Monday 14th November 2016

Rain up to mid-morning. 1724 Cormorant went out fishing this morning. A couple of winters ago we were trying to break the "1000" barrier with numbers now going through the roof. At least it proves that there must be plenty of fish out at sea to support these sort of numbers. What is also noticeable is that the first birds are starting to come back in before they have all gone out which, again, suggests that the fishing is good for experienced birds as so little time is spent filling their bellies. Seawatching in the rain produced southbound 13 Teal, 10 Great-crested Grebe, 6 Red-throated Diver, 4 Gadwal, Shelduck, Gannet & Razorbill with northbound 218 Common Scoter. Very few migrants in the bushes although 8 Mipits went south overhead regardless of the weather conditions not conducive for visible migration. A walk around the site as the rain curtailed produced a fine first-winter Glaucous Gull on the beach.

Ringing: 1 Blackbird.

Sunday 13th November 2016

Small numbers of Mipits, Skylarks & a Rock Pipit went south as the overnight cloud cleared to leave a sunny morning. A handful of expected mid-November migrants on site including 2 Fieldfare, Redwing & Brambling. A Black Red was singing from the Fort plus a Snow Bunting flew along the beach. Only 1008 Cormorants flying out to feed this morning but we may have missed some.

Slightly milder conditions have brought a few moths out to play including the Satellite.

9 birds ringed: 4 Blackbird, 3 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Robin, 1 Song Thrush.

Saturday 12th November 2016

A change in the winds today from the South and East, we were hopeful for a new arrival of migrants and we were not disappointed.

Migrants came in the form of 60 Blackbird, 20 Robin, 1 Mistle Thrush, 17 Goldfinch, 4 Chaffinch, 2 Starling, 1 Meadow Pipit, 1 Lapwing and 1 Woodcock.

Sea watching produced 1,181 Cormorant (above) 59 Brent Geese, 58 Dunlin, 27 Common Scoter, 25 Teal, 20 Shelduck, 17 Common Gull, 12 Red-throated Diver, 12 Black headed Gull, 8 Red breasted Merganser, 8 Avocet, 6 Gannet, 4 Curlew, 3 Great Crested Grebe, 2 Great Skua, 2 Pintail, 1 Turnstone, 1 Mediterranean Gull and 1 Eider..

Ringing: 34 birds ringed this morning which include 27 Blackbird, 4 Robin, 2 Chaffinch and 1 Goldfinch.

Friday 11th November 2016

Still we feel a chill to the air today with a drizzle shower mid morning. It certainly turned out to be a glorious afternoon. A few niceties were on show throughout the day.

This Short-eared Owl (above) showed really well on-and-off during the day and even posed for it's picture to be taken out on the nature reserve. Other decent birds involved 2 Waxwings that flew South late morning and a total of 3 Snow Buntings, of which one on the nature reserve and two that didn't stop long, from the North and flew out to sea.

Other migrants include 1,005+ Starling, 22+ Goldfinch, 18 Linnet, 12 Meadow Pipit, 9 Chaffinch, 8 Long tailed Tit, 7 Siskin, 7 Skylark, 3 Greenfinch, 3 Goldcrest, 2 Song Thrush, 2 Stock Dove, 1 Rock Pipit, 1 Bullfinch, 1 Carrion Crow, 1 Snipe and 1 Common Buzzard.

Sea watching produced 1,428 Cormorant, 210 Common Scoter, 90 Brent Geese, 5 Red-throated Diver, 2 Great Skua, 2 Mediterranean Gull and 1 Gannet.

Ringing: 8 birds ringed this morning including 3 Blackbird, 2 Goldfinch, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Woodpigeon and 1 Bullfinch.

November Litter Pick

Litter pick this Saturday 12th November 0930hrs start. Usual arrangements on the events page of www.lbo.org.uk

Thursday 10th November 2016

It felt slightly warmer today but not by very much. The heavy rain yesterday seemed to put many birds off from moving anywhere, despite this though there were a few new arrivals present.

Migration this morning involved 69 Starling, 51 Goldfinch, 20 Chaffinch, 18 Meadow Pipit, 14 Linnet, 9 Siskin, 4 Skylark, 3 Song Thrush, 2 Reed Bunting, 2 Greenfinch, 1 Yellowhammer, 1 Mistle Thrush, 1 Jackdaw (above), 1 Stock Dove, 1 Chiffchaff and 1 Lesser Redpoll.

Sea watching was fair game with totals of 1,208 Cormorant, 136 Brent Geese, 20 Common Scoter, 13 Red-throated Diver, 13 Common Gull, 10 Dunlin, 8 Teal, 5 Shelduck, 2 Eider, 2 Goldeneye, 1 Little Egret, 1 Turnstone, 1 Pintail, 1 Long tailed Duck and 1 Goosander.

Ringing: 7 birds ringed this morning including 5 Blackbird, 1 Chaffinch and 1 Robin.

Wednesday 9th November 2016

After 5 days of no moths at all in the traps, this migrant Pearly Underwing was a pleasant surprise.

A day of non stop rain, so staring out to sea was the order of the day, with mostly ducks on the menu including, 102 Common Scoter, 78 Teal, 23 Wigeon, 7 Shoveler, 4 Tufted Duck, 3 each of Pintail, Shelduck, Goldeneye and Gadwall all south along with 3 Red-throated Diver, 1 Little Auk, 1 Red-breasted Merganser, 4 Lapwing, 58 Dunlin and ones and twos of other common Waders, plus 1 Long-tailed Duck that went north early on.

1 Blackbird was the only bird ringed.