September 20th. Strong south-westerly wind increasing to near gale later in the morning with rain through the rest of the day.
Conditions not conducive to birding the dune scrub, attention turned to the sea and lagoons. Offshore, Terns, Gannets and Kittiwakes were moving south distantly with a few Red-throated Divers closer in. 5 Cattle Egrets remained with the cows mainly on Jackson's Marsh. Although the arrival of these Egrets have provided great interest during their stay, their appetite for some of our endangered wildlife has been a cause for concern with individuals successfully catching and eating Common Frogs (not actually common here!), Water Voles and possibly even a Water Shrew. Other birds around today included a Mediterranean Gull, a Little Stint and 6 Crossbill.
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More recent photos added - see below - with a big Thank You to all contributing photographers!
September 19th. Increasingly strong south-westerly wind, with some rainy spells.
Fairly quiet at sea but another great wader roost involving 40,000 birds and some Hirundine movement including a pulse of 320 House Martins moving south with fewer Swallows and just a few Sand Martins. Also around were 6 Cattle Egret (on Jackson's marsh), 5 Greenshank, 19 Spoonbill, 48 Avocet, a Rock Pipit and a Great White Egret.
September 18th. Fairly strong south-easterly wind, with some rainy spells.
On the lagoons were 4 Ruff, a Curlew Sandpiper, 10 Spotted Redshank, 2 Greenshank, 21 Spoonbill and 9 Cattle Egret (Jackson's Marsh). Highlights offshore were single Long-tailed Skua and Bonxie. Other birds around included a Wheatear, a Redstart and 18 Crossbill. Flying south were 60 Pink-footed Goose and 220 Golden Plover.
September 17th. Increasing easterly wind.
An exceptional sea-watch between 0700 and 1030hrs with the following highlights (most birds heading north): a Large Shearwater sp (tracked north where identified as Cory's at 0716hrs), another Cory's Shearwater at 1026hrs, 4 Sooty Shearwater, 2 Balearic Shearwater, 6 Manx Shearwater, 66 Arctic Skua, 4 Long-tailed Skua, a Pomarine Skua, 3 Bonxie, 4 Skua sp, 24 Red-throated Diver, a Black-throated Diver, a large Diver sp and many Kittiwakes, Gannets, Auks and Sandwich Terns. Another big wader roost of 80,000 was estimated but no chance of counting waders or dealing with vis mig while the sea passage was constant, although the first Rock Pipit of the autumn called as it flew overhead. Then, remarkably, a group of 3 Cory's Shearwaters flew north quite close in and were later seen up the coast.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes resulted in 4 new birds: a Wren, a Robin, a Blue Tit and a Dunnock; and 2 retrap Long-tailed Tit.
Around the lagoons, highlights were 11 Cattle Egrets, a Curlew Sandpiper and an Arctic Skua.
An evening sea-watch was undertaken before the weather closed in and remarkably a group of 3 Cory's Shearwaters headed north - these were later tracked further up the Lincolnshire coast.
September 16th. Light north-easterly wind, bright, sunny and warm.
A very good variety of birds around today with single Great White Egret and Cattle Egret still present with 20 Spoonbills, Wood, Green and Common Sandpiper and Little Stint. A Kingfisher on Fenland Lagoon was fishing successfully, being seen to catch 6 fish, 3 crabs and a prawn. The morning high tide wader roost involved over 80,000 birds, and a Caspian Gull was identified amongst the large Gulls. An Osprey flew north up the beach late morning, flushing all Gulls and Terns. A Stonechat was accompanied by 2 Whinchat on the Freshwater Marsh and highlights from bouts of early morning and evening sea-watching were a Black-throated Diver, 5 Red-throated Diver, 30 Arctic Skua, a Bonxie, a Pomarine Skua, a Long-tailed Skua and a Manx Shearwater.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 6 new birds: a Wren, a Chiffchaff, 3 Goldcrest and a Reed Bunting; and 2 retraps: a Dunnock and a Robin.
September 15th. Fairly light southerly wind.
Meadow Pipits were the main theme of the morning with slightly reduced intensity of passage through a three hour watch but throughput was constant and lasted longer than yesterday with a total of 10,485. A flock of 9 Cattle Egrets arrived form the north and headed straight out to Norfolk over the Wash at 0640hrs, followed by 2 Grey Herons. A while later, 10 Cattle Egrets were on the lagoons with many Little Egrets and a Great White Egret. Other birds on passage were much as yesterday but a slight increase in Swallows, Linnets, Redpolls and Reed Buntings, the first Jay of the autumn and 11 Buzzards were on the move later in the morning. A slight increase in Ruff involved 18 on the lagoons and a further 12 went south over the beach. A large wader roost provided spectacle from Mill Hill whilst offshore, a typical selection of the usual seabirds, Gannets, Terns etc. were recorded as well as the first Black-throated Diver of the autumn and 3 Pomarine Skuas following a line of Gannets. 7 Stonechats were on the Outer Ridges.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 8 new birds: a Whitethroat, a Cetti's Warbler, a Robin, 2 Chaffinch, 2 Lesser Redpoll and a Dunnock.
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| Cetti's Warbler, ringed 15 September 2023. Photo - George Gregory |
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| Lesser Redpoll, ringed 15 September 2023. Photo - George Gregory |
September 14th. Moderate south-westerly wind.
Meadow Pipits started moving soon after dawn, but from 0645 to 0815hrs passage was continuous and very intensive with flocks of up to 500 passing on a broad front from the East Dunes, over the beach and out over the sea, involving 13,500, with a further 900 recorded over the next hour. Few other species were moving in any significant numbers but 5 Tree Pipit were notable. Good numbers of Terns, Gannets, Kittiwakes, Common Scoter and Arctic Skuas were offshore again, with 11 Red-throated Divers heading south and 2 juvenile Long-tailed Skuas moving north (in the evening). 3 Cattle Egrets remained with a single Great White Egret and 21 Spoonbill. An Osprey went high south late morning.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes yielded 9 new birds: a Goldcrest, a Chiffchaff, 2 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Blue Tit, a Chaffinch, a Robin and a Lesser Whitethroat; and 10 retraps: a Blackcap, 2 Dunnock, 5 Long-tailed Tit, a Great Tit and a Wren.
September 13th. A return to bright and dry conditions with a moderate north-easterly breeze.
A two hour sea-watch in ideal conditions was rewarded with constant action and some very good birds. Flocks of Kittiwakes were moving north from first thing with many Gannets, Arctic Skuas, Sandwich and Common Terns. A single Black Tern flew north early on, a juvenile Long-tailed Skua flew north in amongst a flock of Kittiwakes, two Grey Phalaropes landed on the sea before moving steadily north, a Leach's Petrel gave excellent views over two minutes before moving north at 0729hrs to be followed by another Leach's Petrel at 0759hrs. Another 2 juvenile Long-tailed Skuas also headed north with 2 Pomarine Skuas, 2 Bonxies, 2 Manx Shearwaters and a Sooty Shearwater. Meadow Pipits were arriving off the sea and 1080 Pink-footed Geese came in from the north in various flocks and passed over the Wash to Norfolk. Birds around, including those trapped, were a Barn Owl, a Garden Warbler, a Willow Warbler, a Chiffchaff and 2 Pied Flycatcher.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes, with Bethany McGuire and Jamie Kennedy, provided 7 new birds: a Chiffchaff, a Willow Warbler, a Robin, a Blackcap, a Garden Warbler, a Whitethroat and a Pied Flycatcher; and 3 retraps: a Wren, a Whitethroat and a Dunnock.
A Convolvulus Hawk Moth was found on the weather enclosure.
September 12th. Rain of varying intensity all day.
Very poor conditions limited observations from anywhere other than the hides. The highlight on Tennyson's Sands were a group of 5 juvenile Curlew Sandpipers and a Wood Sandpiper that dropped in during the rain.
September 11th. Somewhat soggy start, gradually drying out and becoming sunny.
Meadow Pipits were moving again in good numbers with a supporting cast of Swallows, but there was less species variety on 'vis mig' than recent days. Offshore, numbers of Sandwich Terns had picked up again (they seem to reduce in number after spring tide sequences) with 300 on the beach, 400 in a feeding flock (with 90 Common Terns and 90 Gannets) and a further 350 moving south. At least 3 Cattle Egrets were around and a big count of 81 Little Egrets was made on Tennyson's Sands. A Pied Flycatcher was in the Orchard.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced a new Robin; and 2 retraps: a Pied Flycatcher and a Wren.
A morning ringing session at Aylmer Avenue by Mike Polling produced 11 new birds: a Goldcrest, 3 Swallow, a Whitethroat, 3 Goldfinch, a House Martin, a Dunnock and a Great Tit; and a retrapped Dunnock.
Visibility at sea in the evening was the best that it has been for several days, with rafts of Auks settled offshore, hundreds of Terns moving south with 10 Arctic Skuas blogging and a further 52 moving south, a Black Tern, a Roseate Tern and 3 Mediterranean Gulls going to roost
