Thursday 6th February 2025

 

Another glorious frosty morning. 515 Cormorant went out fishing. Very predictable & stagnant birding at the moment. Rock Pipit back on the point & 2 Ringos on the beach.

Wednesday 5th February 2025

 

Another glorious sunny winters morning. 650 Cormorant went out fishing. c.30 Linnet on the reserve with not a lot else to offer you.

Tuesday 4th February 2025

 

Song Thrush singing & pleasing to see it has a mate. 567 Cormorant went out fishing. Stock Dove paid a visit & 7 Common Scoter were offshore.

Monday 3rd February 2025

 

Glorious frosty, calm morning. 426 Cormorant went out fishing with prior to that two flocks totaling 90 Black-headed Gull went south just off the beach although it's difficult to know whether they are on the move or just roosted on the calm sea off Cobbolds Point. The highlight of the day was 38 Linnet with several of them singing & displaying first thing. 

Sunday 2nd February 2025

 Glorious frosty, sunny day. 10 Linnet & a Cetti's the best from a paltry selection of sightings.

Saturday 1st February 2025

 No coverage. 

2025 LBO MEMBERSHIP

Thank you to existing members who have already renewed your membership for 2025 for the support you gave to Landguard Bird Observatory over the last 12 months. It is through your continued membership and donations that the Observatory is able to continue the important work it does.

Membership for 2025 is now due. Members should have received an email reminding them - if not we may have an incorrect email on file & if this is you please email the membership secretary on landguardbomembership@gmail.com so details can be updated.

Please can I ask you to continue to support the important work and renew your membership at your earliest convenience. The preferred payment method is by BACS transfer as the banks charge us a fee for each cheque processed.

New members who wish to support the observatory and its work are always welcome with further details on www.lbo.org.uk

Friday 31st January 2025

Wet morning. Southbound 3 Shelduck, Brent & the first Curlew of the year. 10 Kitts with gulls behind ships & 9 Common Scoter sat offshore.

Thursday 30th January 2025

 

Glorious sunny winters day. 2 Rock Pipit on the point only thing worth a mention.

Wednesday 29th January 2025

Glorious winters morning. The first Rook of the year went south. Otherwise c.1,500 gulls offshore & in the river the best of the rest.

Tuesday 28th January 2025

 Wet 'n windy. 1,020 Cormorant went out fishing. Gannet with c.1,000 gulls behind shipping. Southbound 4 Wigeon & a Shelduck on a fairly grim morning.

Monday 27th January 2025

 

935 Cormorant went out fishing. Offshore 200 Common Gull is a reasonable number for this winter & 26 Kitts were following shipping. Mrs. Peregrine put in another appearance & 8 Ringos were roosting at high tide.

Sunday 26th January 2025

 

960 Cormorants went out fishing early on a clear frosty start to the day. 9 Ringos near the point & 19 Linnet only other records of note.

Saturday 25th January 2025

726 Cormorant went out plus another 160 in from the north. Good to get some more Red-throated Divers offshore with 23 north 102 south. Nothing else moving. Adult female Peregrine siting on the nearest dock crane & a Stock Dove were both firsts of the year. 2 Ringos on the beach & 9 Linnet were indicators of some locals returning to check out breeding sites. Finally usual Rock Pipit on the point.

Friday 24th January 2025

 886 Cormorant went out fishing on a windy morning & the first Gannet of the year was seen. 

Thursday 23rd January 2025

610 Cormorant went out fishing 3/4 hour earlier than yesterday in clearer conditions. Over 1,000 gulls behind shipping but nothing more exciting than 17 Kitts & 3 Meds amongst them. Whilst gull watching single Common Scoter & Teal went south plus a Red-throated Diver north. 2 Cetti's still here plus the usual Rock Pipit on the point.

Wednesday 22nd January 2025

Cold/misty/foggy/drizzly morning. 600 Cormorant headed out fishing late on parade due to bad visibility. 2 Mallard flew south & Rock Pipit on the point although enthusiasm levels low in this weather.

Tuesday 21st January 2025

Damp, cold, misty/foggy morning. 23 Brent flew south, 4 Golden Plover on the beach & Rock Pipit on the point are the only offerings.

2025 SEASONAL WARDEN VACANCY

 SEASONAL WARDEN LANDGUARD BIRD OBSERVATORY

 Applicants need to be competent birdwatchers and have a BTO bird ringing ‘C’ permit with a mist net endorsement as a minimum requirement. An interest in other aspects of natural history and biological recording is also needed.

The position runs from Mid-March until mid-November 2025. A job description is available on request. If you require any specifics, please don’t hesitate to ask. Please e-mail landguardbo@yahoo.co.uk

Monday 20th January 2025

 

680 Cormorant headed out fishing on another dull grey cold day. 2 Rock Pipits were having a vocal territorial dispute on the point. More gulls offshore but nowt odd with a handful of Red-throated Divers going back & forth for the first time in days. Finally 2 Collared Doves was the first appearance of the year for their kind.

Sunday 19th January 2025

 

Another dull cold day. 562 Cormorant went out fishing. 2 Cetti's on the reserve by the Butts pond & in obs compound so they are tolerating the cold. Managed to read the ring on this Crow in the View Point car park that was originally ringed in March 2019 that is infamous for taking a chunk out of my hand when it was caught. Also managed to get the ring number on the Crow on the Butts that was ringed back in May 2014, but both have a way to go to beat the UK longevity record that stands at over 20 years.

Saturday 18th January 2025

 

Dull & cold. 303 Cormorant went out fishing. Over an hour staring out produced a flock of 10 Brent flying north but nothing else sums up how little is on the move presently. A Song Thrush was singing along View Point Road for the first time this year & a Fieldfare was in the compound.

Friday 17th January 2025

 

One of those morning's whereby if we hadn't turned up it wouldn't have made much difference to the cause. 296 Cormorant went out fishing, with the rest very much 'same old same old' - and not a lot of that presently ! Increase to 4 adult Meds from the usual 3, although that doesn't necessarily mean there's not more around it's just that 3 pulling behind Stenna going out is all that we can manage at a time in recent days.

Thursday 16th January 2025

 

Only the 12th LBO record of Coot on the river behind Darrell's Battery & the first here since 2011. Nine of the eleven previous records were from 1980 - 1994 so not an easy species to catch up with here. Far to much excitement for a January morning so it's back to the usual's. 381 Cormorant went fishing, 16 Common Scoter sat offshore, southbound 4 Brent, 2 Teal & Shelduck, Fieldfare on site plus the first Lesser Black-backed Gull of the year.

Wednesday 15th January 2025

Chiffchaff was a bit unexpected - we only have three previous January records all of which loitered for several days so it may get seen again. Milder conditions enticed a Cetti's into a couple of bursts of song just to let us know it's still here. 19 Linnet & 9 Goldfinch visited which suggests that they are wintering close nearby & popped down to check everything's ok.

Tuesday 14th January 2025

432 Cormorant went out fishing. Nowt on the move. 16 Common Scoter sat on the sea. The highlight of a walk around the reserve was 2 Goldfinch so all deadly quiet presently.

Monday 13th January 2025

 

Plenty of spare juvenile delinquents ready to move in if any of the resident adult crows pop their clogs.

415 Cormorant went out fishing. Southbound 18 Black-headed Gull, 12 Shelduck & a Tufted Duck. Increase in gulls with 146 Common Gull the best count for a while plus 25 Kitts following a boat coming in. A Fieldfare dropped in late morning & the Rock Pipit reappeared on the point. A singing Linnet exemplifies an increase in temperature although no others were seen so seems a pointless exercise this early in the year.

Ringing: 1 Blackbird

Sunday 12th January 2025

 

Blood red moon low in the sky over Trinity terminal pre dawn.

132 Cormorant went out fishing early. A Little Egret flying south only sighting worth a mention on a glorious sunny day with the sharp frost & rock hard ground not going all day in the shady areas.

Saturday 11th January 2025

 

Ice spike in the Heligoland pond that hasn't defrosted in the shade for days.

Glorious sunny frosty morning until cold fog arrived from inland late morning. Single Fieldfare & Woodcock on site plus 2 Jackdaw came in from the north then departed inland over the docks. 3 Greenfinch were notable as winter records have been very few & far between in recent years.

Friday 10th January 2025

 

610 Cormorant went out 40 minutes pre-dawn on a frosty morning. 4 Fieldfare paid an early visit & 15 Common Scoter were sat offshore. Otherwise very quiet.

Thursday 9th January 2025

 

605 Cormorant went out fishing plus another 80 in from the north an hour later.  2 Velvet Scoter flew south with other offshore movements almost non existent. A Mistle Thrush which left to the north will be a refugee from snow cover in land is today's migrant. Rock Pipit still with us.

Wednesday 8th January 2025

Woodcock was the only newbie seen & a Cetti's advertised it's presence for the first time this year. Apart from this one could just 'cut & paste' any one of a number of blogs from recent days ! 

Tuesday 7th January 2025

 

707 Cormorant went out fishing. No offshore movements. 3 Med Gulls, including a first-winter, was more than for several weeks. Rock Pipit still with us although a good root round after a couple of grotty weather days produced nothing noteworthy.

Monday 6th January 2025

 No coverage.

2025 SEASONAL WARDEN VACANCY

 

SEASONAL WARDEN LANDGUARD BIRD OBSERVATORY

 Applicants need to be competent birdwatchers and have a BTO bird ringing ‘C’ permit with a mist net endorsement as a minimum requirement. An interest in other aspects of natural history and biological recording is also needed.

The position runs from Mid-March until mid-November 2025. A job description is available on request. If you require any specifics, please don’t hesitate to ask. Please e-mail landguardbo@yahoo.co.uk

Sunday 5th January 2025

Heavy rain up to early afternoon. 588 Cormorant went out but with such poor visibility some may have passed unseen. 4 Pochard flew south but nothing else noted offshore - several Pochard records recently for no known reason. 2 Song Thrush only other record worth a mention amongst a paltry selection. 

Saturday 4th January 2025

 

758 Cormorant went out early on. Offshore southbound 18 Common Gull, 2 Brent & 2 Eider with northbound 3 Common Scoter, 2 Brent & Red-throated Diver plus 9 Common Scoter sat offshore. On site single Fieldfare, Snipe, Song Thrush plus the Rock Pipit on the point.

Friday 3rd January 2025

 

766 Cormorant went out fishing. Nothing moving offshore. Cold frosty morning brought 3 Skylark, single Fieldfare, Redwing & Song Thrush. Most of the locals were keeping tucked up under the bushes.

Ringing: 1 Redwing. 

2025 LBO MEMBERSHIP

Thank you to existing members for the support you gave to Landguard Bird Observatory over the last 12 months. It is through your continued membership and donations that the Observatory is able to continue the important work it does.

Membership for 2025 is now due. Members should have received an email reminding them - if not we may have an incorrect email on file & if this is you please email the membership secretary on landguardbomembership@gmail.com so details can be updated.

Please can I ask you to continue to support the important work and renew your membership at your earliest convenience. The preferred payment method is by BACS transfer as the banks charge us a fee for each cheque processed.

New members who wish to support the observatory and its work are always welcome with further details on www.lbo.org.uk

All the best to blog readers for 2025.

Thursday 2nd January 2025

610 Cormorant went out fishing. 2 Pochard sat with 19 Common Scoter offshore flew off south. Other offshore movements negligible. Evidence of some "turdus" moving with 2 Fieldfare, Song Thrush & a new Blacky.

Ringing: 1 Blackbird.

Wednesday 1st January 2025

 

Dull windy start to the year with rain from late morning onwards. 475 Cormorant went out fishing in the half light. A Merlin south just in front of the observatory was unexpected as we only have a handful of mid-winter records. Southbound 26 Brent, 21 Kitts & 2 Golden Plover with northbound 7 Common Scoter plus 5 Red-breasted Merganser went down river outwards.