LANDGUARD - 12th November

 A stiff SW breeze gave a very different feel to the day than of late with most of the interest coming from the little selection of birds offshore which comprised 4 Brent Geese, 29 Common Scoter, 9 Gannets, a Golden Plover, 7 Guillemots, 2 Razorbills, a Kittiwake, 9 Knot, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, 8 Red-throated Divers, 3 Turnstone, 4 Wigeon and 790 Starlings in off.   

On the land birds of note included 9 Snow Buntings still, 2 Bramblings, 12 Goldfinches, 20+ Redwing, a Rock Pipit and a Woodcock.

All the colours of a Woodpigeon

LANDGUARD - 8th July

 A decent day with a moderate WSW breeze, overcast at first but with spells of warm sunshine from mid-morning; there was a trickle of birds offshore through the morning including a nice variety of waders heading south, consisting of 3 Bar-tailed Godwits, a Common Sandpiper (a Landguard tick!), 47 Curlew, 2 Dunlin, 5 Oystercatchers, 2 Redshank and 5 Whimbrel along with 41 Black-headed Gulls, 6 Common Gulls, 9 Common Scoter, 2 Common Terns, 2 Gadwall, 7 Mediterranean Gulls, 9 Teal, 18 Sand martins, 3 Swallows and 6 Swifts.   

Also of note were the Black Redstart family still, the lingering Chiffchaff and a confiding juvenile Stock Dove.

Stock Dove

Woodpigeon and chick

LANDGUARD - 15th March

 A lovely day with light winds and plenty of sunshine (still a chill in the air though); there were a few birds through the morning including 1,250 Cormorants offshore, a Fieldfare, a Fulmar, 5 Goldfinches, 3 Greenfinches, 2 Long-tailed Tits, 4 Meadow Pipits, 2 Redwings, 3 Robin, a Rook, a Siskin and 2 Sparrowhawks – including one which came in off the sea.   

Walked down to Trimley Marshes in the afternoon where things hadn’t really changed too much since my last visit with the flock of geese containing 33 White-fronted Geese, the Tundra Bean Goose, 2 Pink-footed Geese and 7 Barnacle Geese still present, a Great White Egret, 2 Little Egrets, 4 Marsh Harriers, 27 Avocets, loads of ducks still, a few waders roosting at high tide, a Cetti’s Warbler and the only hint of spring – a Chiffchaff.   

The only slightly interesting thing was a Kestrel flushed off a half-eaten Black-headed Gull; I can’t see a Kestrel catching it but I haven’t seen one eating carrion before…

Long-tailed Tit

Something's coming..

Sparrowhawk

Woodpigeon

LANDGUARD - 2nd March

Nice and calm through the day but it was pretty misty in the morning; we opened all the nets in the compound with the only new birds being two Dunnocks.   It brightened up in the afternoon with a short spell of sunshine but again there were no real migrant highlights with a Stonechat the best of it although 8 Turnstone on one of the groynes was another coastal year tick.

Early ringing - Woodpigeon and Dunnock

NORTH RONALDSAY - 22nd April

Wall to wall sunshine and a brisk SE wind; there wasn’t too much around but there were a few year ticks with a Tree Pipit behind T4, an Arctic Skua back on Torness (a pale phase bird, possibly one of the breeding birds), a Short-eared Owl at Nether Linney – long overdue and three Common Scoters past the Lighthouse in the afternoon.   Migrant totals from the Obs and up the west coast included a Sparrowhawk, 6 Sandwich Terns, 3 Woodpigeons, 12+ Swallows, 21 Robins, the female Stonechat still at Trebb, an increased 80+ Wheatears, a Fieldfare, a Song Thrush, 2 Redwing, a Blackcap, 7 Chiffchaff, 3 Willow Warblers, a Rook, 5 Carrion Crows, a Chaffinch, 3 Brambling and a Goldfinch.

                A little drive round in the afternoon produced a brilliant total of 65 Sand Martins (40 on Brides and 25 on Hooking) – only just short of the island record count, a Whimbrel by the Lighthouse and an increased 450+ Black-headed Gulls back on Hooking.

Short-eared Owl

Woodpigeon in off

Arctic Skua

Wheatear

Fulmars

Shags

SKOMER ISLAND - 12th - 19th July

I went down south to have a week on Skomer Island, with the main purpose to help reach the target of ringing 300 Lesser Black-backed Gull chicks which involved crawling round through Bracken in the extremely warm conditions.   My Skomer list ended up as follows:

Canada Goose – A regular flock around North Pond.

Wigeon – A single drake was on North Pond on 13^th.

Mallard – A couple were usually on North Pond.

Common Scoter – A flock of 22 did a big circuit around the bay in front of North Haven on 18^th.

Fulmar

Manx Shearwater

Gannet

Cormorant

Shag

Heron – Singles were over the island on 13^th and 19^th.

Buzzard – A single pair breeds and both adults were seen occasionally.

Peregrine – A single pair bred which fledged two chicks which were seen regularly over North Haven.

Moorhen

Oystercatcher

Curlew – A flock of nine flew north over the island on 18^th when there was also a single in North Haven.

Common Sandpiper – One was at the base of High Cliff on 17^th and another was in Martin’s Haven when I left.

Great Black-backed Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Herring Gull

Black-headed Gull – A juvenile flew through on 13^th with two more on 17^th and a final five in North Haven on 18^th.

Mediterranean Gull – Two adults flew south between Skomer and Skokholm on 17^th.

Kittiwake

Guillemot

Razorbill

Puffin

Woodpigeon – I found my first ground nesting pair under the Bracken.

Sand Martin – One over the CES site on 13^th.

Swallow

Swift – One over the island on 16^th.

Cuckoo – A juvenile was seen sporadically throughout.

Short-eared Owl – Six pairs bred but most had already dispersed off the island with only a couple seen.

Magpie

Jackdaw

Carrion Crow

Raven

Chough – A poor breeding year due to the very dry, hard ground but a pair with two fledglings were seen regularly.

Starling

Blue Tit – A dispersing juvenile was caught at the CES site on 13^th.

Meadow Pipit

Rock Pipit

Pied Wagtail

Blackcap – A male was caught at the CES site on 13^th.

Whitethroat

Sedge Warbler

Blackbird

Wren

Dunnock

Stonechat – A single pair had fledglings

Wheatear

Linnet

Goldfinch

Lesser Redpoll – One flew over the CES site on 13^th.

Lesser Black-backed Gull chicks of various sizes

and the Woodpigeon nest under the Bracken

NORTH RONALDSAY - 4th April

After a rough day on the 3^rd, it was again a stunning, sunny day with a light wind swinging around the NW / W direction; walked up the west coast with the highlights being a first-year Glaucous Gull which flew south past Torness and the first Jackdaw of the year over Westness.   Other birds included 5 Woodcock, 5 Mistle Thrush, a Rook, 5 Chaffinches, a little influx of Thrushes especially 25+ Song Thrushes, 6 Black-tailed Godwits on Gretchen and a Woodpigeon.

                The first three Sandwich Terns of the year were on Gretchen in the afternoon before I opened the nets at Holland in the evening which produced nearly 50 new birds with the first Siskin of the year and a Grey Wagtail (only the seventh to be ringed on the island) the highlights amongst good numbers of Blackbirds, Song Thrushes and Redwings which came into roost.

Glaucous Gull

Woodpigeon

NORTH RONALDSAY - 11th March

A fairly nice day with light winds and some good sunshine in the afternoon but the middle census route was pretty quiet with 4 Whooper Swans new in on Ancum, a Merlin seen a couple of times chasing Rock Pipits round Westness, a young male Hen Harrier and 33 Bar-tailed Godwits of note.

Woodpigeon from yesterday

First year (left) and adult (right) Snipe

More Fulmars