March 30th. A moderate easterly wind. Mostly cloudy.
Around were a Tawny Owl, 20 Avocet, 6 Corn Bunting, a Barn Owl and 2 Chiffchaff.
A morning ringing session at Aylmer Avenue by David Vincent resulted in just 10 new birds and 3 retraps. The new birds were 5 Chaffinch, 3 Goldfinch and 2 Greenfinch. The retraps were 2 Great Tit and a Greenfinch.
March 29th. A brisk easterly wind. Mostly sunny.
Around the reserve were a Merlin, 35 Avocet, 5 Black-tailed Godwit, a drake Pochard, 2 Tawny Owl, 5 Chiffchaff and a Siskin. Still very quiet on the reserve at the moment!
March 28th. A breezy easterly wind. Sunny intervals.
The only birds recorded today were a Barn Owl, a Merlin and 6 Corn Bunting with 14 Avocet and 7 Black-tailed Godwit on Tennyson's Sands
March 27th. A fairly brisk easterly wind. Sunny intervals with showers.
Around today were 6 Chiffchaff, a Coal Tit, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Snipe, a Song Thrush, a Sparrowhawk, a Merlin, a Marsh Harrier and a Barn Owl. 6 Rook flew south. 30 Avocet and 10 Black-tailed Godwit were on Tennyson Sands.
March 26th. A fairly strong northerly wind. Sunny intervals with showers.
A sea-watch from first light was again predictably quiet with 5 Red-breasted Merganser and a single Eider on the sea, with 7 Red-throated Diver and a Merlin going north. A Harbour Porpoise went north close to shore. There were 39 Avocet on Tennyson Sands. Also around were a Sparrowhawk, 5 Chiffchaff, 15 Redwing, a Yellowhammer, 121 Ringed Plover, 4000 Dunlin, 50 Turnstone, 300 Curlew, 42 Oystercatcher, 13 Sanderling and 200 Redshank.
March 25th. An increasing easterly wind. Sunny intervals.
Around the reserve today were 2 Merlin, a Peregrine, a ringtail Hen Harrier, a Barn Owl, 2 southbound Marsh Harrier and a Green Woodpecker seen well which proved to be an adult female.
A wind-restricted ringing session at Aylmer Avenue by David Vincent resulted in 13 new birds and 7 retraps. The new birds were 5 Chaffinch, 3 Goldfinch, 2 Greenfinch, 2 Lesser Redpoll (the first of the year) and a Brambling (also the first of the year). The retraps were 2 Blue Tit, 2 Goldfinch, a Greenfinch, a Chaffinch and a Long-tailed Tit.
March 24th. A moderate south easterly wind. Sunny.
Limited coverage with the only reports of any note being 2 adult Mediterranean Gull briefly on Tennyson Sands, 2 Barn Owl and a male Hen Harrier. One of the Mediterranean Gull was colour-ringed and was ringed in Belgium in 1997 making it 17 years old!
March 23rd. A breezy north-westerly then northerly wind. Sunny intervals in the morning, showers in the afternoon.
A RED KITE drifted south at 0930 and a BEARDED TIT was around The Mere. 3 Sand Martin were around Tennyson Sands and Jackson's Marsh.
A morning ringing session at Aylmer Avenue by David and Liv Vincent resulted in 19 new birds and 21 retraps. The new birds were 7 Chaffinch, 3 Goldfinch, 2 Greenfinch, 2 Great Tit, 2 Siskin, 2 Chiffchaff and a Blue Tit. The retraps were 6 Blue Tits, 6 Greenfinch, 4 Goldfinch, 2 Chaffinch, 2 Great Tit and a Dunnock. The 2 Chiffchaff are the first-ringed Chiffchaff of the year! (Last year the first Chiffchaff was ringed on the 12th April).
March 22nd. A strong south westerly wind. Mostly sunny.
Limited coverage with Hen Harrier (ringtail), Peregrine, Merlin, Barn Owl and Sparrowhawk seen. The 3CY Mediterranean Gull was again on Tennyson Sands.
March 21st. A fairly strong south westerly wind. Mostly sunny.
The sea was predictably quiet with just 2 Red-throated Diver and a single Eider south. Visible migration involved 78 Chaffinch, 15 Goldfinch, 18 Siskin, 2 Redpoll sp, 6 Linnet, a Brambling, 6 Alba Wagtail, 12 Fieldfare, 50 Redwing, 150 Starling, 26 Rook and a Marsh Harrier moving south. Around the reserve were 7 Yellowhammer, a Green Woodpecker, a Goldcrest, 2 Chiffchaff, a Water Pipit, a Green Sandpiper, a Peregrine, 2 Sparrowhawk, 3 Common Buzzard and 2 Mediterranean Gull.
