Saturday 9th December 2023

Wet & windy with poor visibility until early afternoon followed by a dull windier milder spell. In a quick wizz round late on Rock Pipit on the point only thing of note.

Friday 8th December 2023

 

Glorious calm winters morning following on from yet another deluge. A Bullfinch was the first of it's kind seen this year. Also this morning 2 Cetti's and presumably the same Chiffchaff as seen a couple of days back still with us. Southbound 3 Mipit (+ 5 on the reserve) & 2 Chaffinch. Offshore a distant flock of 25 Common Scoter & sat separate from them 2 Velvets. Next to nothing moving out to sea.

Thursday 7th December 2023

 

Southbound 6 Brent, 5 Common Gull, 5 Teal, 3 Snow Bunting, 2 Kitts, Common Scoter, Knot, Razorbill & Shoveler, with northbound 6 Common Scoter, 3 Red-throated Diver & Gannet. Song Thrush singing on the Butts pre-dawn is getting a bit keen this early in the winter.

Ringing: 1 Wood Pigeon

Wednesday 6th December 2023

 

Glorious sunny day was the highlight. Getting late for Chiffchaff to still be moving through, although not unprecidented. Rock Pipit on the river bank only other thing to report.

Tuesday 5th December 2023

 

A trip into the Mine Station produced 16 Peacock butterflies, 1 Small Tortoisehell & 8 Herald moths hibernating.

Otherwise another dull morning with annoying mizzle. Offshore 47 Common Scoter went north + 28 south with no sign of the flock offshore in the poor vis. A walk around the reserve resulted in a Snipe flushed plus 2 Cetti's Warbler worth a mention but very little else.

Monday 4th December 2023

 

More like purgatory than pleasure this morning. Cold, dull, windy with annoying intermittent rain. 843 Cormorant went out fishing. Southbound 23 Teal, 12 Common Gull, 3 Kitts, 2 Common Scoter, 2 Shoveler, Great Crested Grebe & Red-breasted Merganser with northbound 12 Common Scoter & 10 Brent plus 43 Common and a Velvet Scoter sat offshore. 

Sunday 3rd December 2023

 

Bleak, wet & windy. 783 Cormorant headed out fishing. Southbound 13 Common Gull, 12 Common Scoter, 12 Teal, 2 Brent, 2 Gadwal & Gannet with northbound 11 Common Scoter, Velvet Scoter plus offshore 48 Common Scoter, 8 Gannet, 7 Kitts & a Velvet. A flock of Scoter on the sea feeding north of the observatory watchpoint has been a fairly regular feature in recent weeks.

Ringing Recoveries

Blackbird ringed Anjum, Friesland, The Netherlands, 27th January 2022 was retrapped 362 km away at LBO 31st October 2023. This one is interesting as it is obviously wintering in The Netherlands two winters back then was caught on autumn passage at LBO presumably coming into the UK for the winter this year.

Herring Gull ringed as a pullus on the Museum 17th July 2023 and present at Landguard up to 20th September 2023 was seen on a landfill site at Blaringhem, France on 1st December 2023. Interesting in that this birds two siblings were still present in the car parks here in November whereas this one cleared off. An increase in colour ringed gulls has been noted in Northern France in recent years roughly in line with the closure of landfill sites in the UK.