Dinner plate sized Oyster Mushrooms on rotting fallen Poplar stump that something has been nibbling at.
A Shag flew north & the drake Eider is still crabbing on the river. The highlight of a good walk around the site was 16 Goldfinch at the north end which is far more than we have been noting recently.
Very quiet with offshore movements barely worth a mention. 10 Kitts were following ships & the drake Eider is still with us on the river.
This tiny tot landed on the computer screen after dark yesterday. We have leaf mines of Acrocercops brongniardella on the Holm Oaks and very occasionally record the flying adult in mid-summer but there doesn't appear to be any winter records of adults in Suffolk despite the literature stating that they can fly all year round.
Ringing: 1 House Sparrow.
1,048 Cormorant heading out early on suggests less persecution at the roost inland and exemplifies how birds will return to preferred roost sites if at all possible. Movements offshore were southbound 26 Teal, 16 Brent, 3 Shelduck, 3 Shoveler, 2 Wigeon, Common Scoter, Gadwal & Red-throated Diver with northbound 3 Red-throats plus 2 Goosanders in off heading across towards Harwich and, presumably, on their way to Abberton. A Black-throated Diver was on the river before departing into Essex in addition to the regular drake Eider. 3 Turnstone were along the river & a Purp on the jetty.
Handful of new migrants including 4 Blackbird rising out of Marram Grass along the shore and towering off inland first thing, 4 Fieldfare dropping in when the fog descended, Water Rail in the compound & a Mipit heading south. 4 Shag is a notable count for us tying in with an arrival elsewhere in the general area. 2 Snow Bunting were on the strand line, drake Eider is still crabbing in the river, a Rock Pipit was briefly on the point & a Woodcock remains was along the riverbank having presumably washed down from up river..
Migrants were single Mistle Thrush, Woodcock plus a Snow Bunting heard calling as it went over. 260 Cormorant went out fishing plus 2,619 came onto the feeding grounds from the north. Offshore movements pathetic with southbound 6 Common Scoter, 4 Red-throated Diver, Brent & Guillemot with northbound 5 Red-throats & Common Scoter.
Another dank drizzly morning up until the front cleared and the sun coming out late morning. Only 2 Brent Geese seen but one of them was a Pale-bellied Brent Goose B.b.hrota which is only our 18th ever record although others may have been missed amongst more distant Brents. The drake Eider is still with us in the river plus a Shag noted nearby mid-morning. Offshore southbound 4 Red-throated Diver, 3 Gannet, Shag (different to the for mentioned individual) & Wigeon with northbound 6 Red-throats. 435 Cormorant headed out fishing with a stack more coming in from the north to the feeding grounds uncountable in the very poor viewing conditions. 10 Kitts were following ships, 7 Linnet on the reserve, 3 Turnstone were along the river, Chaffinch at the observatory & Mipit by the point indicating not a lot happening. Worth a mention is a couple of Common Seal hauled out on the Outer Ridge Buoy which is notable from the fact that in 40 years of observation we have never noted this behaviour before.
