Southbound 62 Swallow, 11 Turnstone, 9 Teal, 3 Oyk, 2 Sand Martin, Gannet & Great Crested Grebe. Grounded migrants include 15 Wheatear, 10 Willow Warbler, 7 Whitethroat, 6 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Reed Warbler, Garden Warbler, Redstart, Whinchat & the first Spotted Fly of the autumn. Another Great Spotted Woodpecker visited.
A sunny morning with wind changing to WSW. A lot of visible hirundines migration. Inside the compound a Garden Warbler, Redstart, a Pied Flycatcher and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. A Reed Warbler inside the compound and one on Iccy ridge. Out on the reserve a Whinchat, a Yellow Wagtail, 2 Wheatear, 16 Pied Wagtail. A Turnstone on the Jetty.
Seawatching produced: South: 11 Shelduck, 2 Sandwich Tern, a Cormorant, a Greenshank and a Redshank. North: 1 Cormorant.
Hirundine migration included some 800 Swallow, 12 House Martin and 10 Sand Martin flying South throughout the morning.
Moth trapping: 55 moth species recorded this morning between our 3 traps. Moth of the morning is the European Corn-borer, individuals we get here could be immigrants or from resident populations.
Linnet ringed LBO 5th August 2009 was recaught 1360 km away at Laguna de San Juan, Madrid, Spain on 13th March 2010. We have seven previous movements to & one from Spain. The dates are correct & it only took the Spanish ringing scheme over 16 years to let us know. Difficult to know whether fewer of our Linnets are going to Spain than in the past or not when it's taking this long to get information back. On the plus side, better late than never & a big thank you to whoever is ploughing through the backlog of outstanding data !
moth trapping: 53 moth species recorded between our 3 traps last night. Moth of the morning is the Wax moth (shown below). This moth lives on honeycomb in beehives. It is just about annual here with us.
bird ringing: 2 Willow Warbler, 1 Redstart.
A sunny bright morning with a strong E wind producing some hope, large movements of Teal south and a Pied Flycatcher late morning. 3 Wheatear present out on the reserve and a Sanderling out on the beach.
Seawatching produced south: 226 Teal, 25 Common Scoter and 5 Gadwall. North: 12 Sandwich Tern, 2 Gannet and 2 Shelduck. Feeding offshore: 6 Sandwich Tern.
Moth trapping: 25 moth species present between our 3 traps. Moth of the morning is the Flounced Rustic (Luperina testacea), a moth that should be common at this time of the year but numbers are very low, presumably to drought conditions.
Slightly more migrants this morning with 5 Willow Warbler, 4 Lesser 'throat, 4 Whitethroat, Grey Wag, Reed Warbler, Swallow & Wheatear. 2 Black Red still present & yet another Great Spot paid a visit. Offshore quiet with southbound 7 Turnstone, Fulmar & Oyk plus a few Common & Sandwich Terns feeding.
Bit more on the move with southbound 118 Oyk, 34 Swallow, 23 Sand Martin, 16 Redshank, 10 Med Gulls, 10 Ringos, 9 Whimbrel, 7 Great Black-backs, 7 Sanderling, 6 Sandwich Tern, 2 Dunlin, 2 Grey Plover, 2 Shelduck, & Turnstone with northbound 8 Barnacles. Grounded migrants still in paltry numbers with 6 Whitethroat, 4 Lesser 'throat, 4 Willow Warbler, 2 Wheatear & Sedge Warbler. 2 Black Reds still with us.
Blackcap ringed Noain, Navarra, Spain on 30th September 2024 was caught at LBO 1044 km away on 14th April 2025. This bird will have been on autumn passage in northern Spain & spring passage here. Only took 16 months to get the ringing details !
Reed Warbler ringed Trimley 19th August 2024 was at LBO 19th July 2026 is, presumably, a Trimley breeder which wandered around here prior to it's autumn departure.
Small handful of migrants included 8 Whitethroat, 4 Willow Warbler, 2 Lesser 'throat, 2 Reed Warbler, 2 Swallow & Wheatear. 2 Black Reds are currently wandering around the site & a Great Spot visited. Offshore movements very basic with a Fulmar flying over the docks then north worth a mention as they have been scarce all summer.
Ringing: 3 Willow Warbler, 1 Blackbird, 1 Reed Warbler.
Considering the easterly influence to the weather plus overcast conditions its poor with grounded migrants limited to 5 Whitethroat, 4 Willow Warbler & Wheatear plus a Snipe coming in off the sea pitching onto the reserve. Southbound single Heron, Marsh Harrier, Swallow, Teal & Yellow Wag plus a Swift north.
A clear and sunny morning with heat building by mid morning. 5 Willow Warbler and 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker inside the compound. At least 2 Black Redstart in the compound/out on the reserve with a juvenile ringed a few days ago recaught this morning and an individual in the mine station compound not ringed. A Red Kite flew over the port heading west shortly followed by two Peregrines. 30 Pied Wagtail, 2 Ringed Plover and a Wheatear out on the reserve.
Seawatching produced: 4 Oystercatcher and a Cormorant South. 5 Cormorant North. Feeding offshore: 5 Sandwich Tern, 3 Common Tern.
Hirundine movement included 129 Swallow and 9 Sand Martin both South.
Moth trapping: 87 moth species recorded this morning between our 3 traps. Moth of the morning goes to Pale Maple Stilt, first noted in Suffolk six years ago. We noted one in 2024, it may colonise our Sycamores.
Bird ringing: 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Dunnock, 1 Robin, 1 Pied Flycatcher, 1 Starling.
Sunny with a gentle breeze coming from the east produced a quiet morning inside the observatory compound with only a Reed Warbler ringed and1 Pied Flycatcher arriving mid day, migrant wise. A Black Redstart was on the Fort early morning. Quiet too out on the reserve with the highlight being 28 Pied Wagtail.
Seawatching produced: South movements: 25 Common Scoter, 25 Teal. 1 Oystercatcher North. 10 Sandwich Tern feeding offshore.
Moth trapping: 79 moth species recorded last night between our 3 traps. Moth of the morning goes to the Beech moth, an infrequent visitor from Beech woods.
Bird ringing: 1 House Sparrow, 1 Reed Warbler, 1 Robin, 1 Woodpigeon.
Considering the wind direction it's a tad disappointing although the first Whinchat of the autumn is plum on cue. Few other migrants although 10 Whitethroat & 5 Lesser Whitethroat are worth a mention. Offshore southbound 17 Redshank, 6 Oyk, 4 Teal, 2 Common Gull with northbound 6 Gannet.
Moth trapping: 95 Moth species recorded between our 3 traps last night. Moth of the morning is Star-wort, a nationally scarce species that we last saw here five years ago. The larvae feed on the edges of saltmarsh sites on Sea-aster. - Suffolk Moths.
Bird ringing: 1 Reed Warbler, 1 Pied Flycatcher, 1 Willow Warbler.
Young Starlings are in various stage of post-juvenile moult.
First Pied Fly & Tree Pipit of the autumn although few other migrants on site included 5 Whitethroat, Lesser 'throat, Wheatear & Willow Warbler. 2 Black Red's were in the vicinity of the tank traps. Offshore movements non-existent apart from feeding Sandwich Terns coming & going.
Moth trapping: 98 moth species recorded between our 3 traps last night. Moth of the morning is the Gypsy Moth, with single records in 2003 and 2014 but then becoming an annual occurrence since 2020. This species was accidentally introduced into London area in the 1990s, a government eradication program failed to wipe out this 'pest' species. The species gained this pest branding due to the caterpillars ferocious appetite taking foliage off a variety of trees and shrubs, causing reduced growth and reduced fruit, also caterpillars have bristly hairs that can cause skin irritation in humans and may become airborne, affecting respiratory systems.
Bird ringing: 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Robin, 1 Willow Warbler.
A sunny and bright morning with a strong wind from the west. A Nightingale was a nice surprise on the first net round but on the whole mostly quiet within the compound, bar anouther visit from a Great Spotted Woodpecker and shouty Cetti's Warbler. Out on the beach a juvenile Dunlin and briefly on the grass in front of the observatory our Ring Plover family with both chicks remaining. A Peregrine was also seen on the crane again at the port.
Seawatching produced: 12 Black-headed gull, 3 Sandwich Tern, a Dunlin, a Gadwall and a Whimbrel, all south. 18 Oystercatcher south west towards the port. A Cormorant West. Feeding offshore: 18 Sandwich Tern.
Hirundine movement included 14 Swallow, 4 Swift and a Sand Martin south. Later in the evening 84 Swift were seen in one large groups over the nature reserve and observatory.
Moth trapping: 56 moth species present between our 3 traps. Bulrush Wainscot is the moth of the morning, with it being a wetland wanderer. Occurring infrequently here.
Bird ringing: 2 Willow Warbler, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Nightingale.
