September 10th. Clear start, then a band of low mist rolling in but becoming hot and sunny with a thunderstorm rounding off the day.
Visible migration was minor compared to yesterday with Meadow Pipits in the low hundreds over two hours and pretty much all the species as yesterday in lower numbers. Visibility at sea was poor again for most of the day due to mist or haze but during bouts of partial clarity, it as apparent that quite large rafts of Auks were out there, totalling a minimum of 150 birds with feeding Terns, Gannets and Arctic Skuas. A Cattle Egret, 14 Spoonbill and a Wood Sandpiper were on Tennyson's sands, with a Wood Sandpiper also being seen on the Old Saltmarsh. Other birds around, including those trapped, were 3 Marsh Harrier, a Short-eared Owl, a Cetti's Warbler, a Stonechat, 6 Goldcrest and a Pied Flycatcher.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes resulted in 16 new birds: 2 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Goldcrest, 2 Chiffchaff, a Willow Warbler, a Cetti's Warbler, 3 Blackcap, a Pied Flycatcher, 2 Robin, a Lesser Whitethroat and a Dunnock; and a retrap Great Tit.
September 9th. Slightly misty start, soon clearing, then hot and sunny.
A great morning for visible migration. Over 3,500 Meadow Pipits headed south in groups of up to 340 - although many birds could have been missed in the misty conditions early on. Along with southbound Swallows and House Martins were a few Sand Martins, Reed Buntings and Siskins, with 5 Whimbrel, 4 Buzzards, 135 Starling, 4 Snipe, 14 Tree Sparrow, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Redpoll, 3 Tree Pipits, 3 Grey Wagtails and 15 Yellow Wagtails, and single Crossbill, Yellowhammer, Swift, Merlin, Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk and Osprey. A further 2 Crossbills were seen in the North Car Park pines. On the lagoons, a good selection of waders included 2 Little Stint, 2 Curlew Sandpiper and a Wood Sandpiper whilst a Cattle Egret was on Croftmarsh and another arrived from the East. 4 Spoonbill and 2 Little Egret also arrived from the East.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes, with Owen Beaumont, provided 43 new birds: 4 Willow Warbler, a Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest, 2 Robin, 2 Blackcap, a Garden Warbler, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, a Reed Warbler, 17 Meadow Pipit, 6 Reed Bunting, a Goldfinch and 4 Dunnock; and 4 retraps: a Robin, aa Wren, a Great Tit and a Blackcap.
September 8th. Very misty and damp start, gradually clearing, then warm and sunny.
Still a flock of at least 10 Crossbills around the pines and 2 new Pied Flycatchers seen. On Tennyson's Sands were 23 Spoonbill, a Kingfisher and 2 Little Stint. A light passage of Meadow Pipits and Hirundines was noted. Other birds around included a Short-eared Owl, a Hobby, an Arctic Skua, a Garden Warbler and several Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, Whitethroats and Lesser Whitethroats.
September 7th. Quite a clear start then the mist rolled in until late morning after which it was warm and humid with a northerly breeze.
Very quiet early on in the misty conditions but a vocal Wood Sandpiper was clearly disorientated overhead and Crossbills were noisy around the North Car Park. It was apparent that new Crossbills were arriving in small groups from the north. Also new in were a Pied Flycatcher, a Redstart and 2 Whinchat. The Bittern was seen again from Jackson's Marsh Hide and 2 Little Stints were on Tennyson's Sands with 6 Spotted Redshank. An Osprey flew west, being mobbed by a Marsh Harrier mid-day and a flock of 16 Snipe were around the Old Saltmarsh where a Merlin went to roost later.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 2 new birds: a Whitethroat and a Dunnock; and 8 retraps: 2 Blackcap, a Robin, 2 Wren, a Garden Warbler, a Whitethroat and a Dunnock.
September 6th. Very misty, very damp start, slowly clearing and drying out but with mist coming and going all day - far from the expected heat wave.
The first autumn flock of Pink-footed Geese (30) passed through this morning. No sign of the Bittern today but 2 Great White Egrets still present. A highly vocal and highly mobile flock of 17 mixed age and sex Crossbill toured the various pine trees around the Reserve. Other highlights were a Kingfisher, an adult with two near-fledged Water Rails on Jackson's Marsh, a good selection of waders on the lagoons including 455 Black-tailed Godwit, 13 Ruff, 8 Spotted Redshank, and single Common and Green Sandpipers. there are now 2 Treecreepers around the west side, with the mobile Tit flock.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes resulted in 3 new birds: a Garden Warbler, a Lesser Whitethroat and a Blackcap; and a retrap Whitethroat.
A Common Toad was found in the Orchard - an uncommon species on the Reserve.
Ringing Control: Kestrel, ringed Bratoft, Lincolnshire 7 June 2023, controlled GPBO 30 July 2023.
September 5th. Still, misty start again, but clearing and becoming hot and humid again with a light ENE breeze.
A Common Rosefinch initially heard calling, later showed quite well in the scrub clump on the Freshwater Marsh. Also here, several common warblers and a Redstart. another Redstart was along the Cycletrack and 2 Whinchat remained on Rock Ridge where an influx of Wheatears was apparent, with up to 10 birds gathering at one time.. The Bittern was seen again on Jackson's Marsh and the morning wader roost contained a minimum of 65000 Knot, 5000 Bar-tailed Godwit and 3000 Grey Plover amongst others.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 3 new birds: a Blackcap, a Whitethroat and a Great Spotted Woodpecker; and a retrap Dunnock.
September 4th. Still, misty start, but clearing and becoming hot and humid.
No sign of the Woodchat this morning but another big wader roost on the morning tide including increased numbers of Grey Plover - up to 6,100. Passage over land and sea was much reduced today with just a few Hirundines, Terns, Meadow Pipits and Siskins. A good day for Falcons though with Peregrine, Merlin and Hobby all recorded and later in the morning a light passage of Common Buzzards was underway. On Jackson's Marsh were the Bittern again and a Great White Egret; and a Short-eared Owl was around early morning.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 4 new birds: a Willow Warbler, a Robin, a Whitethroat and a Dunnock; and 4 retraps 2 Whitethroat and 2 Dunnock.
September 3rd. A fine summery morning.
An exciting find for one local birder was an intricately marked juvenile Woodchat Shrike - the first record of the species since a juvenile in August 2013. This bird showed well in the West Dunes from mid-morning.
The highest tide sequence of the year continued to produce a spectacular wader roost with over with over 110,000 birds involved for the morning WeBS count. Also from the foreshore and sea, a Great Northern Diver flew north, a Black Tern south and 4 Little Gulls joined the Black-headed Gulls and Terns. There was a steady southerly passage of House Martins and Swallows with Siskins, Meadow Pipits and Yellow Wagtails passing through again, also a Hobby. Other birds around included 5 Spotted Redshank, 2 Crossbill, 5 Marsh Harrier, a Peregrine, 2 Swift, a Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Whinchat and 2 Redstart.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes yielded 8 new birds: a Lesser Whitethroat, a Robin, a Sedge Warbler, a Redstart (different from yesterday's bird), a Blackcap, a Reed Warbler, a Whitethroat and a Song Thrush; and 2 retraps: a Robin and a Dunnock.
September 2nd. Warm and bright again with a light easterly wind, and a very high tide mid morning.
The high tide produced even larger numbers of waders this morning - total exceeding 100,000. Whilst most attention was paid to the waders, some seabird movement was noted offshore including more Gannets than of late, with 25 Arctic Skuas, 80 Common Scoter and Terns moving north. Other birds around, including those trapped, were 2 Marsh Harrier, 3 Buzzard, a Pied Flycatcher, a Spotted Flycatcher, 5 Whinchat and a Redstart.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes, with Liam Andrews and Owen Beaumont, provided 9 new birds: 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Blackcap, a Robin, a Whitethroat, a Swallow, a Redstart and a Meadow Pipit; and 5 retraps: 2 Robin, 2 Whitethroat and a Dunnock.
Ringing Recovery: Blackbird, ringed GPBO 7 November 2019, found dead Aulangentorppa, Finland 1 August 2023.
September 1st. A calm but overcast start with dark clouds looming bit no rain, becoming bright and warm. An excellent start to the month with great weather and great birding. The morning tide wader roost was spectacular again with 80,000 birds. Terns, Gannets and Skuas were moving offshore with a southerly Swallow passage down the beach, various Warblers were busy in the dune scrub, 5 Whinchats were along Rock Ridge with the Black Redstart present again nearby. 6 wasp Spiders were also along Rock Ridge south of the Visitor Centre. On Tennyson's Sands were 20 Spoonbill.
An evening sea-watch saw another 12 Arctic Skuas and a single Pomarine Skua heading south with more Common and Sandwich Terns, but the highlight was an adult summer-plumaged Sabine's Gull, that arrived from the north and continued steadily south in to the Wash over 2 minutes.
