Friday 30th September 2016

A pretty decent day for observations to be made with a cloudy start, later clearing to be a bright, sunny, clear and windy day.

Visual migration was the order of the day and the ringing was pretty good.

Migrants on the move came in the form of 324 Meadow Pipit, 103+ Swallow, 81 Goldfinch, 20+ Chiffchaff, 13 House Martin, 12 Chaffinch, 6 Grey Wagtail, 4 Yellow Wagtail, 4 Song Thrush, 4 Blackcap, 4 Reed Bunting, 4 Goldcrest, 2 Rock Pipit, 2 Wheatear, 1 Skylark, 1 Mistle Thrush, 1 Rook and 1 Marsh Harrier.

Sea watching was a little poor despite the winds with 18 Cormorant, 9 Common Gull, 7 Black-headed Gull, 2 Gannet, 1 Mediterranean Gull and 1 Sandwich Tern.

Ringing: 37 birds ringed this morning including 17 Chiffchaff, 13 Meadow Pipit, 4 Blackcap, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Goldcrest and 1 Goldfinch.

Thursday 29th September 2016

The strengthening winds throughout the morning made observatory work rather difficult but a few observations were made with a few birds struggling on through.

Out of the wind in the quiet areas were 7 Chiffchaff, 5 Blackcap, 3 Tree Sparrow, 1 Goldcrest and 1 Wheatear, all taking much needed shelter. Southbound were totals of 169 Swallow, 64 House Martin, 35 Meadow Pipit, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 Hobby, 1 Sparrowhawk and 1 Peregrine Falcon.

Sea watching produced 7 Cormorant, 5 Sandwich Tern, 4 Brent Geese, 2 Oystercatcher, 1 Mediterranean Gull and 1 Knot.

One of the prettier autumnal moths we see occasionally is this Barred Sallow.

Ringing: 7 birds ringed this morning including 4 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff and 1 Robin.

Wednesday 28th September 2016

An unusual site at Landguard were these 2 Mute Swans that swam out of the harbour before swimming north along the coast.

This Delicate is a scarce migrant here, and along with another Convolvulus Hawk Moth they were the best of the bunch in the traps overnight, 

Seemingly more birds about today with the 3 Tree Sparrows still here along with Firecrest and Black Redstart, at least 10 Chiffchaff and a Wheatear on site, whilst 148 Swallow went south along with 30 House Martin, 68 Meadow Pipit, 8 Grey Wagtail,2 Siskin and a Marsh Harrier, and close inshore a Red-throated Diver was fishing as it slowly drifted south.

13 birds ringed:  8 Chiffchaff, 2 Goldfinch and 1 each of Grey Wagtail, Meadow Pipit and Great Tit.

Tuesday 27th September 2016

A wild and blustery day today at Landguard with sea watching the order of the day. A considerable amount of movement offshore kept observers on their toes. Very quiet on land.

The best of the rest were 1 Sooty Shearwater and 2 Guillemot. Other totals throughout the morning out to sea were as follows - 808 Brent Geese, 129 Teal, 115 Dunlin, 87 Wigeon, 21 Knot, 11 Shelduck, 10 Bar-tailed Godwit, 10 Gannet, 6 Oystercatcher, 5 Sanderling, 4 Grey Plover, 4 Common Scoter, 3 Mediterranean Gull, 3 Common Tern, 3 Sandwich Tern, 3 Shoveler, 2 Cormorant, 1 Red-throated Diver, 1 Curlew, 1 Snipe and 1 Grey Heron.

Land migrants on the move include 101 Swallow, 27 House Martin, 13 Meadow Pipit, 4 Song Thrush, 3 Tree Sparrow, 2 Chaffinch, 2 Common Whitethroat, 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Firecrest, 1 Reed Warbler, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Blackcap, 1 Yellow Wagtail and 1 Wheatear (above).

Ringing: 3 birds ringed this morning which were 1 Firecrest, 1 Song Thrush and 1 Robin.

Monday 26th September 2016

Thick and heavy cloud throughout the morning produced a decent array of birds on-site.

Migrants comprised of 165+ Meadow Pipit, 70 Swallow, 7 Chaffinch, 7 Blackcap, 7 Grey Wagtail, 5 Chiffchaff, 3 Reed Bunting, 3 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Jackdaw, 2 House Martin, 1 Stonechat, 1 Wheatear, 1 Common Whitethroat, 1 Black Redstart, 1 Rock Pipit, 1 Song Thrush and 1 Peregrine Falcon.

Sea watching produced 13 Golden Plover, 6 Wigeon, 6 Teal, 6 Sandwich Tern, 4 Cormorant, 2 Common Tern, 2 Knot, 1 Mediterranean Gull, 1 Gannet, 1 Grey Plover and 1 Oystercatcher.

The first Scarce Bordered Straw of the Autumn this morning. Also in the traps was another migrant in the form of Palpita vitrealis. 

Ringing: 22 birds ringed this morning including 4 Chiffchaff, 4 Blackcap, 4 Goldfinch, 3 Grey Wagtail, 2 Chaffinch, 2 Dunnock, 1 Wren, 1 Song Thrush and 1 Robin.

Sunday 25th September 2016

What was presumably yesterdays Wryneck was taken for breakfast by a young male Sparrowhawk. A Manx Shearwater heading south offshore is always a good Landguard bird. Other offshore movements were limited but included southbound 19 Brent, 13 Dunlin, 12 Cormorant, 12 Sandwich Tern, 11 Grey Plover, 6 Shelduck, 6 Wigeon, 5 Gannet, 4 Teal, 2 Oyk, Kestrel, Turnstone & Common Tern. Visible migration came in the form of southbound 220 House Martin, 155 Swallow, 4 Grey & 1 Yellow Wag. In the bushes and on the reserve just small numbers of the expected late September fare including Stonechat & Whitethroat. Around the cottage 3 Tree Sparrows loiter. Clouded Yellow on the point is worth a mention.

7 birds ringed: 2 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Grey Wagtail.

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