Another lovely, if chilly day with hardly a breath of wind and the sun poking through on occasion; there was little change through the morning as birds of note comprised an increased 3,713 Cormorants south first thing, a Heron north far out at sea, 4 Common Scoter, a Stonechat, a Chiffchaff and 3 Peregrines – with the breeding Port pair seeing off a young male by driving him far out to sea!
Another similar day with light but chilly NNE winds and hardly any new migrants; the sea was quiet as well with the highlights comprising a Shelduck, 19 Red-throated Divers, 3 Greylag Geese and a total of 2,455+ Cormorants again coming in from the north to head to their fishing grounds. Birds on the land included a Rook south, presumably the same Firecrest calling in the compound but remaining elusive, a Greenfinch and 5 Goldfinches.
An afternoon jaunt to just the other side of the docks to Trimley Marshes was very pleasant in the calm, bright conditions and produced a nice array of wintering Geese with a single Tundra Bean Goose, 2 Pink-footed Geese and c31 European White-fronted Geese, at least 4 Marsh Harriers including a fine adult male, plenty of ducks, 30 Avocets on the river, single Grey Plover and Knot, 4 Black-tailed Godwits and a singing Cetti’s Warbler.
We kept the cold NNE wind but the although the sun did break through on occasion it still felt very wintery, all the highlights were over the sea and included a Bonxie north in the afternoon, 18 Brent Geese, 2 Common Scoter, a good total of 2760+ Cormorants which flew in from the north heading to their feeding grounds first thing, a Curlew, 2 Eiders, a Kittiwake and 70+ Red-throated Divers.
There was hardly anything of note to mention on the land and the nets were empty again.
Nice and calm again but finally with the light wind switching round into the north the fog had largely disappeared letting us see the sea properly for the first time since I arrived; this produced most of the day’s highlights through the morning including a Bonxie north at 10:30, 44 Gannets, a Fulmar, 2 Common Scoter, 8 Brent Geese, 3 Shelduck, 67 Red-throated Divers, 4 Great-crested Grebes, 440+ Cormorants and a random Carrion Crow which came straight in from very far out (it possibly was messing around on a ship before realizing he was out at sea and had to come back in!).
There wasn’t very much on the land with a Woodcock the highlight along with a Chiffchaff, 3 Chaffinches, a Goldfinch and a Skylark of note.
Still somewhat surprisingly very calm but that meant the thick fog lingered right throughout the day, not really thinning at all; the nets were empty and not worth mentioning!
Yesterday’s spell of sunshine in the afternoon must have encouraged a few things to start moving only to get grounded again as the fog came back in as there was a scattering of migrants dotted around the peninsula throughout the day which included a lost looking adult European White-fronted Goose which was on the grass on the point first thing until inevitably being flushed by dog-walkers (a very unusual occurrence apparently), a Firecrest halfway up the recording area in the afternoon, the first Chiffchaff of the spring at the top end, single Lapwing, Golden Plover and Dunlin, 5 Sanderling, a Stonechat, a Goldcrest and a Yellowhammer while my first Mediterranean Gull of the year (a 3cy) was in the river mouth.
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.
Drove over to my new home for the year at Landguard Bird Observatory in Suffolk; it was freezing cold, shrouded in mist with a biting ENE breeze coming in off the sea but spring is round the corner and it was the first time I’ve seen the sea (just) in three months! There weren’t any birding highlights but Ringed Plover and Great Black-backed Gull were year ticks!
