August 20th. Cloudy, with increasing north-easterly wind and some light early morning drizzle.
On the water bodies around the reserve were 191 Mallard, 1 Dunlin, 1 Knot, 34 Avocet, 550 Black-tailed Godwit, 5 Redshank, 6 Greenshank, 3 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, 26 Little Egret and 27 Spoonbill.
On the sea were 56 Teal and 2 Turnstone heading South, and 107 Common Scoter, 2 juvenile Black Terns, 2 Arctic Terns, 72 Common Terns, 2300 Sandwich Tern, 11 Arctic Skua, 1 Razorbill, 1 Fulmar and 40 Gannet all heading North.
Also around were 2 Yellow-legged Gulls on the beach, a Marsh Harrier (South) and a Green Woodpecker.
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| Greenshank, 20th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Green Sandpiper and Dunlin, 20th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Knot in amongst Black-tailed Godwits, 20th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
On the water bodies were 31 Avocet, 420 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Redshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 3 Greenshank, 2 Dunlin, 2 Common Sandpiper, 63 Little Egret and 11 Spoonbill. Also around the reserve were a Buzzard, a Tawny Owl in the Plantation and a Treecreeper in the West Dunes.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 7 new birds: 2 Willow Warbler, a Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, a Whitethroat and a Sedge Warbler; and 3 retraps: 2 Long-tailed Tit and a Chiffchaff.
Moth trapping overnight in Sykes Farm on the 18th produced two new Moths for the reserve. A Dewick's Plusia was attracted to a pheromone lure and a smart looking micromoth Evergestis limbata (or Dark-bordered Pearl) was attracted to light in the Plantation. Another moth of note was a The Vestal trapped overnight on the 14th August.
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| Dewick's Plusia - a first for the reserve, 18th/19th August 2025 Photo - Nigel Lound |
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| Micromoth Evengestis limbata or Dark Bordered Pearl - another first for the reserve, 18th/19th August 2025 Photo - Nigel Lound |
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| The Vestal, 14th August 2025 Photo - Nigel Lound |
Commic Terns were on the move in big numbers this morning with over 1000 counted in one scan across the horizon.
A drizzle-restricted morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 4 new birds: a Linnet, 2 Whitethroat and a Lesser Whitethroat; and 4 retraps: a Dunnock, a Blue Tit, a Whitethroat and a Wren.
A drizzle-restricted ringing session at the feedings station in West Dunes produced 3 new birds: a Chaffinch, a Goldfinch and a Greenfinch; and 3 retraps: 2 Great Tit and a Great Spotted Woodpecker.
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| Juvenile Stonechat, 16th August 2025 Photo - Steve Clipperton |
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| Whinchat, 16th August 2025 Photo - Steve Clipperton |
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| Whinchat, 16th August 2025 Photo - Steve Clipperton |
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| Stonechat, 16th August 2025 Photo - Steve Clipperton |
A couple of sea watches from Mill Hill revealed 2000+ Sandwich Terns, mainly heading North. 1 Great Skua went South, 15 Artic Skuas were about as were 18 Gannet and 56 Common Scoter (mainly North).
On Tennyson's Sands were 450 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Avocet, 1 Greenshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Wood Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, 3 Green Sandpiper and 2 Dunlin. Also about were 2 Whinchat, a Yellow Wagtail and a Hobby.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes resulted in 11 new birds: 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, a Bullfinch, a Linnet, a Meadow Pipit, 3 Whitethroat and a Blue Tit; and 6 retraps: a Robin, 2 Dunnock, a Linnet, a Whitethroat and a Long-tailed Tit.
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| Bullfinch, having eaten berries, ringed 17 August 2025. Photo - George Gregory |
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| Spotted Redshank, 16th August 2025 Photo - Steve Clipperton |
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| Greenshank, 16th August 2025 Photo - Steve Clipperton |
Around the Wash Viewpoint were 2 Whinchats and 2 juvenile Stonechats, along with 10 Spoonbills on the river outlet. On Tennyson's Sands were 3 Spotted Redshank. On the Mere were 3 Green Sandpipers and 2 Greenshank. Also around were another 4 Greenshank, a Peregrine, 4 Marsh Harriers, 40 Long-tailed Tits and a Wheatear.
Heading North over the sea were 40 Common Scoter, 5 Little Tern, 2 Artic Tern, 62 Common Tern, 14 Artic Skua, 27 Gannet and 3 Kittiwake whilst heading South were 6 Common Scoter, 1 Great Skua and 6 Gannet. On the beach roosting, were 200 Oystercatcher, 340 Sandwich Terns and a 2nd calendar year Caspian Gull.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 6 new birds: a Willow Warbler, a Robin, a Linnet, 2 Whitethroat and a Pied Flycatcher; and a retrap Whitethroat.
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| Greenshank with crab, 15th August 2025 Photo - Jeremy Eyeons |
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| Black-tailed Godwit, 15th August 2025 Photo - Jeremy Eyeons |
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| Little Egrets, 15th August 2025 Photo - Jeremy Eyeons |
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| Whitethroat on Elderberries, 14th August 2025 Photo - Paul Neale |
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| Blue Tit, 14th August 2025 Photo - Paul Neale |
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| Little Egret, 14th August 2025 Photo - Paul Neale |
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| Avocet, 14th August 2025 Photo - Paul Neale |
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| Wheatear, 16th August 2025 Photo - Rob Watson |
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 7 new birds: a Wren, a Robin, 2 Sedge Warbler, a Reed Warbler, a Whitethroat and a Lesser Whitethroat; and 7 retraps: 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Whitethroat, a Dunnock, a Wren and a Great Spotted Woodpecker.
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| Greenshank, 15th August 2025 Photo - Jeremy Eyeons |
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| Avocets, 14th August 2025 Photo - Paul Neale |
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| Black-tailed Godwit, 14th August 2025 Photo - Paul Neale |
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| Common Sandpiper, 14th August 2025 Photo - Paul Neale |
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| Spoonbill juvenile still begging for food, 14th August 2025 Photo - Paul Neale |
Early news involved a Redstart and Pied Flycatcher in the north end of West Dunes. 3 Whinchat were on the Freshwater Marsh and another 2 Whinchat were out from the Visitor Centre. 3 Crossbill flew south and another Pied Flycatcher was near the Sykes Farm entrance. A Wheatear was on the Fenland Lagoon hide roof, and a few Swift were moving South. Another Redstart was in Meads. Birds heading south included 9 Swift, 400+ Swallow and 100+ Sand Martin.
Around the reserve were 38 Willow Warblers, 12 Whitethroats, 5 Lesser Whitethroats, 2 Yellow Wagtails, 1 Green Woodpecker and 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers. Raptors were represented by 3 Marsh Harrier, 3 Red Kites, 4 Buzzards, 2 Peregrines, 2 Kestrels and a Merlin. Over the sea were 1 Gannet (North), 1 Black Tern (South) and 10 Common Scoter. On the beach were 400 Grey Plover, 220 Ringed Plover, 9 Whimbrel, 35 Curlew and a Turnstone.
On the water bodies were 5 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, 5 Greenshank, 4 Spotted Redshank, 50 Little Egret, 1 Great White Egret and 38 Spoonbill.
A Clouded Yellow Butterfly was on the East Dunes frontage during the morning.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes resulted in 10 new birds: 6 Willow Warbler, a Robin, 2 Whitethroat and a Dunnock; and 9 retraps: 6 Whitethroat, a Great Tit and 2 Dunnock.
Colour-ring sighting control: A Knot wearing colour-rings was observed and the ring read on the 10th August 2025 by Kev Wilson over the high tide on the beach. "SK04024" with an orange flag (with VHL in black on it), over a Green ring on the left leg was originally ringed on the 27th May 2021 as a 2nd year bird at Ainsdale beach, Merseyside as part of "The Orange-flagged Red Knot Project" by Peter Knight and Rose Maciewicz. It was then sighted three times, all locally in June, July and August in 2021 with the last sighting being back at Ainsdale Beach on the 10th August 2021. Then it disappeared for 4 years before having its ring read in the field at Gibraltar Point on the Millennium Ridge exactly four years later, some 4 years and 75 days after its original tagging making it five years old and likely to have travelled back and forth to breeding grounds in the Canadian Artic at least 4 times in-between. Many thanks to Nige Lound (Our colour-ring co-ordinator) for the swift return of data on this bird.
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| Record shot of a colour-ringed Knot sighted on the 10th August 2025 Photo - Kev Wilson |
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| Spotted Redshank, 14th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Greenshank, 14th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Little Egrets, 14th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Really pale Buzzard, 14th August 2025 Photo - Nigel Lound |
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| "You know that itch you can't get to?) - A Hare having a scratch, 14th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
Around the reserve today were 10 Whitethroat, 6 Lesser Whitethroat, 40+ Willow Warbler, 2 Reed Warbler, 1 Sedge Warbler, 2 Pied Flycatcher, 1 Redstart, 1 Treecreeper, 80 Goldfinch, 15 Linnet, 2 Marsh Harrier and 1 Peregrine.
On the water bodies were 7 Dunlin, 3 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Whimbrel, 7 Greenshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Common Sandpiper, 3 Green Sandpiper and 1 Great White Egret.
The high tide produced 290 Ringed Plover, 345 Bar-tailed Godwit, 24000 Knot, 9000 Dunlin, 8500 Sanderling, 4200 Oystercatcher, 1150 Grey Plover, 900 Sandwich Tern, 40 'Commic' Tern, 14 Little Tern and 1 Skua species (probably a Long-tailed Skua).
A morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 8 new birds: 2 Wren, a Willow Warbler, a Long-tailed Tit, a Linnet, 2 Whitethroat and a Pied Flycatcher; and 2 retrap Whitethroat.
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| Pied Flycatcher, 13th August 2025 Photo - George Gregory |
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| Whimbrel and Spoonbill, 13th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Greenshank and Avocet, 13th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Spotted Redshank and Dunlin, 13th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Green Sandpiper and Black-tailed Godwit, 13th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Shelduck, 13th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Whimbrel, 13th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Avocet, 13th August 2025 Photo - Paul Neale |
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| Juvenile Stonechat, 13th August 2025 Photo - Paul Neale |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker, 13th August 2025 Photo - Paul Neale |
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| House Martin, 13th August 2025 Photo - Paul Neale |
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| Swallow, 13th August 2025 Photo - Paul Neale |
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| Grey Seal, 13th August 2025 Photo - Paul Neale |
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| Wasp Spider, 13th August 2025 Photo - Kev Wilson |
On the water bodies around the reserve (mainly Tennyson's Sands and Jackson's Marsh), were 1 Turnstone, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 6 Dunlin, 3 Green Sandpiper, 1 Wood Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, 8 Greenshank, 2 Spotted Redshank, 36 Little Egret and 40 Spoonbill.
On the beach over the high tide were 3000 Oystercatcher, 150 Ringed Plover, 150 Grey Plover, 2 Turnstone, 20,000 Knot, 2500 Sanderling, 4000 Dunlin, 1 White Rumped Sandpiper (Reported rather late unfortunately) and a juvenile Caspian Gull. Also seen offshore were 6 Gannet, 28 Little Tern, 34 Common Tern and an Artic Skua.
A continued through put of Willow Warblers today, with fair numbers of Whitethroats and Lesser Whitethroats around, but no Sedge Warblers recorded on the census, indicating they may have mostly moved out. New arrivals were six Pied Flycatchers, two Spotted Flycatchers, two Redstarts, a Bullfinch and a Cuckoo. Also around were a Grey Heron, a Sparrowhawk, 2 Marsh Harrier, a Stonechat, a Green Woodpecker and over a 100 Swallows (south).
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 2 new Lesser Whitethroats; and 5 retraps: a Robin, a Dunnock, a Whitethroat and 2 Willow Warbler.
Colour-ring sighting control: A colour-ringed Redshank was on Tennyson's Sands this evening. White flag "CVV" on the left leg and orange ring on right leg was originally ringed at Frieston Marsh, The Wash, Lincolnshire on the 21st of September 2024. Today is the first re-sighting of the bird but presumably it has been to Iceland to breed in-between? Many thanks to Tom Baker for the sighting report and to Nigel Lound (Our colour-ring co-ordinator) for recovering the details so quickly
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| Colour ringed Redshank, 12th August 2025 Photo - Nigel Lound |
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| Pied Flycatcher, 12th August 2025 Photo - Kev Wilson |
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| Turnstone in amongst the Black-tailed Godwits, 12th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Spotted Redshank, 12th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Dunlin, 12th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Green Sandpiper (Left) & Wood Sandpiper (Right), 12th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Wood Sandpiper, 12th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Green Sandpiper, 12th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Spotted Flycatcher, 12th August 2025 Photo - Stuart Ainsworth |
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| Kestrel, 12th August 2025 Photo - Stuart Ainsworth |
Early news involved the Glossy Ibis which put in a three minute appearance on Jackson's Marsh in front of the hide at about 8.20am. It came in from the east, was seen only by three regular birders, and then went off to the south.
On the water bodies around the reserve were 1 Marsh Harrier, 131 Avocet, 35 Lapwing, 459 Black-tailed Godwit, 5 Dunlin, 3 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Ruff, 6 Greenshank, 63 Redshank, 2 Spotted Redshank, 2 Green Sandpiper, 1 Wood Sandpiper, 3 Common Sandpiper, 35 Little Egret, 3 Great White Egret and a record count of 45 Spoonbill.
Other birds around included a Wheatear around the Visitor Centre Car Park, a Stonechat and 3 Common Sandpiper in the river creek and a Barn Owl.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes resulted in 21 new birds: a Wren, 14 Willow Warbler, 4 Whitethroat, a Blackcap and a Kingfisher; and 5 retraps: 2 Willow Warbler, a Dunnock, a Long-tailed Tit and a Blue Tit.
Colour-ring sighting Control: A colour-ringed Sanderling was seen on the beach on the 10th August 2025 - (Lime ring over metal ring on left leg and lime over lime flag over yellow on the right leg) and the details are back on its life history. The bird was originally ringed on the Ebb of the Rive, Sanday, Orkney, Scotland on the 10th May 2024 by the Orkney Ringing Group. It was an adult bird at least 2 years old. Then it was then first seen at Gibraltar Point on the 19th August 2024 and then at Mablethorpe on the 18th November 2024 and on the 9th December 2024 until the latest sighting at Gibraltar Point. it is now 457 days since it was ringed and it is 712km from where it was ringed. Many thanks for the sighting report from Kevin Wilson and to Nigel Lound (our colour ring co-ordinator) for the recovery of the details.
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| Colour ringed Sanderling, 10th August 2025 Photo - Kev Wilson |
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| Glossy Ibis, 11th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Glossy Ibis, 11th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Kingfisher, ringed 11 August 2025. Photo - George Gregory |
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| Wheatear, 11th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Wood Sandpiper, 11th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Spotted Redshank, 11th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Migrant Hawker, 11th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Ruddy Darter, 11th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Small Red-eyed Damselflies, 11th August 2025 Photo - Tom Baker |
