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Saturday 15th February 2020


Only half yesterdays Cormorant number counted heading out this morning. Plenty of litter to pick up following recent gales & high tides. Only sighting worth a mention is 2 Great-crested Grebe heading south.

Friday 14th February 2020


3,462 Cormorants went out to sea fishing first thing. Also very early morning a Heron was fishing on the riverbank which is not normal behaviour here. A handful of migrants included southbound 4 Skylark & a Mipit with another sign of spring being 3 Shelduck walking around the reserve for the first time this year (this is a couple of weeks earlier than expected). 7 Ringed Plover were on the lawn during the morning strutting their stuff.

February Litter Pick

Litter Pick this Saturday 15th February 0930 hrs start. Usual arrangements on the Events page of www.lbo.org.uk

https://www.lbo.org.uk/events/

Thursday 13th February 2020


2,825 Cormorant went out to sea fishing. Offshore southbound 11 Brent, 3 Red-throated Diver & 2 Shelduck with northbound 3 Red-throats. At high tide 2 Purps & Rock Pipit on the point plus the Stonechat at the north end of the Butts that we haven't seen for a while on brief excursions to this area.


Plenty of wrecked Starfish about at low tide following recent winds.

Ringing: 1 Wood Pigeon

Wednesday 12th February 2020


Barely getting light when 1,800 Cormorant went out to sea fishing so may have missed some. Still windy but abating enough for 2 Purps & Rock Pipit to reappear on the point. 5 Long-tailed Tit only other thing worth a mention.

Tuesday 11th February 2020


Yesterdays storm surge at the point just prior to high tide.

On a crystal clear morning 2,580 Cormorants went out to sea low down over the river in a ten minute patch from 0645 hrs. Reed Bunting was today's migrant although what a Wood Pigeon was doing flying south well offshore in this gale is anyone's guess. Also southbound 21 Red-throated Diver, 9 Common Gull & 3 Kitts with northbound single Kitt & Red-throat.


Splitgill Schizophyllum commune is new to the site list (I think).

Monday 10th February 2020

Still windy with a bit of a storm surge going on with the tide running 1.3 m above predicted and not high tide yet. Today's on site migrant is a Skylark. Next to nothing moving offshore with southbound 3 Shelduck & Red-throated Diver & northbound a Brent Goose in roughly an hours observation.


King Alfred's Cakes or Cramp Balls were noted here on felled Holm Oak stumps several years back with it later found out that they had never been recorded on this host before. Several years later and the conditions are obviously correct for some more to appear. Obviously a Daldinia species but time to call in the experts.

Sunday 9th February 2020

Increasing gale gusting Force 9 by late morning. 1,710 cormorant went out fishing early on. An hour staring out produced southbound 20 Golden Plover, 16 Common Gull & 11 Kitts. Not sure if the usual culprits are at the point with no enthusiasm to go and look in these conditions - also a lack of photographers evident out there this morning !


Stigmella aurella is a very common leaf mining moth on Bramble.