July 10th. Mostly cloudy, with increasing south-westerly wind.
Swifts continued flying south, whilst 4 Red Kite were seen in an early morning watch from the Wash Viewpoint.
During the afternoon, a check of Tennyson's Sands revealed waders numbers were up again with 112 Black-tailed Godwit, 70 Lapwing, 94 Avocet, a Ruff and 39 Redshank. The summer plumage Spotted Redshank was back again, along with a single Common Sandpiper. There was also a lone Common Tern roosting, along with 10 Sand Martin mixing in with the hawking House Martins. Just 10 Swift moved south between 1600 and 1730hrs, whilst a Grasshopper Warbler was again reeling along Mill Pond Road.
A wind-shortened morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 2 new birds: a Wren and a Chiffchaff; and a retrap Wren.
 |
Redshanks with Lapwing and a Ruff, 10th July 2024. Photo - Nige Lound |
July 9th. Rain until mid morning, with fairly strong south-easterly wind.
During the morning, Tennyson's Sands held 10 Spoonbill and a Green Sandpiper. The Montagu's Harrier showed well in the late afternoon showers from the Wash Viewpoint between 1600 and 1700hrs, at one point being in the same field of view as a Great White Egret (both in flight). Meanwhile on Tennyson's Sands there were 4 Pochard, 10 Black-tailed Godwit, 40 Avocet and 10 Redshank, while 2 Common Sandpipers from Fenella Hope Hide were new in along with 3 Snipe from North Hide on Tennyson's Sands.
A real surprise for two local birders was the remarkable sight of a Fox taking an adult Canada Goose from the long grass at the back of one of the islands. A titanic struggle ensued as the wily Fox dragged the Goose off by one leg before subduing it in the long grass - very African Ockavango-ish!
 |
Juvenile Black-headed Gull, 9th July 2024. Photo - Rikki Clark |
 |
Spoonbill, 9th July 2024. Photo - Rikki Clark |
 |
Common Tern, 9th July 2024. Photo - Rikki Clark |
 |
Reed Warbler, 9th July 2024. Photo - Rikki Clark |
Up to 5 White-letter Hairstreak butterflies were showing in the Sykes Farm area through the morning.
There was a light early morning movement of Swifts and Sand Martins heading south and Sandwich Terns moving north. The regular moulting Montagu's Harrier was seen again from the Wash Viewpoint although mostly very distant to the south today. Black-tailed Godwits had increased to 87 on the lagoons along with the usual summer plumaged Spotted Redshank, 36 Redshank, 66 Lapwing and 77 Avocet along with a lone Whimbrel and a Green Sandpiper. Other birds around included Great White Egret on Jackson's Marsh and Short-eared Owl over the Wash Viewpoint. A Sparrowhawk was seen again going in to a pill box where it was likely to be predating the Swallows nesting inside.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 17 new birds: 4 Wren, a Treecreeper, 2 Chiffchaff, a Long-tailed Tit, a Willow Warbler, a Blackcap, 4 Whitethroat, a Lesser Whitethroat, a Reed Bunting and a Dunnock; and 6 retraps: 3 Whitethroat, a Dunnock, a Long-tailed Tit and a Chiffchaff.
 |
Sparrowhawk at pill box, 8th July 2024. Photo - Brian Hedley |
 |
| Treecreeper, ringed 8 July 2024. Photo - George Gregory |
July 7th. Fairly fresh south-westerly wind, partly sunny.
A moulting adult Redwing was trapped and ringed in East Dunes early morning. In recent summers there have been several other moulting adult Redwing trapped or seen here. An Osprey was over Croft marsh late morning whilst there was a light southerly movement of Swifts and Sand Martins with a light arrival of waders from the north: Black-tailed Godwits, Redshanks and Dunlin. Two Manx Shearwaters went north at sea. Around were a juvenile Cuckoo, 3 Marsh Harrier and a Barn Owl.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes resulted in 5 new birds: a Wren, a Whitethroat, 2 Dunnock and a Redwing; and a retrap Great Tit.
 |
| Moulting adult Redwing, ringed 7 July 2024. Photo - George Gregory |
 |
| Moulting adult Redwing, ringed 7 July 2024. Photo - George Gregory  Spotted Redshank with Black-tailed Godwit and Redshanks, 7th July 2024. Photo - Jack Hood |
July 6th. Fresh westerly wind, with prolonged rain in morning, slowly drying out.
No sign of the Lesser Yellowlegs today but a good selection of water birds on Tennyson's Sands included 12 Spoonbill, Great White Egret, Spotted Redshank, 2 Greenshank, Green Sandpiper, 36 Black-tailed Godwit, 48 Redshank, 60 Lapwing, 60 Avocet and a Pintail along with 40 Sand Martin hawking.
 |
Great White Egret, 6th July 2024. Photo - Annabel Kemp |
 |
Reed Warbler, 6th July 2024. Photo - Annabel Kemp |
The Lesser Yellowlegs joined roosting Redshanks on Tennyson's Sands from around 0760 to 0840 hrs when it flew off south. Also there were Green Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Little Ringed Plover, Ruff and 3 Greenshank. Offshore single Manx Shearwater, Red-throated Diver and Arctic Skua flew past. Swifts continued to head south.
The Lesser Yellowlegs re-appeared in-front of Harvey's Hide showing very well at 8.30pm.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 14 new birds: 5 Chiffchaff, a Long-tailed Tit, a Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, a Blue Tit, a Goldfinch and 3 Dunnock; and 8 retraps: 6 Long-tailed Tit, a Blue Tit and a Great Tit.
 |
Lesser Yellowlegs, 5th July 2024. Photo - Rikki Clark |
 |
Lesser Yellowlegs, 5th July 2024. Photo - Kev Wilson |
 |
Lesser Yellowlegs, 5th July 2024. Photo - Kev Wilson |
 |
Black-tailed Godwit, 5th July 2024. Photo - Jeremy Eyeons. |
 |
Black-tailed Godwits, 5th July 2024. Photo - Rikki Clark |
 |
Knot, 5th July 2024. Photo - Rikki Clark |
 |
Great Spotted Woodpecker, 5th July 2024. Photo - Jeremy Eyeons |
 |
Azure Damselfly, 5th July 2024. Photo - Jeremy Eyeons |
 |
Red Admiral, 5th July 2024. Photo - Jeremy Eyeons |
A Lesser Yellowlegs was discovered with roosting Redshanks on Tennyson's Sands late morning and showed very well. Also there were 15 Spoonbill, 20 Black-tailed Godwits and a Spotted Redshank. Offshore there was a light movement of returning waders and Terns, and 100 Swifts went south.
.JPG) |
Lesser Yellowlegs, 4th July 2024. Photo - Nige Lound |
 |
Four-spotted Chaser, 4th July 2024. Photo - Caroline Sedgely |
 |
Ruddy Darter, 4th July 2024. Photo - Caroline Sedgely |
 |
Ringlet, 4th July 2024. Photo - Caroline Sedgely |
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 17 new birds: 2 Chiffchaff, 3 Wren, 2 Blackcap, a Linnet, a Blue Tit, 4 Whitethroat, a Great Tit and 3 Dunnock; and 5 retrap Long-tailed Tit.
July 3rd. Early morning rain and remaining cloudy and damp.
Both ringtail Hen Harrier and Montagu's Harrier were seen along with a Marsh Harrier from the Wash Viewpoint during the morning. 50 Common Scoter were offshore with several Sandwich Terns. On the lagoons Redshanks were starting to build up at roost with 71 along with 2 Greenshank, a Spotted Redshank and 27 Black-tailed Godwit. A Common Sandpiper was along the river. Other birds around included Cuckoo, Peregrine and 30 Sand Martins.
July 2nd. Early morning rain, gradually drying out, cloudy, with fairly light variable wind.
Some more Swifts headed south, the Montagu's Harrier showed well with 2 Short-eared Owls close by and a Spotted Redshank was on Tennyson's Sands.
 |
Montagu's Harrier, 2nd July 2024. Photo - Phil Hyde |
 |
Montagu's Harrier, 2nd July 2024. Photo - Rob Watson |
July 1st. Cloudy, with increasing westerly wind, and some rain later.
A moderate number of Swifts went south. An unseasonal Osprey flew west over the Fenland Lagoon and the Montagu's Harrier was reported again (per Birdguides). 11 Spoonbills flew towards the Haven.
The seventh session of CES was done this morning. The 15 new birds were 2 Wren, 4 Chiffchaff, 4 Long-tailed Tit, a Robin, 3 Whitethroat and a Dunnock; and the 6 retraps were 2 Wren, a Dunnock, a Sedge Warbler, a Willow Warbler and a Blue Tit.
