Wednesday 8th March 2017

A mostly wet day with a brief dry and brighter spell around midday, before the weather started to close in again. Most birds of interest came from staring out to sea, as Geese were passing in some numbers, with Barnacles being commonest with 102 north and 19 south, with only 22 Brents south along with a cracking drake Goosander, 5 Gannets, 1 Bonxie and a flock of 17 Golden Plover. Also of note were a Fulmar and a Kittiwake north and 6 Siskin south as well as an adult male Reed Bunting that came in off.

1 bird was ringed: Great Tit.

Tuesday 7th March 2017

On the move south bound 24 Barnacle Geese & 2 Mipits. A very small handful of migrants on site including single Fieldfare & Redwing. The Ringed Plovers are slowly drifting back to the site from whence then have wintered with 8 birds out on the reserve this morning.

4 birds ringed: 2 Blackbird, 1 Dunnock, 1 Great Tit.

Monday 6th March 2017

Today's migrants were a single Rook north then possibly the same bird north a while later, 2 Mipits & a Skylark south. Only offshore movement was 71 Barnacle Geese south. Single Redwing & Mipit were on site where the Linnet count is slowly increasing as the days lengthen.

5 birds ringed: 3 Dunnock, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Blackbird.

Sunday 5th March 2017

Weather deteriorating as the morning progressed to a southerly gale and rain. Offshore northbound 52 Brent, 2 Fulmar with southbound 10 Gannet, 8 Barnacle Geese, 2 Brent, 2 Oyk & a Kittiwake. A grey Wagtail flying south was the first of the spring and a Mistle Thrush was present briefly early on.

Ringing: 2 Blue Tit

Saturday 4th March 2017

Rain up to 0930hrs. Migrants were 2 Skylark south, one north plus 2 Mipit south. Offshore sightings minimal. Oyk was displaying over the reserve in the rain and at low tide the pair were feeding along the river shore. The ringed bird is several years old and we really need to read the number just to confirm which individual it is.

March Moth is a common species inland but not noted here annually. The female is flightless so do we just get wandering males down here ?

Friday 3rd March 2017

Grim cold morning with rain starting half an hour after first light. It's one of those mornings where if we hadn't bothered to turn up it wouldn't have made much difference to the standard of recording (rather than reach for the Valium - jam donuts cheered us up !). Very little offshore and very little moving with the highlight being single Fulmar and Curlew. A Sparrowhawk is worth a mention as it's the first one noted down here so far this year. Some winters we get regular visitations from Sparrowhawks but not this one so today's bird is either the start of spring passage or a young bird driven out by adults as they set up their territories and is wandering looking for a place of it's own.

Dotted Border is today's moth which is a delicate flyer out and about at this time of the year that can be abundant in woodland but only occurs here in small numbers due to the habitat and the bleak often blustery conditions.

Thursday 2nd March 2017

Significant gale picking up this morning. Plenty of seagulls offshore again when shipping stirs them up being joined by a Gannet plus a Bonxie at one point. On the move southbound 9 Brent, single Red-throated Diver, Wigeon, Teal, Gadwal & Common Scoter plus northbound 37 Brent & a Curlew. If you see any colour ringed gulls please don't forget to make a note and send your records in. Both ZJF & WNU are regulars in the car parks but there should be others droping in occasionally.

Ringing: 1 Dunnock