Saturday 29th August 2020

 

A strong northerly breeze with the odd rain shower this morning.

Apart from a couple of Willow Warblers, Whitethroats and Lesser Whitethroats the bushes were rather quiet. Out on the reserve, 4 Wheatears were by the blocks, a Golden Plover was on the beach and the Black Redstart was in the usual place. There was a bit of vis-mig with 104 House Martins, 45 Sand Martins, 34 Swallows, 5 Swifts and 2 Yellow Wagtails on the move.

On the sea a Marsh Harrier, 6 Knot and a Fulmar headed north, while 175 Teal,40 Common Scoter, 14 Knot, 4 Sanderling, 3 Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Redshank, 2 Curlew and a Fulmar headed south. There were a few Terns moving around offshore but surprisingly no Skuas which must have headed into the 'Bawdsey Triangle'.

An unexpected addition to the site list is Stenolechia gemmella which frequents Oak woodland

Ringing: 2 Willow Warbler, 1 Robin

Friday 28th August 2020

 

A day of threatened rain showers, which finally appeared in late morning but it was reasonably quiet except for a few duck and waders moving on the sea.

In the bushes were a couple of Willow Warblers, 2 Lesser Whitethroats and 5 Whitethroat while 2 Sparrowhawks were busy hunting around the Poplars.

Out on the reserve 4 Wheatears were moving around the blocks, the Black Redstart was in front of the Observatory and 2 Grey Wagtails, 2 Yellow Wagtails, 3 Swift and a Swallow and a high Osprey flew overhead.

On the sea 277 Teal, 5 Shoveler, a Tufted Duck, 34 Dunlin, 23 Oystercatcher, 8 Ringed Plovers, 3 Curlew, 2 Turnstone, 1 Grey Plover, 1 Knot and a Fulmar headed south along with a Hobby which was moving offshore.

The Pale Mottled Willow has two generations a year with the second far larger than the first

Ringing: 2 Willow Warbler, 1 Blackbird, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Willow Warbler

Thursday 27th August 2020

Grounded migrants include 10 Willow Warbler, 4 Lesser Whitethroat, 3 Wheatear & 2 Whitethroat. Southbound 32 Oyk, 7 Cormorant, 6 Grey Plover, 6 Swallow, 5 Dunlin, 5 Teal, 4 Black-headed Gull,  3 Yellow Wag, 2 Fulmar, 2 Curlew, 2 Whimbrel, House Martin, Redshank, Sand Martin & Turnstone with northbound 3 Sandwich Tern plus 6 Shelduck heading out to sea. The 2 regular Black Red are still wandering around the site.

Always late on parade each year is Agriphila latistria that specialises on coastal sand & shingle habitat.

Ringing: 5 Willow Warbler, 3 Blue Tit, 1 Great Tit, 1 Robin.

Wednesday 26th August 2020

 Another windy morning with the wind tacking round further to the west, leading to fewer seabirds being seen offshore but allow for a couple of sheltered nets to be opened.

There were a few birds moving through the shelter of the bushes this morning; 2 Willow Warblers, 2 Whitethroats and a Blackcap were recorded. A Tree Pipit, 2 Sand Martins and 12 Swifts passed overhead.

Out on the reserve a Yellow Wagtail was feeding with the Pieds, a Wheatear was sheltering by the Tank Blocks and 300 Starlings were grubbing out on the lawn.

On the sea 4 Common Terns were feeding in the surf. A flock of 3 Teal, 6 Ringed Plover, 3 Turnstone, 3 Sanderling, 2 Dunlin, 2 Curlew and a Golden Plover headed south and a single Guillemot headed north.

Unsurprisingly the moth traps were rather quiet and moths were rather hard to come by. One of the traps only trapped a single specimen...but that was to be expected when the wind was gusting up to force 9 overnight. The Dark Sword-grass is a regular migrant along the coast that can be more exciting for those trapping inland!

Ringing: 2 Willow Warbler, 1 Blackcap, 1 Whitethroat.

Tuesday 25th August 2020

 Miserable and windy, with gust reaching 40+MPH but brightened considerably by a nice passage of birds on the sea.

As expected the bushes are pretty quiet with everything hunkered down against the weather but 11 Swifts passed over head.

The highlight of the mornings seawatch was 2 Sooty Shearwaters heading south, which matches the day record for this species in August. A Fulmar, 7 Teal and 3 Pale Phase Arctic Skua were also on the move, with one heading south and two birds interacting as they headed north.

Also on the move were several large flocks of Bar-tailed Godwits with 205 recorded, interspersed with these were lots of smaller groups of waders, including 54 Knot, 23 Grey Plover, 5 Ringed Plover, 4 Turnstone, 4 Dunlin and a Sanderling.

The moth traps were reasonably quiet but did contain a Eucosma tripoliana, a saltmarsh specialist that wanders widely at this time of the year. 

Ringing: 1 House Sparrow, 1 Wood Pigeon

Monday 24th August 2020

A breezy morning with a bit of a chill in the air, accompanied by a nice fall of Willow Warblers and a scattering of other warblers.

 At least 30 Willow Warblers, 8 Whitethroats, 5 Lesser Whitethroats, 3 Sedge Warblers, 2 Blackcaps, a Chiffchaff, Spotted Flycatcher and a Redstart moved through the bushes this morning. 

On the reserve there were at least 7 newly arrived Wheatears which were reasonably mobile feeding over the southern end of the Reserve. The Black Redstart was again in his favoured spot.

There was also a bit of vis-mig with 13 Swallows, 10 Sand Martins, 2 Swifts, 2 Tree Pipits, 8 Yellow Wagtails and a Grey Wagtail passing over south bound.

There was also a bit of a wader passage on the sea with 9 Oystercatcher, 6 Curlew, 4 Knot and a Whimbrel heading south along with 5 Mute Swans and a Sandwich and Common Tern headed north.

Another addition to the site list this morning, the Pale Egger, which has very few 21st century records in Suffolk. 

Ringing: 20 Willow Warbler, 3 Sedge Warbler, 3 Wheatear, 2 Blackcap, 2 Whitethroat, 1 Linnet, 1 Redstart

Sunday 22nd August 2020

A Short-eared Owl is only our fourth August sighting on record resulting in speculation as to whether this will turn out to be a good owl autumn ? A reasonable arrival of departing British migrants despite the breezy conditions including 30 Willow Warbler, 6 Whitethroat, 4 Lesser Whitethroat, 4 Wheatear, 3 Yellow Wag & 2 Sedge Warbler. Southbound 5 Sand Martin & 2 Swallow plus offshore 9 Turnstone, 8 Ringed Plover & a Common Tern.

White Point was formerly just a scarce migrant with a slow colonisation getting established from the 1960's onwards to the point where they now part of the scenery.

Ringing: 16 Willow Warbler, 1 Lesser Whitethroat.