Friday 3rd November 2017

Female Stonechat at Landguard today.

There was hardly a breath of wind and a complete coverage of cloud at dawn. An overnight arrival of thrush were audible in the half light and a Black Redstart was seen around the fort. Butterflies seen on the reserve during the morning while the sun was out, Clouded Yellow, Comma, Common Blue and Red Admiral.
Noted on the reserve, 120 Blackbird, 29 Starling, 21 Redwing, 15 Robin, 11 Linnet, 6 Song Thrush, 5 Fieldfare, 4 Pied Wagtail, 3 Brambling, 3 Goldcrest, 1 Black Redstart, 1 Mistle Thrush, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Stonechat & 1 Wheatear.
Going out to sea East, 1426 Cormorant & 8 Brent Goose.
Offshore going South, 16 Shelduck, 11 Brent Goose, 7 Teal, 4 Common Scoter, 3 Golden Plover, 1 Common Gull, 1 Dunlin & 1 Redshank. Going North, 8 Wigeon & 1 Red-throated Diver.
Vismig going South, 99 Goldfinch, 92 Starling, 32 Woodpigeon, 17 Chaffinch, 11 Skylark, 8 Siskin, 6 Meadow Pipit, 4 Linnet, 3 Greenfinch, 3 Redpoll & 1 Reed Bunting. Coming in off the sea going West, 65 Starling & 3 Blackbird.

109 birds ringed: Blackbird 80, Redwing 13, Song Thrush 5, Meadow Pipit 3, Chaffinch 2, Goldcrest 2, Robin 2, Brambling 1, Fieldfare 1.

Thursday 2nd November 2017

Short-eared Owl at Landguard this morning.

A crisp and clear start to the day but complete cloud cover by mid-morning.
Noted on the reserve, 63 Starling, 20 Blackbird, 10 Meadow Pipit, 10 Redpoll, 5 Brambling, 3 Chaffinch, 3 Goldcrest, 3 Linnet, 3 Pied Wagtail, 3 Redwing, 2 Greenfinch, 2 Snow Bunting, 2 Stonechat, 1 Coal Tit, 1 Little Owl, 1 Merlin, 1 Reed Bunting, 1 Rock Pipit, 1 Short-eared Owl, 1 Sparrowhawk & 1 Wheatear.
Going out to sea East, 1948 Cormorant, going South, 87 Goldfinch, 17 Meadow Pipit, 15 Starling, 14 Linnet, 14 Skylark, 11 Chaffinch, 3 Siskin, 2 Brent Goose & 2 Rock Pipit. Coming in off the sea going West, 18 Starling & 6 Blackbird, going North, 1 Gannet.

13 birds ringed: Blackbird 6, Meadow Pipit 2, Redwing 2, Chaffinch 1, Reed Bunting 1, Sparrowhawk 1.

November 1st 2017

This Purple Sandpiper was seen out by the point this morning before being ringed and released back there to hopefully stay for the winter.

November is now upon us and migration is coming to an end, hopefully a few surprises are still out there to be found before we turn our attentions to winter birding, and whatever that may bring.
Todays offerings were meagre by recent standards, but still around 50 Blackbirds were on site, but not much else apart from 2 Stonechat and 1 Wheatear + 1 Bonxie hanging around offshore.
Overhead Finch numbers are much lower now with Goldfinch still making up the bulk of bird numbers, but even they are now down to less than 200 going past. Cormorant numbers coming out of the roost totalled 1784 this morning, much higher than in recent days.

17 birds ringed:  8 Blackbird, 2 Wren, 2 Wood Pigeon, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Robin, 1 Lesser Redpoll, 1 Goldfinch and 1 Purple Sandpiper.

October ringing total

901 birds of 30 species ringed during October. For the 10 year history this is an average year for the number of birds ringed.

Blackbird	218
Lesser Redpoll	187
Chiffchaff	70
Goldcrest	48
Robin	48
Redwing	43
Blackcap	40
Long-tailed Tit	38
Great Tit	30
Meadow Pipit	27
Song Thrush	24
Chaffinch	21
Wren	20
Blue Tit	16
Goldfinch	15
Brambling	10
Dunnock	8
Grey Wagtail	8
Firecrest	6
Starling	5
Woodpigeon	5
Greenfinch	3
Fieldfare	2
Wheatear	2
Willow Warbler	2
Great Grey Shrike	1
House Sparrow	1
Pied Flycatcher	1
Ring Ouzel	1
Yellow-browed Warbler	1

Tuesday 31st October 2017

Blackbird on Landguard today.

A strong breeze and on the cusp of rain during the morning today. The first Shag of the autumn from Landguard came into the harbour, a late Swallow going North and Blackbird moving through.
Noted on the reserve, 60 Blackbird, 10 Siskin, 8 Meadow Pipit, 5 Fieldfare, 5 Goldfinch, 4 Brambling, 4 Redwing, 1 Black Redstart, 1 Little Owl, 1 Ring Ouzel, 1 Rock Pipit, 1 Short-eared Owl, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Stonechat, 1 Wheatear, 1 Woodcock & 1 Yellow-legged Gull.
Offshore going South, 37 Brent Goose, 31 Dunlin, 22 Knot, 22 Teal, 13 Shelduck, 11 Common Scoter, 6 Gannet, 3 Goldeneye, 2 Common Gull, 1 Great Crested Grebe & 1 Little Egret. Going North, 3 Eider & 1 Swallow. Going out to sea East, 1356 Cormorant.
Vismig going South, 224 Starling, 94 Goldfinch, 62 Woodpigeon, 12 Chaffinch, 9 Meadow Pipit, 8 Redpoll, 6 Linnet, 6 Stock Dove, 3 Skylark & 1 Rock Pipit.
Coming in off the sea going West, 194 Starling, 22 Blackbird, 1 Chaffinch & 1 Shag.

62 birds ringed: Blackbird 42, Goldcrest 4, Redwing 4, Starling 4, Brambling 2, Wren 2, Chaffinch 1, Fieldfare 1, Lesser Redpoll 1, Song Thrush 1.

Monday 30th October 2017

Starling coming in off the sea.

A strong Northerly breeze and clear sky to start the day, the first at Landguard for the autumn Woodcock was seen this morning, 3 Snow Bunting were near the beach and a single Wheatear was very active around the seawatch hide. Starling and Thrushes were seen coming in off the sea and a Great Grey Shrike dropped in late afternoon.
Noted on the reserve, 120 Blackbird, 20 Meadow Pipit, 12 Snow Bunting, 5 Fieldfare, 4 Greenfinch, 3 Brambling, 2 Linnet, 2 Redwing, 2 Sparrowhawk, 1 Great Grey Shrike, 1 Siskin, 1 Snipe, 1 Wheatear & 1 Woodcock.
Going South, 1190 Woodpigeon, 53 Brent Goose, 38 Starling, 35 Black-headed Gull, 23 Skylark, 19 Redpoll, 13 Shelduck, 11 Common Scoter, 8 Stock Dove, 6 Gannet, 6 Meadow Pipit, 3 Dunlin, 2 Grey Wagtail, 2 Knot, 2 Rock Pipit, 1 Common Gull & 1 Snipe. Coming in off the sea going West, 902 Starling, 40 Herring Gull, 13 Chaffinch, 9 Black-headed Gull, 4 Song Thrush, 3 Fieldfare & 3 Skylark. Going North, 11 Brent Goose, 10 Gannet, 6 Teal & 1 Red-throated Diver, going out to sea East, 915 Cormorant.

62 birds ringed: Blackbird 53, Lesser Redpoll 3, Meadow Pipit 3, Great Tit 1, Great Grey Shrike 1, Grey Wagtail 1.

Sunday 29th October 2017

Brisk north to north-westerly winds seem  to have curtailed autumn migration for the time being, so most activity was over the sea today, although this Stonechat (above) and the 2 Snow Buntings are still on site, but very little else of note. Out at sea we fared a little better with about 40 Gannet passing offshore with another 26 feeding around the sand bars, 3 Bonxie went north as did a late Common Tern and 4 Guillemot, whilst 2 Snipe came in off and landed briefly before moving on.

7 birds ringed: 5 Blackbird, 1 Wood Pigeon and 1 Wren.