July 9th: Drizzly morning. Tennyson Sands held 5 Little Gulls and 3 Greenshanks. A Yellow Wagtail and 4 Siskins flew south.
July 8th: Rainy. On the water bodies were 10 Little Gulls, 6 Greenshanks, a Green Sandpiper, a Common Sandpiper, a Black-tailed Godwit and a Mediterranean Gull. Around were a ringtail Montagu's Harrier, 400+ Sandwich Terns, 236 Curlews, and 132 adult Shelducks with 18 chicks.
July 7th: Sunny then rainy. Tennyson Sands held 11 Little Gulls, 2 Green Sandpipers and a Greenshank. A Hobby and a Siskin were around.
The seventh session of CES was done this morning, resulting in 6 new birds ringed and 6 retraps. This was a low total, but it was sunny and there were few young birds around, no doubt partly due to the recent weather.
July 6th: Rainy, soggy. Birds on Tennyson Sands included a Wood Sandpiper, a Green Sandpiper, 3 Black-tailed Godwits, 14 Little Gulls and 2 Sandwich Terns. A ringtail Harrier Spp was viewed distantly.
July 5th: Humid, then rainy. Heading south were a Whimbrel and 6 Black-tailed Godwits. On Tennyson Sands were 5 Little Gulls, 2 Common Sandpipers, a Greenshank and 2 Little Ringed Plovers. Around were a Grey Wagtail, 2 Kittiwakes, an Arctic Tern and 15 Crossbills.
July 4th: Quite rainy. On the water bodies were 12 Little Gulls, 5 Sandwich Terns, 3 Black-tailed Godwits and 2 Little Ringed Plovers. A few Swifts flew south.
July 3rd: Occasional rain. Tennyson Sands held 17 Little Gulls, a Black-tailed Godwit, a Spotted Redshank and a Green Sandpiper. At Beach Car Park were 21 Crossbills. Around was a Short-eared Owl. There was a light passage of Swifts south.
Birds ringed on East Dunes this morning included a moulting adult female Redwing with a brood patch code 5. This is an unusual record for July this far south.
July 2nd: Rainy, windy. The King Eider was not present. If it should reappear, a decision would be made about allowing it to be viewed by birders, subject to the welfare of the nesting shorebirds not being compromised in any way. Hundreds of Swifts, 72 Gannets and 2 Auks Spp went south. Offshore were 300 Sandwich Terns and 2 Harbour Porpoises. On Tennyson Sands were 12 Little Gulls.
July 1st: Quite windy. A Cetti's Warbler was found just south of Beach Car Park. On Tennyson Sands were 32 Little Gulls, 2 Green Sandpipers and 2 Common Sandpipers. Around were 2 Whimbrels, 3 Yellow Wagtails and an adult Mediterranean Gull. A Grasshopper Warbler reeled on Rock Ridge early morning. Over 1000 Swifts, 4 Crossbills and 2 Siskins flew south over land. Sea-watching produced a Great Northern Diver, a Hobby, 9 Auks Spp, 4 Teals, 23 Common Scoters, 112 Black-tailed Godwits, a Spotted Redshank, 5 Redshanks and a Harbour Porpoise south, 18 Gannets and 80 Common Scoters north, and an Arctic Tern offshore. Late in the day a King Eider was found just offshore the Shorebird Sanctuary, where there were late-nesting Little Terns and Ringed Plovers. Entry by birders into this sanctuary, especially in the windy/wet conditions, was not allowable, and a decision was made not to publish the news on this day.
