LANDGUARD - 16th September

Warm and humid with a light westerly breeze; there was a bit more life out there than the last couple of days especially overhead as birds heading south included 12 Grey Wagtails (I caught nine of them!), a Yellow Wagtail, a Tree Pipit, 96 Meadow Pipits and 55 Swallows.   

Grounded migrants added 5 Chiffchaffs, 11 Wheatears, a Black Redstart, a Blackcap and a Coal Tit to the day list whilst 2 Arctic Skuas, 2 Grey Plover and a Red-throated Diver (the first of the autumn) were offshore.   

Also of note was a smart Clouded Yellow in the compound – my first one of these for absolutely ages!   

A look at Melton in the afternoon at low tide produced increases to 87 Teal and 24 Wigeon, 10 Greenshank, a Kingfisher, presumably the same two Hobbies as last time over the trees on the east side of the river and my first Snipe, Grey Wagtail and Meadow Pipit for this site.

Polish ringed Black-headed Gull

Herring Gull ringed as a chick on Havergate Island in 2013

LANDGUARD - 10th June

 Clear, sunny and warm first thing with a little, cooling NW breeze bringing an extended cloud belt at lunchtime which lasted through until mid-afternoon; a singing Marsh Warbler halfway up the reserve near The Butts pond from late morning was the day’s highlight, it was giving nice little bursts of song but I only glimpsed its head once.   

Other birds comprised 7 Curlews heading south at sea and a dispersing juvenile Siskin giving an early autumn feel to proceedings along with a Black Redstart, a Chaffinch, 2 Common Terns, a Buzzard high over the docks, 3 Mediterranean Gulls, 2 Sandwich Terns and 5 Swallows.   

A walk up the river from Felixstowe in the afternoon was quiet for birds but I did see my first ever Norfolk Hawker in one of the ditches just downstream from Kingsfleet.

Norfolk Hawker

Black-tailed Skimmer

Black Redstart

Herring Gull

LANDGUARD - 27th April

 After two days with nothing really to mention apart from the brisk, cold, NE wind, it was a gorgeous morning, very calm and partly cloudy, soon becoming warm and clear (although the cool easterly breeze was still making its presence felt); there were again few grounded migrants but those few that were present represented a significant improvement and comprised 2 Chaffinches, 2 Chiffchaffs, a Blackcap, 2 Lesser Redpolls, 7 Wheatears and 3 Willow Warblers.  

There were a few birds on the move in the fine conditions through the morning including 30 Bar-tailed Godwits and 48 Whimbrel north, mainly in one mixed flock at dawn, 24 Common Scoter north, a dark phase Arctic Skua which came out of the river, stole a fish from a Lesser Black-back and carried on north, a House Martin with 11 Swallows south and the first 2 Little Terns of the year north.

Wheatear

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Herring Gull - This bird spent most of the winter in Norwich before coming back here to its natal area this spring

SWEDEN - 4th November

 Still very windy, so I was back out on the point first thing but the wind had moved round to just north of west meaning cover was hard to find, pushing me to a poorer viewpoint which produced much reduced numbers including 2 Shoveler, 79 Eider, 21 Common Scoter, 2 Goldeneye, 2 Goosander, 6 Red-breasted Mergansers, an Oystercatcher, a Dunlin, 2 Guillemots, 15 Razorbill, 9 Kittiwakes, 7 Red-throated Divers and 9 Gannets while a Waxwing flew over the carpark and 2 Snow Buntings were milling around.   

A Spotted Redshank and 34 Grey Plovers were seen from the house before, in an attempt to escape the strong winds on the coast I had a wander around some places in town but it was pretty rubbish with just a Marsh Tit of note.

Common Scoter

Herring Gull

Red-breasted Mergansers

Eiders

NORTH RONALDSAY - 2nd November

A shocker of a day with a blazing easterly wind and almost constant, stinging rain making any forays out into the field a bit of a mission but after the disappointing rugby, a couple of brave souls headed out to count the new arrivals; birds included 2 Whooper Swans, a Hen Harrier, a Woodcock, a huge build-up of storm-driven Gulls including 730+ Herrings and 545+ Great Black-backs, 2 Waxwings around the Obs, 14 Robins, 88 Blackbirds, an increased 285+ Fieldfares (highest count of the autumn), 20 Song Thrush, 215 Redwing, a Blackcap, 4 Brambling and 7 Snow Buntings.

Waxwing

Purple Sandpiper

Gulls in the surf

NORTH RONALDSAY - 18th August

After a few showers in the morning it was a decent day with moderate SSE winds which died off in the evening; it was a good day in the field with a few new arrivals hinting that proper autumn might just be on the way.   Birds seen included a Sooty Shearwater off the Lighthouse, a Heron, a Merlin, 107 Oystercatchers, 495 Golden Plover, a good 179 Knot (still mostly juveniles), 23 Ruff (again, mostly juveniles), an excellent arrival of 62+ Black-tailed Godwits, 2 Green Sandpipers, a Greenshank, 3 Sandwich Terns – first ones for ages and finally a few passerines with 30 Wheatears, 2 Reed Warblers (Scotsha and Holland), a Whitethroat at the Obs and a Willow Warbler.

The fledgling Herring Gulls at Trinley

NORTH RONALDSAY - 23rd March

Still very windy with the blazing force 7-8 westerly bringing several intense, vicious hail showers sweeping through but like yesterday, bright sunshine dominated in between; little new was seen over the course of the day but totals included 4 Great-northern Divers, 5 Herons, 2 Pink-footed Geese, 12 Long-tailed Ducks, 12 Red-breasted Mergansers, 3 Merlin (including a male in off the sea at the north end with prey), quite a few Gulls feeding in the surf comprising 141 Black-headed, 217 Common and 89 Great Black-backs, 108 Kittiwakes north past the top end in half an hour mid-afternoon, the 2 Woodpigeons, 16 Fieldfare and 2 Snow Buntings.

Long-tailed Ducks

Herring Gull in the spray

Pied Wagtail

Kittiwake

NORTH RONALDSAY - 16th February

A lovely calm start with a light easterly breeze slowly increasing through the day; there was no evidence of any other new arrivals after yesterday’s ‘excitement’ as totals around the south end of the island and a brief look at the north end included 11 Great-northern Divers, the 2 Whooper Swans which left to the south in the morning, the Eurasian White-fronted Goose still, 8 Pintail, 19 Long-tailed Ducks, a Hen Harrier, 61 Oystercatchers, a Knot, a noticeable build-up of Black Guillemots around the south end starting to display, 29 Skylarks, a Robin at Holland, the 5 Chaffinches, 60 Twite, 3 Common Redpolls and 51+ Snow Buntings.

Distinctive 3cy argentatus Herring Gull

NORTH RONALDSAY - 11th December

The wind switched round into the SSE while remaining brisk and cold; a little seawatch produced a Great Skua past the Lighthouse (the first one since October and somewhat surprisingly the first December record I could find) along with 130 Auk sp. in twenty minutes.   Other birds seen around the lochs included 3 Mute Swans, 8 Gadwall, 5 Pintail, 10 Shoveler, 4 Goldeneye, a Hen Harrier, a Merlin, 4 Ruff still, 135 Common Gulls, a Robin, 3 Fieldfare, 9 Redwing and 19 Snow Buntings on the beach at Brides.

Ruff

Fulmar

Grubby argentatus Herring Gull

NORTH RONALDSAY - 28th to 30th November

A rough few days with the wind switching back into the SW and picking up to gale force 8 for most of time, bringing heavy, stinging, driving rain for much of the time; coverage was understandably reduced (back down to one observer with little motivation to get out in the field!); wildfowl totals on the 30^th included 4 Whooper Swans (three adults and a juvenile), 10 Gadwall, 4 Pintail, 16 Shoveler, 16 Tufted Duck, 4 Goldeneye and 5 Red-breasted Mergansers while the rough weather brought an influx of 550+ Herring Gulls and 270+ Great Black-backed Gull.   One of the lingering Kestrels was still present on the 28^th and two Hen Harriers were still floating around on the 30^th – one of which caught a Moorhen opposite the Post Office.

Turnstone

Dunlin

Purple Sandpiper

Teal

Redshank

Common Gull

Herring Gull