July 20th. Soggy, misty start, gradually drying out and clearing.
Tennyson's Sands was very busy for waders with the 2 Little Stint still present, a Spotted Redshank, a Ruff, 7 Greenshank, amongst 200 Redshank and 500 Black-tailed Godwit. The unseasonal; adult Whooper Swan was still present and Swallow were moving through in small numbers all morning, totaling over 250.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes, with Miriam Hall, yielded 9 new birds: 2 Wren, 2 Reed Warbler, a Sedge Warbler, a Lesser Whitethroat, a Whitethroat, a Blackcap and a Blackbird; and 5 retraps: a Wren, a Robin, 2 Dunnock and a Whitethroat.
A Silver-washed Fritillary was an extremely rare sighting for the Reserve
July 19th. Remaining overcast after overnight and early morning rain, but calm and very good visibility.
An excellent morning for sea-watching, waders and terns and some vis mig. At sea, 4 Manx Shearwater flew north, an Arctic Skua flew south and 10 Arctic Tern arrived to join the beach roost of 500 Sandwich Tern. Common Scoter were on the move with various parties totaling 384 north and a further 70 settled on the sea. Waders continue to arrive from the north including Dunlin, Sanderling, Knot and Redshank, with a few Turnstone and Bar-tailed Godwit, all in summer plumage, whilst more waders came out of the Wash on the morning tide to roost - including 350 Knot, 200 Sanderling, 300 Dunlin, 1000 Oystercatcher and 60 Grey Plover. Two adult Little Stint were new arrivals feeding intensively on the beach before moving onto Tennyson's Sands - viewed from Harvey's Hide, where there were 22 Spoonbills, 4 Spotted Redshank, 7 Greenshank, 4 Common Sandpiper and 460 Black-tailed Godwit.. An increase in Swallow saw a feeding flock of around 60 and a further 70 moving south, with fewer Sand Martin and Swift today. An Osprey headed south around 10 o'clock.
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July 18th. The Barn Owl was out hunting again early morning and there was a light passage of Sand Martin with a few small groups of Sanderling, Dunlin and Redshank moving down the tideline between 0630 and 0800hrs. 3 Arctic Tern were in the roost of 600 Sandwich Tern on the foreshore.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes, with Miriam Hall, provided 11 new birds: 4 Wren, 2 Blackcap, 3 Whitethroat, a Reed Bunting and a Blackbird; and 8 retraps: a Blackbird, a Sedge Warbler, 2 Whitethroat, a Wren, a Chaffinch and 2 Chiffchaff.
July 17th. Another good day for numbers and variety with similar themes to the last couple of days, although much reduced Swift passage and the lighter winds favouring more Sand Martin passage including a nice wave of 350 south in the evening. Waders continue to arrive from the north with more Sanderling this morning. A Tree Pipit flew south. Waders at Greenshank's Creek in the evening included 10 Little Ringed Plover and 10 Common Sandpiper. Also around were a Barn Owl and a Crossbill.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes, with Miriam Hall, produced 10 new birds: a Chiffchaff, a Robin, 3 Whitethroat, 2 Dunnock, a Song Thrush, a Blackbird and a Kestrel; and 10 retraps: 6 Whitethroat, 2 Wren, a Great Tit and a Dunnock.
A morning ringing session at Aylmer Avenue by Mike Polling produced 11 new birds: a Wren, a Chiffchaff, 2 Linnet, 3 Sedge Warbler, a Reed Warbler, 2 Whitethroat and a Blackcap; and 4 retraps: a Blackbird, 2 Dunnock and a Whitethroat.
Common Tern, 17th July 2023. 
July 16th. The strong south-westerly wind persisting and bringing some rain showers in the afternoon.
A strong Swift passage was underway from first light. There was good observer coverage of migration through the morning commencing with 2398 through between 0420 and 0600hrs. Peak passage then occurred over the next hour when a further 6930 passed through, followed by 1485 up to 0900hrs when the movement scaled right down. Wader flocks were arriving regularly down the tideline; with Knot, Dunlin, Curlew, Whimbrel, Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Greenshank and a Spotted Redshank. The first appreciable day for incoming Knot and the first Turnstone of the autumn noted arriving. Also seen were 2 Crossbill.
July 15th. Soggy start, then increasing southerly wind to near gale force by mid-morning and bringing occasional rain showers.
Difficult viewing conditions due to the very strong wind. The man interest during the morning was a roost of 600 Sandwich Tern on the beach, a further 240 Sandwich Tern in a feeding flock offshore with 30 Gannet and a further 2000 Sandwich Tern moving south into the Wash in two hours. Two Arctic Skua also flew south and over 1000 Swift. On the lagoons Teal numbers had swelled to 170 and there were 12 Spoonbill and the Wood Sandpiper. there followed a strong Swift movement in the evening involving a further 1300 south.
July 14th. Rain from mid afternoon.
On Tennyson's Sands were 6 Little Ringed Plover, 245 Black-tailed Godwit, a Wood Sandpiper, 5 Spotted Redshank and 9 Spoonbill. Flying north were 65 Common Scoter; and south 2 Little Gull and 200 Sandwich Tern. Around were 130 Sandwich Tern.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes resulted in 11 new birds: 2 Wren, a Robin, 3 Whitethroat, 4 Dunnock and a Song Thrush; and 4 retraps: 3 Whitethroat and a Dunnock.
July 13th. A moulting adult Redwing was trapped on CES. On Tennyson's Sands were 8 Spoonbill, 5 Common Sandpiper, a Ruff and a Mediterranean Gull; and on the Mere a Common Sandpiper. Swallow passage increased markedly today with over 550 moving. Also going south were a Grey Heron, 180 Sand Martin, 3 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Grey Wagtail, a Hobby, 60 Dunlin and 85 Starling. 1500 Sandwich Tern were on the beach roost and fishing offshore. Two Peregrine were hunting together.
The eighth session of CES was done this morning. The 21 new birds were 2 Wren, 3 Chiffchaff, a Blackcap, 4 Whitethroat, 2 Goldfinch, a Lesser Whitethroat, a Linnet, 5 Dunnock, a Redwing and a Great Spotted Woodpecker; and the 4 retraps were a Chiffchaff, a Dunnock, a Whitethroat and a Wren.
Three humming-bird Hawk Moths were on the Buddleia at North Car Park.
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| Adult Redwing in heavy moult, ringed 13 July 2023. Photo - George Gregory |
July 12th. Damp conditions after overnight rain, becoming warm with increasing westerly breeze. generally cloudy with rain showers in the afternoon.
Still good numbers of Sandwich Tern offshore, with up to 700 on the beach roost and a few more Common Tern today. Swift passage was much reduced but southbound Sand Martin were joined by a few more Swallow and 3 Yellow Wagtail went through. Wader passage continued with several groups of Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin and Curlew and the number of Black-tailed Godwit on the lagoons topped 400 today, with 8 Spoonbill, 2 Greenshank, 3 Spotted Redshank and the regular Wood Sandpiper. A juvenile Redstart was seen at Mill Hill then further north towards North Building. Around were 400 Starling.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 7 new birds: a Wren, a Lesser Whitethroat, a Blue Tit, 2 Whitethroat and 2 Dunnock; and 8 retraps: 4 Great Tit, 3 Whitethroat and a Meadow Pipit.
A White-letter Hairstreak was seen on the West Dunes.
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July 11th. Quite strong south-westerly wind, with rainy spells.
On arrival at Mill Hill at 0615hrs it was apparent that there was a good movement underway involving Swift, Sandwich Tern, waders and others. It was decided early on that as only one recorder was present, counting should concentrate on Sandwich Tern due to them being of the highest conservation concern after the impacts of Avian Influenza. An attempt was also made to count Swift and waders where they were moving over the sea and beach. The first scan of the sea from south to north returned a count of 2368 Sandwich Tern moving slowly south. By the end of the three hour watch, a total of 4276 had passed, along with 5548 Swift, over 100 Gannet, 70 Common Scoter, 3 Arctic Skua, 70 Sand Martin and a good range of incoming waders including Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot and Dunlin with 3 Greenshank, a Green Sandpiper and a Ruff. Sandwich Tern, Swift and wader passage continued on and off through the day, with 3 Manx Shearwater heading south early afternoon. On the lagoons, Common Sandpiper had increased to 12 with 10 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Ruff, 300 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Green Sandpiper, an adult Wood Sandpiper and 10 Spoonbill.
