Saturday 11th April 2026

 

Silver Y (Autographa gamma) - about two weeks earlier than most years. A little look into the scientific name: gamma is Greek for the letter Y.

A windy overcast morning with wind blowing from the SE. Very few migrants passing through, with ringing saying it all, with mostly retrap Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs from yesterday. A Redpoll was seen early in the morning in the compound, and a Whimbrel on the beach, 5 Wheatear remain on the peninsula. 

An easterly wind can be promising for blowing migrants closer to the shore, however today few were seen, with 7 Black-headed gull, 5 Swallow, 2 Whimbrel and an Oystercatcher flying south. Just 2 Cormorant moving North.  

Evening sea watching, whilst keeping an eye on tent traps for Wheatear, produced 6 Black-headed gull, 3 Mediterranean gull and a Curlew all heading south.  

Moth trapping: 3 moths, in a total of 3 traps, somewhat not surprising with the strong winds overnight. One of them being our first Silver Y of spring. The Silver Y is probably the most common immigrant moth in the UK, numbers tend to build in autumn, as the breeding population from spring migrants is swelled by further migration.    

Bird Ringing: 3 Wheatear, 2 Linnet, 1 Chiffchaff. 

A male Wheatear. Great to be catching these large winged individuals, with all 5 Wheatear caught to date this spring having wing lengths above 102 mm, making them all likely to be of the Greenland subspecies, making their way back up from Africa - one of the longest transoceanic crossing of any passerine - sub species leucorhoa.  

Friday 10th April 2026

 

One of our resident pair of Common turnstone (Arenaria interpres)

A cold morning, with the wind initially coming from NW, however dropping steadily and then changing to ESE by late morning and now a SSW. A reasonable number of migrants present around the peninsular, with 8 Wheatear, a Whitethroat and a singing Willow warbler. A Buzzard was notably seen circling, with very few seen in this area.     

Fine viewing out to sea produced 93 Black-headed gull, 8 Common gull, 7 Swallow, 2 Mediterranean gull and a Common scoter flying south. 5 Swallow and a Common scoter flying north.  

Moth trapping: The Oak-tree pug takes the limelight, with it being first for spring, although very tatty... with more of the usual with Quakers, and a Swallow prominent again.  

Ringing: 6 Chiffchaff, 3 Blackcap, 3 Linnet, 1 Willow warbler, 1 Wheatear.

Thursday 9th April 2026

Our earliest recorded spring arrival Reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) by 2 days (2025), using our daily census records dating back to 1986. 

A calm morning produced some decent migrants, with today bringing our first; Reed warbler, Whimbrel and Yellow Wagtail of this spring. Other birds on site included 6 Wheatear and at least 2 Willow warbler singing.

A few migrants were seen out to sea with 6 Mediterranean gull, 6 Meadow pipit, a Swallow, and the Whimbrel flying north. Flying south; 8 Oystercatcher, 3 Swallow, 2 Brent Geese, a Little egret, a Meadow pipit and a Jackdaw. Also notably the Blackbird ringed was recently fledged but well developed - quite early!  

Moth Trapping: Bloxworth Snout (Hypena obsitalis) was the most noteworthy, once migrating but recently building small populations on the southern coast, first for spring alongside the Diamondback moth and Light-brown apple moth... slowly getting a more diverse mix.   

Ringing: 15 Chiffchaff, 13 Blackcap, 1 Blackbird, 1 Robin, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Linnet, 1 Reed warbler, 1 Sparrowhawk.

Wednesday 8th April 2026

 

Starlings are investigating the nest boxes on the cottage.

Glorious clear calm sunny morning with a small handful of common migrants including 7 Blackcap, 7 Swallow,  5 Chiffchaff, 5 Wheatear, 2 Willow Warbler & Mipit plus visits from both Jackdaw & Stock Dove. Southbound 5 Barnacles & 4 Med Gull with offshore activity non-existent. 2 Turnstone & the singing Skylark still with us.

Ringing: 5 Blackcap, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Linnet, 1 Wheatear.

Tuesday 7th April 2026

 

A female Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe), the scientific name originates from Greek, meaning "vine" (oenoē) and "bloom" (anthos), referring to the birds' arrival in Greece in spring, coinciding with the blossoming of grapevines. 4 Wheatear have been seen today.

A clear morning with a brisk wind from ESE produced some more interesting migrants. A group of 12 Little gull where seen flying north with our first Common tern of the season flying shortly behind. A little later in the morning we ringed our earliest ever Whitethroat, beating the previous record by a day. Signs of nesting are starting to happen around the site, with a Linnet seen collecting nesting material.

Sea watching also produced 3 Avocets, 2 Curlews and 2 Black-headed gulls, all flying north. 3 Shelduck where seen flying south. 

Moth trapping: usual mix of Quakers joined by the Swallow prominent, the larvae feed on Poplar trees and the adult emerges from a chrysalis underground post winter.  

Swallow Prominent (Pheosia tremula).

Ringing: 4 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, 1 Linnet, 1 Pied wagtail, 1 Whitethroat. 

Whitethroat (Curruca communis) - Todays nice adult male with a reddish orange iris compared to a more grey iris seen in birds born last Spring. *Supporting other ageing criteria: such as rr4-5 showing distinct white markings*.

Monday 6th April 2026

A pleasant bank holiday morning in the calm ambient conditions delivered a perfectly acceptable selection. A Sedge Warbler was our second earliest ever only beaten by one on 5th April 2003 with a Great Spotted Woodpecker flying through a scarce spring visitor. Other migrants include 15 Chiffchaff, 15 Wheatear, 12 Blackcap, 2 Willow Warbler, Firecrest plus a Rook flying south. 11 Oyks also went south with offshore passage almost non-existent. What is quite likely to be the Serin from a couple of days ago was whizzing around mid-morning.

Ringing: 10 Blackcap, 10 Chiffchaff, 1 Firecrest, 1 Robin, 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Wren.

Sunday 5th April 2026

Windy morning following overnight gale didn't prevent a half decent arrival of fairly predictable early April fare. At least 50 Chiffchaff is our largest ever spring "fall" for this species whose numbers are increasing over the years due to climatic amelioration. The supporting cast included 10 Willow Warbler, 6 Wheatear & 2 Blackcap making for an acceptable arrival. Offshore southbound 10 Black-heads, 2 Avocet, 2 Brent, 2 Rook, 2 Shelduck, Heron, Oyk & Turnstone.

Only two moths in the traps including this Double-striped Pug which is a very common species with multiple emergences that will be flying all year round before long.

Ringing: 34 Chiffchaff, 9 Willow Warbler, 2 Blackcap.