Thursday 20th October 2016

Yet another cold and windy day today. The winds are still from the North, to a certain extent stopping birds from migrating but in this weather their instinct is too strong to migrate and as a result today produced smaller numbers than previous days, as well as a real nicety.

Best of the rest came in the form of this Shorelark that was found out on the nature reserve mid morning and performed for the rest of the day.

Other birds on the move and the few that had arrived to feed up include 185 Starling, 113 Goldfinch, 34 Woodpigeon, 24 Lesser Redpoll, 21 Meadow Pipit, 20 Redwing, 20 Song Thrush, 13 Fieldfare, 12 Blackbird, 11 Chaffinch, 10 Skylark, 8 Siskin, 7 Tree Sparrow, 6 Greenfinch, 6 Swallow, 6 Goldcrest, 5 Chiffchaff, 5 Blackcap, 5 Grey Wagtail, 4 Brambling, 4 Reed Bunting, 3 Rock Pipit, 3 Dunnock, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Woodlark, 1 Stock Dove and 1 Ring Ouzel.

The 'blythi' Lesser Whitethroat is still here.

Sea watching produced 20 Cormorant, 13 Wigeon, 13 Brent Geese, 10 Black-headed Gull, 2 Eider, 2 Snipe, 1 Shelduck, 1 Lapwing and 1 Mediterranean Gull.

Ringing: 26 birds ringed this morning including 6 Robin, 5 Blackbird, 4 Goldcrest, 2 Grey Wagtail, 2 Redwing, 2 Wren, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Chaffinch and 1 Dunnock.

Wednesday 19th October 2016

The brisk north-westerly wind has slowed down the migrant activity somewhat, although there are still plenty of birds passing through, just not quite as many as there has been. Most birds were overflying with 872 Goldfinch being the most abundant, with lesser numbers of other finches on the move south including 20 Siskin, 41 Redpoll and smaller numbers of Chaffinch and Brambling + 25 Skylark, 30 Meadow Pipit, 8 Pied and 2 Grey Wagtail along with a small number of Swallow and House Martin. Offshore the highlights were 1 Long-tailed Duck north and a Marsh Harrier and Short-eared Owl south. On site the "Siberian" Lesser Whitethroat is still about along with a Firecrest, 4 Chiffchaff, 2 Wheatear, a few Goldcrests and this male Eurasian Stonechat (above).

14 birds were ringed: 4 Lesser Redpoll, 3 Goldcrest, 2 each of Blackbird and Goldfinch and 1 each of Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Grey Wagtail.

Tuesday 18th October 2016

The wind still continues to blow from the South and West and with a few dribs and drabs of rain there were a few new arrivals noted.

Land migrants and others included 495 Goldfinch, 126 Meadow Pipit, 61 Linnet, 48 Starling, 25 Robin, 21 Siskin, 20 Pied Wagtail, 20 Blackbird, 18 Swallow, 17 Redpoll, 12 Wren, 11 Redwing, 10 Goldcrest, 10 Chaffinch, 9 Greenfinch, 6 Grey Wagtail, 5 Song Thrush, 5 Chiffchaff, 5 Blackcap, 4 Wheatear, 4 Rock Pipit, 4 House Martin, 3 Skylark, 1 Brambling, 1 Stonechat, 1 Reed Bunting and 1 Peregrine Falcon.

Sea watching produced 7 Brent Geese, 5 Cormorant, 5 Wigeon, 3 Common Gull, 1 Turnstone, 1 Oystercatcher, 1 Red-breasted Merganser and 1 Mediterranean Gull.

Still a handful of migrant moths turning up including Rush Veneer (above).

Ringing: 19 birds ringed this morning including 5 Chiffchaff, 4 Wren, 3 Song Thrush, 2 Goldcrest, 2 Robin, 2 Blackcap and 1 Woodpigeon.

Monday 17th October 2016

The winds have changed in the last few days and are now bringing a warmer feel to October. A southerly air flow and birds began to move in good numbers throughout the morning and into the afternoon today.

Birds on the move, on land and heading South included 775 Goldfinch, 200 Linnet, 169 Meadow Pipit (above), 70 Swallow, 60 Chaffinch, 60 Starling,  50 Lesser Redpoll, 33 Greenfinch, 25 Siskin, 16 Skylark, 11 Pied Wagtail, 7 Reed Bunting, 6 Grey Wagtail, 4 Brent Geese, 4 Blackcap, 2 Brambling, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Wheatear and 1 Sparrowhawk.

Sea watching produced 12 Cormorant, 5 Brent Geese, 5 Turnstone, 3 Mute Swan, 3 Mediterranean Gull and 1 Oystercatcher.

Ringing: 30 birds ringed this morning including 13 Lesser Redpoll, 5 Song Thrush, 3 Chaffinch, 2 Blackbird, 1 Robin, 1 Wren, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Blackcap and 1 Greenfinch.

Sunday 16th October 2016

More a case of birds leaving & very few new birds arriving. Offshore movements poor although 8 Gannet north, 5 south plus a Bonxie south. Also a Short-eared Owl south out to sea. Passerines moving south included 50 Goldfinch, 32 Swallow, & 5 Siskin. Still a couple of Wheatear & Firecrest still present but not a lot else to get excited about. Although foreign Blackbirds have started moving into the country for the winter some of the locally bred birds are still completing there post juvenile moult.

10 birds ringed: 3 Robin, 2 House Sparrow, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Blackcap, 1 Chaffinch

Saturday 15th October 2016

Thick, heavy and dense cloud with small amounts of moisture in the air overnight and into this morning produced a small arrival of new migrants to the observatory and a few moving southwards.

These included 65 Chaffinch, 60 Starling, 50 Robin, 42 Goldfinch, 38 Meadow Pipit, 30 Song Thrush. 20 Blackbird, 18 Redwing, 16 Skylark, 15 Goldcrest, 14 Swallow, 12 Greenfinch, 11 Blackcap, 9 Siskin, 6 Chiffchaff, 5 Brambling, 4 Reed Bunting, 3 Fieldfare, 3 Firecrest, 2 Wheatear, 2 Jackdaw, 1 Lapwing, 1 Ring Ouzel, 1 Mistle Thrush, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Garden Warbler, 1 Woodlark, 1 Rock Pipit and 1 Grey Wagtail.

Sea watching produced 24 Wigeon, 11 Brent Geese, 3 Cormorant, 2 Gannet, 2 Ringed Plover, 1 Mediterranean Gull, 1 Red-throated Diver, 1 Oystercatcher, 1 Snipe and 1 Purple Sandpiper.

It's always good to get an addition to the moth list but when it comes in the form of Common Clothes Moth, Tineola bisselliella, it is not going to get anyone's pulse racing.

Ringing: 72 birds ringed throughout the day including 17 Robin, 11 Blackcap, 10 Chaffinch, 10 Song Thrush, 4 Goldcrest, 4 Blackbird, 3 Redwing, 3 Wren, 3 Firecrest, 2 Chiffchaff, 1 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Great Tit, 1 Dunnock and 1 Woodpigeon.

October Litter Pick

October litter pick tomorrow Saturday 15th October 0930hrs start. Usual arrangements on the events page of www.lbo.org.uk