanderling, 2 Jackdaw, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Rock Pipit, 1 Hobby, 1 Turnstone,1 Coal Tit, 1 Firecrest and 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker. 

Clancy's Rustic is having a reasonable autumn but its difficult to know whether they are migrants or have colonised the area.

Ringing: 8 Chiffchaff, 5 Blackcap, 5 Meadow Pipit, 4 Blue Tit, 3 Goldcrest, 2 Great Tit, 1 Coal Tit, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Wren. 

September 2019 ringing totals

478 birds ringed of 34 species this past month, which is very slightly down on the September 2018 totals. Goldcrest and Chiffchaff both in larger numbers compared to last year, though Song Thrush are conspicuously down. We would expect to see Song Thrush peak through the Thrush Rush of early October, so the coming weeks will show if they really have had a poor year, or if they are just running late. Star bird of the month was certainly the RB Flycatcher, though Purple Sandpiper and Tree Pipit also make nice additions to the month's list.

Blackcap	100
Chiffchaff	80
Blue Tit	43
Meadow Pipit	38
Willow Warbler	36
Goldcrest	28
Robin	22
Dunnock	19
Goldfinch	17
Great Tit	16
Grey Wagtail	14
Whitethroat	8
House Sparrow	6
Redstart	6
Lesser Whitethroat	5
Woodpigeon	5
Wren	5
Garden Warbler	3
Linnet	3
Tree Sparrow	3
Chaffinch	2
Coal Tit	2
Herring Gull	2
Pied Flycatcher	2
Reed Warbler	2
Sedge Warbler	2
Sparrowhawk	2
Blackbird	1
Firecrest	1
Purple Sandpiper	1
Red-breasted Flycatcher	1
Song Thrush	1
Spotted Flycatcher	1
Tree Pipit	1

Monday 30th September 2019

More benign conditions makes for more enjoyable birding. On site migrants include 30 Mipit, 25 Chiffchaff, 15 Goldcrest, 10 Blue Tit, 8 Wheatear, 5 Blackcap, 5 Chaffinch, Firecrest & Green Woodpecker. Vis mig and offshore southbound 227 Mipit, 182 Swallow, 25 House Martin, 12 Chaffinch, 8 Brent, 8 Wigeon, 5 Grey Wag, 3 Marsh Harrier, 2 Carrion Crow, 2 Woodlark, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Jackdaw, Peregrine (in addition to the 2 sitting on boxes on lighting towers), Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Siskin & Skylark. 3 Marsh Harrier is a notable movement for us with the Woodlark's the first of the autumn.

First Green-brindled Crescent of the season. It is a widespread species that we just get odd ones of.

Ringing: 15 Chiffchaff, 9 Goldcrest, 7 Blue Tit, 2 Blackcap, 3 Dunnock, 2 Meadow Pipit, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Grey Wagtail plus a British ringed "control" Grey Wagtail.

Sunday 29th September 2019

More wind which slowly abated as the morning went on although occasional drizzle still, once again, making birding difficult. Southbound 26 Great Black-backed Gull, 3 Dunlin, 2 Common Gull, 2 Swallow, Knot & Pintail with northbound 2 Common Tern & Gannet is a poor return from the effort put in. Grounded migrants include 15 Chiffchaff, 4 Wheatear, 2 Blackcap, Goldcrest & Redstart.

Short-cloaked Moth formally only occurred in mid summer but now has a small second emergence.

Ringing: 6 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Robin.