LANDGUARD - 30th October

 Rain on and off through the morning and a moderate southerly breeze led to a ringing-free day with all the attention again on seawatching; there wasn’t as much passing as yesterday but totals did include 36 Brent Geese, 6 Common Scoter, 6 Curlew, 122 Dunlin, 10 Gannets, a Great-crested Grebe, an Arctic Skua across the common and then north (must have come out of the river), 3 Kittiwakes, 146 Knot, 2 Red-breasted Mergansers, 7 Red-throated Divers, a Razorbill, a Shoveler, 14 Teal and 26 Wigeon.   

Not much else too mention with birds on the land limited to 2 Bramblings, 11 Chaffinches, 2 Rock Pipits, 10 Siskin and 2 Skylarks.   

I was walking along Kingsfleet in the afternoon when the message came out of a Dotterel with 400 Golden Plover flying around fields just north of….Kingsfleet; I could see the flock flying around in the distance and soon picked out the smaller plover in the flock which came slightly closer before heading off across the river and away – rubbish views and if I hadn’t of known it was there I would have seen the smaller bird, wondered what it was and that would have been it!

LANDGUARD - 29th October

 Cloud drifted in and out through the day on the brisk southerly wind; most of the action was offshore today where a much improved mix of species moved south which comprised a juvenile Arctic Tern, 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, a Curlew, great totals of 323 Knot and 486 Dunlin (both the highest since I’ve been here), a Grey Plover, 8 Lapwing, a Purple Sandpiper, 92 Wigeon, 72 Teal, 8 Shoveler, a Shelduck, 4 Pintail, 158 Brent Geese, 11 Gannets, a Kittiwake, 7 Red-throated Divers, a Razorbill and 571 Starling south at sea heading for Essex again.   

Elsewhere it was quiet with a handful of Blackbirds and Song Thrushes first thing, a Ring Ouzel still, 4 Brambling, a Grey Wagtail, 29 Siskin and 8 Skylark.

Speckled Wood still on the wing yesterday

(not) LANDGUARD - 27th October

 Overcast and breezy but it remained dry at Minsmere first thing; the scrapes were busy at first light with a good selection of gulls and wildfowl which largely all left shortly after dawn, these were highlighted by a juvenile Glaucous Gull with big numbers of Great Black-backs and Lesser Black-backs, luckily it stayed a bit longer than a lot of gulls allowing me to get a good look but there was something off about it, especially some darker markings in the primary tips suggesting a hybrid origin.   

Also leaving at first light were 8 Goosanders and 820+ Barnacle Geese; other birds through the morning included much larger wildfowl numbers than last time I went, 2 Green Sandpipers, a Great White Egret, a late Hobby over Whin Hill (probably the latest I’ve seen) and a Peregrine.

Almost a Glaucous Gull

Shoveler and Teal

LANDGUARD - 26th October

 After a little unexpected band of drizzle at first light, it was another fine, calm, largely bright morning and another very autumn day; birds of note comprised 2 Brambling, 24 Chaffinches, 130 Goldfinches, the Cetti’s Warbler from three days ago re-trapped, a Grey Wagtail, a Guillemot, 30 Linnets, 14 Meadow Pipits, 9 Redpoll, the male Ring Ouzel still, a Rock Pipit, 49 Siskin and 11 Skylark.   

A look at Loompit on the incoming tide in the afternoon produced counts of 71 Shoveler, 47 Gadwall, 29 Teal, 52 Tufted Duck and 26 Little Grebes along with a Marsh Harrier heading high south (had the look of a migrant rather than a local bird) and a late House Martin.

Lesser Redpoll

LANDGUARD - 25th October

 Bright, clear, sunny and calm again so while very pleasant, not really conducive to great numbers of migrants; overhead, birds comprised 45 Chaffinches, 125 Goldfinches, 18 Meadow Pipits, 29 Linnets, 9 Redpolls, 4 Reed Buntings, 2 Rock Pipits, 21 Siskins, 19 Skylarks, 298 Starlings, 2 Swallows and 60 Woodpigeons.   

Also on the move were 74 Black-headed Gulls, 18 Brent Geese, 3 Common Scoter, 14 Dunlin, 2 Goldeneye, a Great-crested Grebe, a Guillemot, 3 Knot, 9 Pintail, 2 Red-throated Divers, 9 Shelduck, 2 Shoveler, 16 Teal and 209 Wigeon.   

Also of note were a handful of Song Thrushes, Redwings and Blackbirds at dawn, single Blackcap and Brambling, a Ring Ouzel still, the first Yellowhammer of the autumn and 2 Clouded Yellows amongst the handful of late flying butterflies in the fine conditions.   

A walk along Kingsfleet in the afternoon produced the highlights of a Kingfisher and a Merlin (or maybe two).

Sparrowhawk

Merlin

LANDGUARD - 23rd October

 Lovely and calm conditions, completely clouding over by mid-morning led to a varied day birdwise, but with nothing really appearing in great numbers; visible migration was much reduced from yesterday but did include 7 Bramblings, 45 Chaffinches, 151 Goldfinches, 8 Greenfinches, 30 Linnets, 43 Meadow Pipits, 15 Redpolls, a Rock Pipit, 23 Siskins, 21 Skylarks, 1,142 Starlings (coming in off the sea on a line with them making landfall in Essex), 376 Woodpigeons and a flock of 5 Woodlarks.   

Over the sea birds comprised 156 Black-headed Gulls, 240 Brent Geese, 61 Common Scoter, a Curlew, 27 Dunlin, 13 Gannets, 3 Knot, 5 Mallards, a Red-breasted Merganser, 10 Red-throated Divers, 24 Shelduck and 13 Wigeon.   

Also of note was a Ring Ouzel floating around, single Chiffchaff and Blackcap, a Fieldfare (my overdue first of the autumn) and a Cetti’s Warbler found in a mist-net first thing – the third of the year.

Cetti's Warbler

LANDGUARD - 22nd October

 Clear and sunny conditions with a blustery westerly wind produced a decent morning of visible migration; over the land, totals included 7 Bramblings, 18 Chaffinches, 996 Goldfinches, a Grey Wagtail, 243 Linnets, 84 Meadow Pipits, 9 Redpolls, 2 Reed Buntings, a Rock Pipit, 67 Siskins, 24 Skylarks, 149 Starlings and an excellent total of 17 Woodlarks (a four, an eleven and a two).   

Over the sea birds of note comprised 72 Black-headed Gulls, 23 Brent Geese, a Curlew, 53 Dunlin, 7 Gannets, the first Goldeneye of the year (and a Landguard tick for me!), 2 Black-tailed Godwits (always scarce here on the point), 7 Grey Plover, a Guillemot, 2 Knot, a Purple Sandpiper, a Red-breasted Merganser, a Red-throated Diver, 19 Shelduck and 3 Wigeon.

LANDGUARD - 21st October

 After a wet night and a strong westerly wind in the morning there was a surprisingly interesting selection of birds through the day; offshore were single Guillemot, Razorbill and Puffin (Puffin in itself is a very rare bird down here in Suffolk and to get a three Auk day here is very notable!), 2 Snipe, 19 Dunlin, 5 Shelduck, 3 Red-throated Divers, 7 Mediterranean Gulls, 9 Gannets, 9 Brent Geese and 52 Black-headed Gulls.   

Over the land, totals included the first 2 Ring Ouzels of the autumn which appeared to come in off the sea and continued high inland, over the docks, 4 Brambling, 6 Chaffinches, 618 Goldfinches, 4 House Martins, 2 Swallows, 57 Linnets, 26 Meadow Pipits, a Redpoll, a Reed Bunting, 10 Siskins and 2 Sparrowhawks.   

The Shorelark was still present on the beach and a Purple Sandpiper was on the jetty.

Shorelark

Great Black-backed Gull

Mediterranean Gulls

(just) LANDGUARD - 20th October

 Uninspired about what to do, I ended up walking round Old Hall Marshes RSPB reserve where, on the incoming tide birds included single Green Sandpiper and Spotted Redshank in amongst impressive numbers of Grey Plover, Dunlin, Golden Plover, Bar-tailed Godwits, Teal and Wigeon, two Merlin (one chasing a Skylark in a very high one-on-one battle), a Marsh Harrier, a few singing Cetti’s Warblers and some Bearded Tits.   

The day’s highlight though was when I got back to Landguard where there was a cracking and very confiding Shorelark on the beach at the north end of the reserve.

Shorelark

Stonechat

(not) LANDGUARD - 17th October

 A good-few-hours at Bawdsey Quay in the morning was dwindling away into another migrant-less autumn 2021 session until I flushed a Richard’s Pipit off the river wall, just north of the road, opposite the picnic site entrance; it flew around calling and showing well in flight before landing again out of sight, flew around again several times before the first twitchers arrived and apparently to all-comers until mid-afternoon.   

The bushes and trees prior to this were devoid of migrants (an unsurprising state of affairs this autumn!) but birds did include 2 Merlin – one which flew south along the beach and over the river and another perched on the saltmarsh, 190 Dunlin along the river just prior to getting pushed off by the tide, 596 Cormorants cutting across from roosting at Loompit and heading out to sea, a Tawny Owl along the road at dawn, a single Chiffchaff, a Grey Wagtail, a Brambling and 4 Redpolls.   

Totals on a dropping tide at Melton then included 135 Wigeon, 92 Teal, 14 Avocets, 4 Grey Plover, 29 Ringed Plover, 35 Curlew, 275 Black-tailed Godwits, 3 Turnstone and 3 Greenshank.

Richard's Pipit (in the last picture showing comparison in shape and size with Meadow Pipits)

Black-tailed Godwit

Curlew

Teal

Greenshank

LANDGUARD - 16th October

 Overcast from first thing but it remained very calm with the feather-light breeze in the SE; there was a selection of birds across the area but nothing was in great numbers and there wasn’t anything too unusual despite the somewhat elevated expectations.   On or over the land there were 319 Goldfinches, single Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Goldcrest, 3 Grey Wagtails (including one straight in off the sea), 10 Redwings, a Jay, a Reed Bunting, 3 Siskins, 10 Skylark, 6 Song Thrushes, 2 Sparrowhawks, 185 Starlings in off and 9 Swallows south.   

Over or on the sea birds included 7 Brent Geese, 14 Common Scoter, 62 Cormorants, 10 Gannets, 2 Arctic Skuas south, a Razorbill just off the pier looking sorry for itself, 20 Red-throated Divers and 226 Wigeon.

(not) LANDGUARD - 13th October

 Drove up last night for a dawn start at St. Aiden’s RSPB Reserve near Leeds; it was a lovely morning and it only took five minutes waiting at Astley Lake before the adult LONG-TOED STINT flew in with Lapwings to its favoured little island on the lake, a brilliant little wader, jumping around nervously as the far bigger Lapwings settled down looking like a miniature Pec Sand – great scope views but too far away for pictures!   

After watching for a while I went off wandering round this lovely reserve in the fine morning; birds included 2 Goosander, my first 2 Goldeneye of the autumn, several squealing Water Rails, 12 Curlew, 2 Black-tailed Godwits, 5 Ruff, 10 Dunlin, 18+ Snipe, an adult male Marsh Harrier, a Red Kite, 2 Kingfishers, 16 Bearded Tits which flew up high and headed off south, 65+ Redwings (which just started moving high west in small flocks as I was leaving), 4 Stonechats and a Grey Wagtail.   

I then drove across to Blacktoft Sands RSPB where the long-staying WHITE-TAILED PLOVER was stood right in front of Marshland Hide as it has for weeks now; the only birds present were all from this hide which included a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper with the Dunlin, Lapwings, Teal and Black-tailed Godwits.

Long-toed Stint (just)

White-tailed Plover

Ruff

Bearded Tits

Great-crested Grebe

LANDGUARD - 10th October

 Fairly clear first thing albeit a bit hazy with mist and murk just inland but it clouded over a few hours in, bringing some drizzle (dawn would have been better for that!); there was a nice little selection of random migrants across the area highlighted by a smart and sometimes vocal Yellow-browed Warbler which somehow managed to avoid all the nets, a Dartford Warbler glimpsed briefly near the cottage (only the eleventh for Landguard) which, as they do, spent sometime following a Stonechat (itself not very common here!) and a Mistle Thrush – an overdue Landguard tick for me.   

Other birds included 39 Chaffinches, 4 Grey Wagtails, 3 Rook, 2 Jackdaws, 4 Bramblings, a Wheatear, 19 Skylark, 9 Siskin, a House Martin, 8 Swallows, a Reed Bunting, a Goldcrest, a Great-spotted Woodpecker, 25 Robins, 3 Blackcaps and 20 Chiffchaffs.

Stonechat

Wheatear

LANDGUARD - 9th October

 Unseasonably calm, warm and sunny which, while very pleasant wasn’t conducive for big numbers of grounded migrants, always stuff to see though!   Birds on or over the deck comprised 6 Grey Wagtails, 15 Siskins, 9 Chaffinches, 8 Chiffchaffs, a Goldcrest, 2 Jays, a Black Redstart, 8 Blackcaps, 18 Song Thrushes, 25 Blackbirds, 3 Sparrowhawks, 8 Swallows, a Great-spotted Woodpecker, 2 Brambling, 20 Robins and a Reed Bunting.   

With the sun in our faces from-the-get-go, seawatching was tricky but birds offshore did include 193 Brent Geese, 2 Red-breasted Mergansers, a Curlew, 66 Cormorants, 3 Shelduck and 8 Barnacle Geese.   

There was a great insect list as well (for October!) in the fine conditions which included a very late Brimstone, Comma, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Holly Blue, Small White, 2 Clouded Yellows, an influx of 20+ Common Darters and a few Migrant Hawkers.   

Another look down Kingsfleet in the afternoon at high tide produced 62 Golden Plover, 21 Lapwings, 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, 9 Black-tailed Godwits, a last lingering Sandwich Tern and 4 Bearded Tits.

Curlew

Comma

LANDGUARD - 8th October

 An exciting start to the morning with Redwings, Song Thrushes and Blackbirds whizzing around in the calm, misty dawn – what east coast October mornings should be like!   It petered out fairly-quickly but there was plenty to look at through the day with grounded migrants comprising 70 Song Thrushes, 25 Redwings, 35 Blackbirds, 35 Robins, 6 Chiffchaffs, 2 Wheatears, 2 Chaffinches, 3 Grey Wagtails, 25 Meadow Pipits, 2 Blackcaps and a late Willow Warbler.   

A special mention goes to the first bird taken out of a net this morning – a Robin bearing a Lithuanian ring, only the fourth Lithuanian control in the UK.   

The murky conditions didn’t allow any landbird vis mig to get going but the sea remained fairly clear so there was a good, varied southerly movement offshore which included 1,727 Brent Geese (really got going in the afternoon), 412 Wigeon, 188 Teal, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, 12 Pintail, 3 Pochard, 94 Common Scoter, 5 Shoveler, 3 Eiders (first of the autumn), 2 Shelduck, 2 Curlew, 5 Lapwings, 6 Knot, 8 Grey Plover, 46 Dunlin, 4 Sandwich Terns, a Guillemot, 55 Cormorants, 11 Red-throated Divers, 110 Black-headed Gulls and 15 Mediterranean Gulls.

Redwing

Radford's Flame Shoulder - second site record, <5 Suffolk records