October 17th. Partly cloudy, cold, with increasing north-westerly then north-easterly wind.
A light arrival of Redwings and Bramblings from first thing. Flying south were 35 Whooper Swans, 5 Jays and small numbers of Finches, Pipits and Larks. Sea-watching was frustrating in strong sun and most birds were distant this morning, intermitent drizzle then delayed further observations until early afternoon when visibility improved. Very good numbers of Gannets were moving out of the Wash with fair numbers of Auks, Common Scoter and Red-throated Diver. A good range of birds were recorded offshore with some scarce species. Day totals follow; Goosander 8, Skua sp 15, Arctic Skua 12, Long-tailed Skua 2, Sandwich Tern 6, Arctic Tern 2, Commic Tern 1, Kittiwake 105, Little Gull 17, Sooty Shearwater 10 and Manx Shearwater 1. A Short-eared Owl, several Skylarks, Redwings and a Redpoll came in off the sea.
A wind-shortened morning ringing session in East Dunes yielded 11 new birds: a Wren, a Chaffinch, 3 Redwing, a Song Thrush and 5 Blackbird; and a retrap Song Thrush.
October 16th. Partly cloudy, with early morning rain and moderate south-westerly then north-westerly wind.
The early morning rain compromised recording potential but did drop some thrushes in and passage commenced when rain ceased later. Vis mig highlights between 0830 and 0930hrs were a Yellowhammer and a Snow Bunting, along with several Bramblings and 5 Jays. Moderate coverage of the dunes indicated a modest arrival of Robins and Goldcrests along with 2 Ring Ouzels and a Jack Snipe. 3 Short-eared Owls were hunting late afternoon.
October 15th. Mostly cloudy, with increasing southerly then south-westerly wind.
Very light visible migration on this morning's 2 hour watch with Rock Pipits dominating at 135 heading south, but after yesterday's lack of Hirundines, 9 each of House Martin and Swallow passed through this morning. A Lapland Bunting was apparently flushed off the marsh by a Sparrowhawk which pursued it for a while - the Lap still calling as it made its escape! Other raptors were single Peregrine and Merlin around the beach/heading south and a Marsh Harrier that arrived off the sea. Although it wasn't a scheduled wader count day, good numbers of the regular species arrived at roost including 52000 Knot that arrived over 10 minutes.
A wind-shortened morning ringing session at Aylmer Avenue provided 3 new birds: a Goldcrest, a Great Tit and a Blackbird; and 7 retraps: a Wren, a Dunnock, 3 Long-tailed Tit, a Robin and a Blackbird.
October 14th. Mostly clear morning, cloudier in afternoon, with increasing south-westerly wind.
A much busier morning for visible migration with many flocks of Woodpigeon, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Linnet and Skylark, Rock and Meadow Pipits and Reed Buntings, with smaller numbers of Redpoll, Siskin and Greenfinch, a couple of House Sparrows and 11 Jays (including 1 trapped and ringed).
Offshore, a good variety of species again, but the highlights were a flock of 6 redhead Goosander that paused for while on the beach at Greenshanks Creek before heading south, and a Manx Shearwater north.
Pipits were still moving south and heading to roost in the late afternoon during a quick recce of Rock Ridge where a Wheatear and 4 Stonechats were present and a Woodlark flew over. A shame that this hotspot for migrants gets recorded so infrequently.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 13 new birds: a Blackcap, a Robin, 2 Reed Bunting, a Meadow Pipit, a Great Tit, a Dunnock, 3 Song Thrush, a Blackbird, a Kestrel and a Jay; and 3 retraps: a Redwing and 2 Dunnock.
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| Goosanders, 14th October 2026 Photo - Nige Lound |
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| Redshank, 14th October 2026 Photo - Jack Hood |
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| Grey Plover, 14th October 2026 Photo - Ste Taylor |
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| Kestrel, ringed 14 October 2026. Photo - George Gregory |
A lighter passage overland and sea this morning but still over 150 Rock Pipits heading south in two hours along with a Lapland Bunting.
Another high tide this morning brought masses of waders from the Wash, up to Greenshanks Creek and back again afterwards. Whooper Swans in small groups were again on the move heading south over the sea and there was a further increase of Wigeon around Greenshank's Creek and the River Steeping Haven.
Moth trapping overnight resulted in over 300 moths caught which is a great number for mid October! Included in these was a "Brindled Green", which was new for the year and only the 2nd reserve record ever.
A wind-shortened morning ringing session at Aylmer Avenue resulted in 6 new birds: a Blue Tit, a Great Tit, a Brambling, a Song Thrush and 2 Blackbird; and 4 retraps: 2 Robin, a Blue Tit and a Long-tailed Tit.
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| Waders en-masse on the move, 13th October 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Waders on the move, 13th October 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Waders heading back to the Estuary, 13th October 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Whooper Swans heading towards the Estuary, 13th October 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Oystercatchers heading back to the Estuary, 13th October 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Brindled Green Moth - 2nd reserve record ever! 13th October 2026 Photo - Nige Lound |
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| Brambling, ringed 13th October 2026 Photo - George Gregory |
The Yellow-browed Warbler was still around North Building this morning. Sea-watching between 0715 and 0845hrs produced a Sooty Shearwater, a Pomarine Skua and a Black-throated Diver north and a Great Skua and a Little Gull south. Good numbers of Gannet, Common Scoter and Red-throated Diver were also recorded with some arriving flocks of Wigeon. Overland passage was fairly light but the numbers of roosting waders was high again.
Also around today were 150 Teal (Tennyson's Sands), 800 Golden Plover (Distantly inland from the reserve), 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Brambling, 3 Stonechat, 1 Water Pipit, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Merlin, 4 Marsh Harrier and 3 Chiffchaff. 24 grounded Buzzards settled in the adjacent field was a most unusual sight.
A wind-shortened morning ringing session in East Dunes provided a new Blackbird; and 5 retraps: 2 Robin, a Song Thrush, a Redwing and a Great Tit.
October 11th. Mostly clear, with light westerly wind.
An Asio sp flew over East Dunes before dawn. The main focus of the morning was the monthly WeBS count - with two counters in place at dawn to record numbers of the principal 8 species of wader, totalling well over 120,000 birds again. These included 9200 Oystercatcher, 3000 Grey Plover, 8000 Bar-tailed Godwit, 90,000 Knot, 700 Sanderling and 5000 Dunlin. A noticeable arrival of Wigeon involved over 500, with 22 Pintail.
It was difficult to also keep track of visible migration with hundreds of Passerines heading south: Skylarks, Linnets and Reed Buntings particularly well represented today. 103 Whooper Swans, 9 Jays, 12 Buzzards, a Hawfinch and a Raven also went south. There was an increase of Robins and Blackbirds with small numbers of Song Thrush and Redwing.
Other birds around were Ring Ouzel, Yellow-browed Warbler (North Building), Jack Snipe, Lapland Bunting, Kingfisher, Peregrine, 2 Merlin, 10 Stonechat and a Great White Egret.
At least 3 Clouded Yellows were around.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 20 new birds: 2 Chiffchaff, 3 Long-tailed Tit, a Robin, 2 Reed Bunting, a Great Tit, 3 Blue Tit, a Linnet, 5 Song Thrush, a Redwing and a Woodpigeon; and 3 retraps: a Song Thrush, a Robin and a Wren.
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| Ring Ouzel, 11th October 2026 Photo - Kev Wilson |
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| Stonechat, 11th October 2026 Photo - Tony Foster |
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| Stonechat, 11th October 2026 Photo - Jack Hood |
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| Waders over the high tide, 11th October 2026 Photo - Mike Watts |
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| Great White Egret, 11th October 2026 Photo - Tony Foster |
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| Preening Little Egret, 11th October 2026 Photo - Mike Watts |
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| Clouded Yellow Butterfly, 11th October 2026 Photo - Tony Foster |
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| Autumnal Colours on the Saltmarsh, 11th October 2026 Photo - Tony Foster |
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