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Saturday 20th August 2022

 

The autumnal feel continues with southbound 65 Swallow, 17 Shelduck, 6 Sand Martin, 5 Common Scoter, 5 Sandwich Tern, 5 Teal, 4 Yellow Wag, 2 Buzzard, 2 Grey Wag, 2 Little Egret & Gannet. Migrants on site included 18 Willow Warbler, 6 Lesser 'throat, 2 Whitethroat, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Wheatear, Whinchat & Wryneck plus a visit from another Great-spotted Woodpecker. The juvenile Stock Dove is still with us.

Beet Moth is a common species on saltmarsh that wanders down here confusing us by masquerading as another species to confuse us not as originally posted (Oops!).

Ringing: 12 Willow Warbler, 1 Blackcap, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Whitethroat.

Friday 19th August 2022


A nice reminder that autumn HAS arrived today. Plenty of birds moving through and over, including redshank, turnstone, golden and grey plover. Non waders were less in abundance but a wryneck and a pied flycatcher were ringed amongst other commoner migrants mid morning. First wryneck record for the site this year, hopefully a herald of a good season? It was a young bird and may stay around for a while, though whether anyone can find it again is another question.

We haven't seen an Antler Moth here for four years.

Birds Ringed: House Sparrow 1, Pied Flycatcher 1, Reed Warbler 1, Robin 1, Whitethroat 1, Willow Warbler 2, Wryneck 1



 

Thursday 18th August 2022

A warm and muggy day that promised a little and delivered a little. Very few birds passing through, though a new reed warbler and 3 willow warblers were signs that migrants were present. 


 Convolvulus Hawkmoth is a long distance migrant from southern Europe and Africa. 

Birds Ringed: Dunnock 1, Reed Warbler 1, Willow Warbler 3

Motus Bar-tailed Godwits 'hits'

 

Two different Bar-tailed Godwits originally tagged heading north in the spring in The Netherlands by Wageningen University & Research have been tracked by the Motus tower at Landguard on their autumn migration south. The second of these is shown above. It was tracked leaving the Dutch coast  near Texel yesterday and travelled the 275 km to Landguard in 3 hrs 35 mins at 76 km/hr. Hopefully both of these birds will be picked up by Motus towers further south. 

Further information on Motus is available on www.motus.org

Wednesday 17th August 2022

Migrants included 6 Willow Warbler, 3 Lesser Whitethroat, 3 Wheatear, Whitethroat & Pied Fly. Vis mig non-existent and offshore movements almost the same with 3 Shelduck the only thing worth a mention. A juvenile Stock Dove (above) was with us all morning.

Pediasia contaminella failed to put in appearance last year so a handful of recent records is welcome.

Ringing: 4 Willow Warbler, 1 Pied Flycatcher.

Tuesday 16th August 2022

Migration slowed today, and the moths were less hectic than yesterday. Willow warblers were still trickling through and singles of reed warbler and blackcap were present, along with increased numbers of whitethroat. 35 pied wagtails on the reserve is very notable and clearly suggests they've had a good breeding season. Also of note was the ringing of 2 sparrowhawks, something that is incredibly rare here. Both were juveniles, on male and one female. 


Whilst the moths were less hectic, the site additions keep coming. Fig-leaf Skeletonizer was discovered in Suffolk in 2021 and will be coming to your fig trees soon (if it hasn't already).

Birds Ringed: Blackcap 1, Sparrowhawk 2, Starling 1, Willow Warbler 3

Monday 15th August 2022

A slight change in weather really did help bring the autumn migration feeling to the observatory. Plenty of birds moving, including redstart, pied flycatcher and yellow wagtail and a lot of ducks, gulls, terns and waders moving past all morning. A marsh harrier moving south was our one bird of prey for the day.

Hawkers, both migrant and southern, were very abundant around the observatory.


It was a very busy morning for moths, which was good as we had two young members turn up specifically to check the traps. One moth trap held 7 Jersey Tiger Moths, and another held our 3rd Spurge Hawkmoth of the year. The moth pictured however is even less regular, being barely annual here, and perhaps unfairly named, the Plain Pug.

Birds Ringed: Lesser Whitethroat 2, Robin 1, Whitethroat 2, Willow Warbler 1

Sunday 14th August 2022

 Another hot one with grounded migrants again in very low numbers including 2 Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Pied Flycatcher, Reed Warbler, Swallow, Wheatear & Willow Warbler. A Grey Plover flew north & 9 Common & a Sandwich Tern were loitering. The turnover of individuals means that a Pied Fly per day will be equal to five different individuals since last Wednesday.

Ancylosis oblitella is a nationally scarce species that we do well for at this time of the year.

Ringing:1 Blue Tit, 1 Pied Flycatcher, 1 Reed Warbler, 1 Robin.