Saturday 22nd June 2024

A mixture of returning migrants and first of the year fledglings today. 2 young chiffchaff were the first for 2024, accompanied by some more young blue, great and coal tits and some more young wrens. Young dunnocks are also a daily occurrence, which is a pleasant change from last year. The ringed plover chicks are still around, the parents doing a good job of keeping them safe so far. A southerly curlew was a sign of the upcoming autumn, before we're even finished with summer.

 Evergestis limbata was until recently a rare migrant but is now a regular that has colonised. 

Birds Ringed: Blackcap 1, Blue Tit 3, Chiffchaff 2, Dunnock 3, Great Tit 1, Lesser Whitethroat 1, Wren 2.   

Steve Piotrowski, 1951 - 2024

Steve Piotrowski, 1951 - 2024

Steve, who passed away earlier this week, was one of the founder members of Landguard Bird Observatory back in 1982. He currently holds the position of LBO President. A tribute to Steve plus the funeral arrangements are available on - 

https://stevenpiotrowski.muchloved.com/

Friday 21st June 2024

A misty start to the morning quickly burnt off into a standard summer day. A grey wagtail heard over the obs was notable, though we have done better for this species this year than most springs. A few swifts were feeding over the reserve all morning, perhaps local birds, but they can travel long distances to gather food and avoid bad weather, so they could be from much further afield. One of last years Cetti's warblers was recaught, with a brood patch, so hopefully she's feeding young somewhere on the reserve. 

 First noted here in 2017, Beautiful Hook-tip is a real success story and is now fairly common here.

Birds Ringed: Blue Tit 1, Dunnock 2, Goldfinch 2, House Sparrow 1, Lesser Whitethroat 1, Linnet 1. 

Ringing Recoveries

Blackcap ringed LBO 2nd October 2023 was retrapped 347 km away in Alderney 20th March 2024. This bird will be on autumn passage here & on spring passage in the Channel Islands.

Starling ringed LBO 7th August 2022 was killed by a cat in Felixstowe 22nd May 2024.

Another Starling also ringed LBO 7th August 2022 was retrapped 19 km away in Melton 12th June 2024.

Chiffchaff ringed on spring passage at LBO 18th March 2024 was retrapped 59 km away at Kessingland on 9th May 2024 which may, or may not be near its intended breeding site although it's difficult to know with this species.

Two young Goldfinch ringed last June at LBO wandered around to Trimley being retrapped this spring.

Song Thrush ringed LBO 3rd March 2024 probably failed to find a mate here, got bored & wandered around to Trimley being retrapped there 20th April 2024.

Sparrowhawk ringed LBO 23rd September 2023 was retrapped Trimley 19th May 2024 will be a wandering juvenile male.

Blackcap ringed Trimley 24th May 2024 was retrapped at LBO 13th June 2024 is a wandering male looking for a vacant territory in the hope of finding a mate at this late spring juncture.

Thursday 20th June 2024

Another classic summer day here. Little in the way of migrants. A couple of med gulls out on the sea, one of the previous days juvenile blackcaps still hanging around, a singing reed warbler and a roving tit flock that included 3 young coal tits. 

More lesser whitethroat chicks on the wing, but very gradually. Skylarks stopped breeding here in 1998, so a singing bird today was notable. 

Records of the Lackey have increased over the last half a dozen years, which is notable as it is now listed on the red list as "vulnerable".

Birds Ringed: Blue Tit 1, Coal Tit 1, Dunnock 1, Lesser Whitethroat 1. 

Wednesday 19th June 2024

 

Migrants were a Reed Warbler plus a Sand Martin north. Offshore southbound 9 Teal, 3 Sandwich & a Little Tern with northbound 18 Common Scoter & a Grey Heron. Apart from that it's baby bird time. Worth a mention is the presence of up to half a dozen Stock Dove early morning in recent days feeding on the reserve which depart over the docks.

Sometimes forget to display common species as "moth of the day" with Ephestia woodiella one such species that was only noted for the first time in Suffolk less than 30 years ago.

Ringing: 1 House Sparrow, 1 Wren.

Tuesday 18th June 2024

Some first for the season today, first fledgling lesser whitethroats in the compound and the first hornet clearwing moth for the year. 

Another dispersing juvenile blackcap turned up in the compound, and another adult whitethroat, curiously not in any sort of breeding condition. Perhaps a bird that was unsuccessful in finding a mate and is now wandering. It's a little late for a late arriving whitethroat, but we can't be sure. 

Ringed plover chicks survived the night and are quite independent already, if still not incredibly confident on their feet. Parents are being very attentive, which is a positive sign, even if one is spending a lot of time threatening linnets. 

Hornet Moth, or Hornet Clearwing Moth, is a species associated with poplars, which are an abundant tree on site. The larvae feed on the trees before emerging as adults in mid-late June. They only have a single emergence a year. 

Birds Ringed:

Blackcap 1, Dunnock 1, Lesser Whitethroat 1, Reed Warbler 1, Whitethroat 1, Wren 1. 

 

Monday 17th June 2024

Some interesting avian events today. The first adult great spotted woodpecker ringed in the Observatories history paid us a visit with his offspring. It's quite early for juvenile woodpecker dispersal, and what the adult was doing here is mysterious. The first fledged blackcap was seen at the observatory, along with yet another family of fledged great tits and a female whitethroat. 

Out on the reserve, a ringed plover pair has managed against high odds to hatch a brood of chicks. Its still early days and there are a lot of predators, scavengers and human traffic for them to compete with, so its worth being extra alert and respectful if you visit the reserve in the next month. Fingers crossed they can be as successful with fledging as they were with hatching. 

Peppered Moth is a master of disguise.

Birds Ringed: Blackcap 1, Goldfinch 1, Great Spotted Woodpecker 2, Great Tit 3, Whitethroat 1, Wren 1. 

 

Sunday 16th June 2024

 

Botanically brilliant at present with a guesstimate of 100,000+ Viper's Bugloss plants if anyone wants to come & do a count ! Windy with some heavy showers and lower than average temperatures is suppressing the insect populations with very poor numbers of lepidoptera to be seen both by day & night. Bird migration presently poor with this morning highlights being 3 Curlew & 2 House Martin south. Some breeding bird species are doing okay with others failing to rear many, or any, young at all  so far although second, or third, attempts are underway for some. With the inclement weather conditions it can feel more like purgatory than pleasure. Only five days to go to the longest day of the year after which it's all downhill - it's being so cheerful that keeps us going !

Spectacle larvae live on Nettles so should do much better this year after many lean times in recent years down here.

Ringing: 1 Dunnock, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Wren.