Saturday 19th September 2026

A cloudy and breezy morning with only a small amount of visible migration including 32 Swallow and 3 Meadow Pipit south. Quiet within the compound with mainly Blackcap and Chiffchaff. Out on the reserve a single Wheatear. 

Seawatching: 

South: 8 Sandwich Tern, 7 Great Black-backed Gull, a Brent Goose, a Marsh Harrier, a Shelduck and a Whimbrel. 

North: 1 Great Black-backed Gull

Feeding offshore: 11 Sandwich Tern and a Common Tern. 

Moth trapping: 18 moth species between our 3 moth traps. Lunar underwing has started coming out in recent days. 

Lunar Underwing (Anchoscelis lunosa). 

Bird ringing: 3 Chiffchaff, 3 Blackcap, 1 Robin.  

Friday 18th September 2026

 Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra), seen near the cottage. 

A sunny but blustery morning with wind from the west. A Redstart was seen on the roof of the fort as well as 2 Black Redstarts in the moat late afternoon. A Whinchat near the cottage mid morning. Hirundine movement: 109 Swallow and 6 Sand Martin.

Seawatching produced: South: 5 Cormorant and 4 Teal. North: 1 Red-throated Diver and a Gannet. Feeding offshore: 35 Sandwich Tern and 2 Common Tern. 

Moth trapping: 23 Species recorded between our 3 traps - low species count due to the high winds overnight.   

However another Wall Brown was spotted today, potentially two...  the Wall is a declining species in Suffolk that has been noted here for the past five autumns in low numbers.

Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera), sighted today near the pond near the butts and on wednesday in the moat of the fort. 

Bird ringing: 11 Chiffchaff, 3 Blackcap, 2 Blue Tit. 

  

Thursday 17th September 2026

An overcast morning with rain starting mid morning. Inside the compound a small mix of warblers including Lesser Whitethroat. Out on the reserve 2 Jackdaw, a Kestrel and a Snipe that was flushed. 13 Meadow Pipit south over the reserve. Hirundine movement: 34 Swallow, 6 House Martin and a Sand Martin south. 2 Knot out on the beach.   

Seawatching produced: South: 94 Wigeon, 42 Teal, 9 Pintail, 5 Ringed Plover, 4 Dunlin, 4 Scoter, 3 Grey Plover, 3 Sanderling, 2 Snipe, 1 Golden Plover, 1 Hobby and 1 Oystercatcher, 1 Shoveler, 

West: a Merlin. 

North: Arctic Skua and a Gannet. 

Moth Trapping: 27 moth species between our 3 traps. Moth of the morning is the Dusky Lemon Sallow, an IUCN Red List species, classified as Near Threatened. It turns up most years wandering from areas with Wych elms. 

Dusky Lemon Sallow (Cirrhia gilvago).

Bird ringing: 8 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, 2 Robin, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Meadow Pipit. 

Wednesday 16th September 2026

 

First site record of Queen of Spain Fritillary which is a rare immigrant to our shores.

Quieter morning with southbound 170 Swallow, 72 Mipit, Grey Wag & Sand Martin. Offshore southbound first 8 Brent of the autumn, 7 Wigeon, 6 Teal, Marsh Harrier (+ another one in off) & the first Red-throated Diver of the autumn with northbound an Arctic Skua. On site 8 Chiffchaff, 3 Whitethroat, 2 Spot Fly, Lesser 'throat & Reed Warbler. Also a Wall Brown in the moat (13:00). 

The Delicate is a fairly regular immigrant species that maybe established at times in recent years.

Ringing: 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Reed Warbler.

Tuesday 15th September 2026

Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe).

An overcast morning with stronger winds from the SW. A few warblers moving through the compound with 3 Garden Warblers ringed. Out on the reserve: 7 Wheatear, a Black Redstart and a Whinchat at noon. Also of note is our first Black Tern, first since August 2023.  

Hirundine migration picking up once again to 2,950 Swallow counted moving through up to mid day, with 64 House Martin and 12 Sand Martin mixed in, all moving south. 

A Hobby flew south along the beach and a Peregrine and Kestrel were seen in flight.

Seawatching:

South: 26 Teal, 13 Wigeon, 9 Cormorant, 6 Oystercatcher, 3 Dunlin, 3 Grey Heron, 2 Pintail, 2 Turnstone, a Black-headed Gull, a Common Scoter, a Greenshank, a Grey Plover and a Shelduck. 

North: a Black Tern and a Gannet.  

Feeding offshore: 13 Sandwich Tern and an Oystercatcher.  

Moth trapping: 41 Species recorded last night between our 3 traps, with 262 Large Yellow Underwing now filling our traps, a slight decrease from yesterday's 319. Moth of the morning, however is the Feathered Brindle, a nationally scarce species that does well on vegetated shingle areas on the coast. 

Feathered Brindle (Aporophyla australis). 

Bird ringing: 7 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff, 3 Garden Warbler, 3 Robin, 2 Willow Warbler, 1 Dunnock. 

FENCING REMOVAL

 

It is planned to take down the temporary fencing for ground nesting birds & botany on the reserve this  Thursday 17th September at 0930 hrs. Many hands make light work so all welcome. Please wear appropriate clothing & footwear for the job in hand with a pair of gardening type gloves also useful. If anyone wishes to undertake future voluntary tasks on the nature reserve the Ranger will be present to provide further details.

Monday 14th September 2026

 Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata). 

Migration picking up with a bright but mostly overcast morning with a small amount of rain before sunrise. A decent amount of visible migration, with 415 Meadow Pipit south. Hirundine migration really picking up with 1806 Swallows, 4 House Martin and 3 Sand Martin south. 

Inside the compound: A Grey Wagtail over early, a Redstart and a Sedge Warbler, both caught in a mist net late morning as well as multiple Chiffchaff and Willow Warblers.

Out on the reserve: 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Black Redstart near the point, 4 Wheatear and 15 Pied Wagtail mobile, on the beach a Ring Plover and a Turnstone. 3 Clouded Yellow Butterflies.  

Seawatching:

South: 113 Teal, 56 Common Tern, 52 Sandwich Tern, 32 Wigeon, 22 Black-headed Gull, 17 Cormorant, 17 Shelduck, 4 Common Gull, 4 Mallard, 4 Redshank, 3 Oystercatcher, a Common Scoter, a Curlew, a Grey Plover, a Hobby, a Pintail and a Shoveler.  

North: 5 Common Scoter. 

South West (towards river): 9 Shelduck,

Feeding offshore: 11 Great Black-backed Gull, 6 Sandwich Tern and a Black-headed Gull. 

Moth trapping: 54 Moth species between our 3 traps. Yellow-tail is the moth of the morning, slightly bit later in the year than expected. 

Yellow-Tail (Sphrageidus similis). 

Bird ringing: 7 Willow Warbler, 6 Blackcap, 5 Chiffchaff, 3 Meadow Pipit, 3 Robin, 2 Great Tit, 2 Pied Flycatcher, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Redstart, 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 Sparrowhawk.