July 27th. Clear and sunny start, then cloudy in afternoon, with moderate westerly wind.
A generally quieter day than recent days but a noticeable arrival of Willow Warblers in the East Dunes providing the years highest count of that species - 25 (including 2 trapped). The juvenile Cuckoo was also still around the East Dunes. Another Curlew Sandpiper passed south with a Dunlin flock and Spoonbills had increased to 32 on the lagoons.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 5 new birds: 1 Wren, 2 Willow Warbler and 2 Sedge Warbler; and a retrap Song Thrush.
The ninth session of CES was done this morning by James Siddle and Ian Thompson. The 9 new birds were 7 Whitethroat and 2 Blackcap; and the 4 retraps were a Whitethroat, a Dunnock, a Wren and a Chiffchaff.
July 26th. Fairly sunny and warm from early on with a strengthening westerly breeze.
Activity offshore and around the foreshore continues to be intense with gulls and terns in a feeding flock of over 2000 birds and various roosts along the beach. Five Arctic Skuas included 3 south and two chasing terns close in.
Many Redshank, Curlew and Black-tailed Godwit were feeding along Greenshanks Creek with other mixed wader flocks arriving from the north, including one party of Dunlin with a Curlew Sandpiper mixed in. Sand Martins and Swallows continued to move south during the watch (0600-0900hrs) but the movement of over 1000 Swifts occurred prior to 0800hrs.
Elsewhere on the water bodies there were 3 Spotted Redshank, 4 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, 5 Snipe, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Knot, 2 Common Tern, 2 Great White Egrets and 18 Spoonbill.
Another movement of Swifts in the evening saw 710 move south but most effort was concentrated on counting the small waders leaving the evening tide roost - at least 5200 Sanderling.
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| Spotted Redshank, 26th July 2026 Photo - Jack Hood |
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| Snipe, 26th July 2026 Photo - Jack Hood |
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| Young Avocet, 26th July 2026 Photo - Jack Hood |
Another day of high variety and high numbers, particularly gulls, terns and waders with a substantial roost on the beach, large feeding flock offshore and southerly migration of hirundines. A Quail was calling from the Freshwater Marsh early morning and a Cattle Egret was mobile.
Amongst the gulls and terns were 12 Arctic Terns, 2 Little Gulls, 11 Mediterranean Gulls (including 6 juveniles) and 3 juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls. Around the dunes, at least 3 Green Woodpeckers had arrived. In the evening a southerly passage of over 1200 Swifts was underway prior to a brief rain shower.
Elsewhere around the water bodies, there were 8 Little Grebe, 81 Avocet, 3 Little Ringed Plover, 34 Lapwing, 200 Black-tailed Godwits, 4 Snipe, 2 Common Sandpiper, 3 Green Sandpiper, 1 Little Gull, 1 Mediterranean Gull, 7 Cormorant, 23 Spoonbill and 1 Great White Egret.
A good selection of Dragonflies included 5 Southern Migrant Hawkers and a Southern Hawker. A small number of Humming-bird Hawk Moths are now being seen daily.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes resulted in 6 new birds: a Willow Warbler, a Linnet, 2 Robin, a Whitethroat and a Cuckoo.
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| 23 Spoonbills on Tennyson's Sands, 25th July 2026 Photo - Nige Lound |
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| Adult Mediterranean Gull, 25th July 2026 Photo - Nige Lound |
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| Green Woodpecker juvenile, 25th July 2026 Photo - Nige Lound |
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| Sunrise over Field 10, 25th July 2026 Photo - Nige Lound |
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| Juvenile Cuckoo, ringed 25 July 2026. Photo - George Gregory |
Much as yesterday, the day commenced with a steady passage of Sand Martins and Swallows with lower numbers of Swifts and a few Yellow Wagtails. Highlight of the day was a Cetti's Warbler trapped and ringed at the Observatory.
A Cattle Egret also flew south and new waders were arriving close inshore: Sanderling, Dunlin, Knot, Black-tailed Godwits and Whimbrels. Over 1700 Sandwich Terns were variously roosting and feeding, an Arctic Skua went north and at least 5000 Black-headed Gulls and 600 Common Gulls went to roost on the Haven in the evening.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 4 new birds: a Wren, a Blackcap, a Sedge Warbler and a Cetti's Warbler; and a retrap Robin.
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| Roesel's Bush Cricket - an unusually green variant of this recently colonised species, 24th July 2026. Photo - Sam Wilson |
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| Cetti's Warbler, ringed 24 July 2026. Photo - George Gregory |
A good day for counting common birds around part of the census area with good numbers of Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler and Chiffchaff recorded amongst others.
However this left little time for a migration watch out east where it was apparent that Sand Martins and Swallows were moving south down the beach with a few Swifts and Yellow Wagtails. Waders arriving into the Wash included 90 Knot, 100 Whimbrel and 56 Oystercatcher, whilst offshore over 400 Common Scoter and an Arctic Skua went north.
Other birds around included 6 Green Sandpiper, a Spotted Redshank, a Grasshopper Warbler and a Collared Dove.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 13 new birds: 2 Wren, 2 Willow Warbler, a Blackcap, a Sedge Warbler, a Robin, 3 Reed Bunting, 2 Whitethroat and a Blue Tit; and 6 retraps: a Great Tit, 2 Dunnock and 3 Whitethroat.
On the reserve, due to lack of rainfall, Elders are severely stressed, with many withered leaves. Smaller Hawthorns and Blackthorns, and Privets are mildly stressed, with leaves starting to droop. Larger Hawthorns and Blackthorns, with deeper roots, and Sea Buckthorns are still coping well, at present.
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| Severely stressed Elder, 23 July 2026. Photo - George Gregory |
On the sea were 7 Gannet, 3 Artic Skua and 550 Sandwich Tern were about feeding at sea whilst around the visitor centre at 8.30am, there were 120 Swallows.
The water bodies around the reserve were home to 494 Black-tailed Godwits, 40 Avocet, 4 Common Sandpiper, 7 Green Sandpiper, 1 Spotted Redshank, 3 Snipe, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Water Rail, 2 Common Tern, 10 Cormorants, 2 Great White Egrets and 7 Spoonbills.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes yielded 7 new birds: a Willow Warbler, a Whitethroat, 3 Reed Bunting and 2 Dunnock; and a retrap Dunnock.
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| Spoonbills with Great White Egret, 21st July 2026 Photo - Jeremy Eyeons |
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| Avocets, 21st July 2026 Photo - Jeremy Eyeons |
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| Green Sandpiper, 21st July 2026 Photo - Jeremy Eyeons |
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| Meadow Pipit, 21st July 2026 Photo - Jeremy Eyeons |
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| Gatekeeper Butterfly, 21st July 2026 Photo - Jeremy Eyeons |
On the water bodies were 2 Common Sandpiper, 4 Green Sandpiper, 2 Spotted Redshank, 1 Snipe, 2 Water Rail, 1 Little Gull, 1 Great White Egret and 15 Spoonbill.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 15 new birds: 2 Chiffchaff, a Willow Warbler, a Wren, 2 Long-tailed Tit, a Sedge Warbler, 7 Whitethroat and a Dunnock; and 11 retraps: a Dunnock, 3 Whitethroat and 7 Long-tailed Tit.
A check of a nest box revealed 3 Barn Owl chicks.
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| Barn Owl chick, Ringed 21st July 2026. Photo - George Gregory |
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| Water Rail on Tennyson's Sands, 21st July 2026 Photo - Jack Hood |
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| Sand Wasp, 21st July 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Square-headed Wasp, 21st July 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Bee Wolf, 21st July 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Dune Robber Fly, 21st July 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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