September 20th. Mostly clear, with increasing south-westerly wind.
Flying north-west out of the Wash early morning were 800 Pink-footed Geese. Overland migration nvolved some good size flocks of Meadow Pipit and Linnet, with a few Hirundines, more Reed Buntings, a hint of early Skylark movenent and a Jay. A good day for birds of prey ncluded 5 Marsh Harrier, 2 Red Kite and 2 Buzzard passing through, a Merlin around the beach and a mobile ringtail Hen Harrier. In th dunes, one or two Spotted Flycatchsers and a Wheatear were seen.
Offshore watches in the morning and evening produced good numbers of Common and Sandwich Tern again, with Gannets, Red-throated Divers and some Auks, a Long-tailed Skua, 2 Bonxie, 22 Arctic Skua, a Manx Shearwater, 2 Little Gull and a Red-bresated Merganser.
A wind-shortened morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 8 new birds: 3 Chiffchaff, a Cetti's Warbler, a Meadow Pipit, 2 Robin and a Dunnock; and 2 retraps: a Robin and a Dunnock.
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| Spotted Flycatcher, 20th September 2026 Photo - Nige Lound |
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| Cetti's Warbler, ringed 20 September 2026. Photo - George Gregory |
Attention mostly focused on the sea today with watches from 0700-1100hrs and again from 1730-1900hrs. The year's highest total of over 160 Gannets was recorded so far and a high total of 19 Black Terns. A summary of other highlights as follows: Long-tailed Skua, 2 Pomarine Skua, 2 Great Skuas, 18 Arctic Skua, 33 Red-throated Diver, a Puffin, a Little Gull, a Fulmar, 2000 Common Tern, 290 'Commic' Tern, 780 Sandwich Tern and an Osprey low, south over the sea.
Ringing Control: Whitethroat, ringed GPBO 21 June 2026, controlled Lieu-Dieu, Jard-sur-Mer, Vendee, France 22 August 2026.
September 18th. Generally partly cloudy, with increasing south-westerly wind.
Flying north-west out the Wash early morning were 800 Pink-footed Geese and a Spoonbill. Early morning migration was dominated by Meadow Pipits with Swallows, House Martins, Alba Wagtails, some Chaffinches and increasing numbers of Reed Buntings and Linnets now involved in the daily movements. Highlights were a Hobby, Tree Pipit, 2 Grey Wagtail, 3 Yellow Wagtail, 2 House Sparrow, Spotted Redshank and 2 Kingfishers.
A wind-shortened morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 3 new birds: a Chiffchaff, a Reed Bunting and a Great Spotted Woodpecker; and a retrap Robin.
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| Kingfisher with food, 18th September 2026 Photo - Mike Watts |
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| Kingfisher on Fenland Lagoon, 18th September 2026 Photo - Mike Watts |
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| Kingfisher enjoying the sun, 18th September 2026 Photo - Mike Watts |
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| Common Darter Dragonfly, 18th September 2026 Photo - Mike Watts |
Sea-watching for an hour at each end of the day produced a Great Northern Diver, 17 Red-throated Divers, 11 Arctic Skuas, 3 Brent Geese, 2 Pintail and various Teal, Gannets, Sandwich and Common Terns with a single Fulmar heading north.
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| Avocet, 17th September 2026. Photo - David Nutt |
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| Avocet, 17th September 2026. Photo - David Nutt |
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| Ringed Plover, 17th September 2026. Photo - David Nutt |
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| Spoonbills, 17th September 2026. Photo - David Nutt |
Flying north-west were 550 Pink-footed Geese; and south-east 60 more Pink-footed Geese. A light passage of Meadow Pipits was recorded over the East Dunes (between 0645 and 0845hrs) with 2 Tree Pipits, 5 Tree Sparrows and 3 House Sparrows among small numbers of other migrants. An incomplete count of the wader roost resulted in 3300 Bar-tailed Godwit, 8000 Oystercatcher and at least 50,000 Knot. Offshore, a Black Tern went north and 7 Red-throated Divers and 5 Arctic Skuas went south.
Still quite a few butterflies on the wing including several Painted Ladies and a Clouded Yellow.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes resulted in 22 new birds: 2 Blackcap, 4 Reed Bunting, 2 Robin, 9 Blue Tit, a Great Tit and 4 Great Spotted Woodpecker; and 3 retrap: a Robin, a Dunnock and a Blue Tit.
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| Clouded Yellow, 16th September 2026. Photo - Caroline Sedgley |
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| Painted Lady, 16th September 2026. Photo - Caroline Sedgley |
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| Noisy young male Great Spotted Woodpecker, ringed 16 September 2026. Photo - George Gregory |
Another very intense vis mig session between 0645 and 0945 hrs when 4350 House Martins, 2450 Swallows and 990 Meadow Pipits flew south. Also involved in the movement were Sand Martins, Reed Buntings, Linnets, Golden Plovers, 2 Marsh Harriers and 2 Swifts. Flying north-west in several skeins were 180 Pink-footed Geese. At sea, groups of Teal were passing south with some Wigeon and Shoveler, Sandwich Terns, Common Terns, 8 Arctic Skua, 6 Red-throated Diver, a Little Tern, a Black Tern, a Puffin and a Black-throated Diver. In the dunes, single Spotted Flycatcher, Whinchat and Wheatear were seen.
A wind-shortened morning ringing session at Aylmer Avenue provided 2 new birds: a Chiffchaff and a Great Spotted Woodpecker; and 4 retraps: a Wren, a Chiffchaff, a Blackcap and a Dunnock.
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| Noisy young female Great Spotted Woodpecker, ringed 15 September 2026. Photo- George Gregory |
Flying north-west out of a New Saltmarsh roost were 45 Pink-footed Geese in what started as a fairly slow morning but this soon gave way to a very intense migration. Principal species involved with counts were 3780 Swallow, 3040 Meadow Pipit and 2740 House Martin between 0730 and 1030hrs. Other species involved in the movement were; Sand Martins, Crows, Rooks, Yellow Wagtails, Chaffinches, Starlings, Reed Buntings and Linnets with 8 Grey Wagtails, 27 Snipe, 12 Rock Pipits, 6 Tree Sparrow, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 3 Siskin, a Raven, 3 Buzzards, a Red Kite, 2 Marsh Harriers, 2 Kestrels, a Hobby and a Falcon sp.
Other highlights were a Glossy Ibis that appeared to come off Jackson's Marsh and fly south mid afternoon and a Long-eared Owl that was flushed from scrub in the evening.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 8 new birds: a Chiffchaff, 2 Chaffinch, 2 Reed Bunting, a Blackcap and 2 Blue Tit; and a retrap Dunnock.
A morning ringing session at Aylmer Avenue by Dave Vincent produced 12 new birds: 2 Chiffchaff, a Wren, a Blackcap, 2 Blue Tit, 3 Swallow, a Greenfinch, a Dunnock and a Great Spotted Woodpecker; and 9 retraps: a Robin, a Dunnock, a Wren, 2 Blue Tit and 4 Long-tailed Tit.
September 13th. Cloudy, with brief light early morning rain then prolonged heavier late morning rain, and light variable wind.
The main themes of the day were high tides and waders with the monthly WeBS count hampered by poor weather to some extent but still recording over 100,000 waders. These were made up of 11400 Oystercatcher, 2750 Grey Plover, 206 Curlew, 7870 Bar-tailed Godwit, 80,000 Knot, 3700 Sanderling and 7420 Dunlin.
Also around the sea and shore were 4 Black Terns, 8 Arctic Skuas, 2 Little Stint, a Little Tern, 60 Common Scoter, and a Spotted Redshank. Visible migration was reduced to a light passage of Meadow Pipits, with a few Reed Buntings, a Marsh Harrier and a Hobby. A Short-eared Owl was over the Old Saltmarsh.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes yielded 8 new birds: 2 Chiffchaff, a Willow Warbler, a Wren, 2 Robin and 2 Reed Bunting; and a retrap Robin.
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| The ever changing shape of the foreshore east of the East Dunes. 10th September 2026, Photo - David Nutt |
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| Spoonbill on Tennyson's Sands, 10th September 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
A very busy morning for visible migration counted between 0645 and 0915hrs with House Martins being the most prominent feature. There was a massive feeding flock of up to 900 over the West Dunes whilst 2550 went south over the East Dunes, beach and sea, with 980 Swallows and 1300 Meadow Pipits.
Other birds involved in the movement were 6 Pintail, 3 Grey Heron, Reed Buntings, Sand Martins, Linnets, Starlings, Rooks, Snipe, Alba Wagtails, 5 Swifts, 4 Grey Wagtails and the first 3 Rock Pipits of the autumn. Several small flocks of Pink-footed Geese were mobile around the area and there was another big wader roost - just one Little Stint picked out amongst the many Dunlin. Also involved in the roost were 4500 Oystercatcher, 3000 Grey Plover, 40 Ringed Plover, 120 Curlew, 2500 Bar-tailed Godwit, 5 Turnstone, 50,000 Knot, 100 Sanderling and 1200 Dunlin.
On the water bodies around the reserve, there were 34 Pink-footed Geese, 49 Shoveler, 1 Gadwall, 8 Wigeon, 60 Mallard, 33 Teal, 17 Avocet, 250 Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Common Sandpiper, 15 Redshank, 7 Spotted Redshank, 11 Greenshank, 19 Spoonbill and 6 Little Egret.
The wader roost is best viewed from the viewpoints at Mill Hill or at the end of the path out from the Visitor Centre Car Park. The roosting waders are very sensitive to disturbance so please avoid the beach/foreshore area until the birds have dispersed late morning - thank you.
A wind-shortened morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 6 new birds: a Chiffchaff, 4 Robin and a Blackcap.
A morning ringing session at Aylmer Avenue by Dave Vincent provided 12 new birds: 2 Chiffchaff, a Willow Warbler, a Wren, a Great Tit, 2 Blue Tit, 2 Blackcap, 2 Swallow and a Sparrowhawk; and 3 retraps: a Robin, a Blue Tit and a Long-tailed Tit.
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| Distant Little Stint with Dunlin on the foreshore, 12th September 2026 Photo - Jason Virgin |
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| Male Sparrowhawk, ringed 12 September 2026. Photo - Dave Vincent |
Another good movement of Meadow Pipits with Swallows and House Martins, a few Yellow Wagtails, 3 Grey Wagtails, 2 Tree Sparrows and 2 Jays early morning. A Raven was circling high up with 4 Buzzards later - the Buzzards probably migrants.
Offshore a Pomarine Skua passed south, more Teal were passing south and some small skeins of Pink-footed Geese. A morning flight of 150 Mallard off Greenshanks Creek showed a significant increase of that species. Single Caspian Gull and Yellow-legged Gull were picked out in the gull roost, while 2 Curlew Sandpipers were picked out in the roost of 90,000 waders but there could have been many more of course. Elsewhere, migrants included 3 Wheatear and single Redstart and Pied Flycatcher.
On the water bodies, there were 25 Pink-footed Geese, 25 Shoveler, 2 Gadwall, 6 Wigeon, 21 Teal, 2 Little Grebe, 27 Avocet, 350 Black-tailed Godwit, 7 Spotted Redshank, 14 Greenshank, 21 Spoonbill and 19 Little Egret.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 5 new birds: a Willow Warbler, a Robin, a Reed Bunting, a Dunnock and a Sparrowhawk; and a retrap Cetti's Warbler. The Cetti's Warbler had been ringed here as a juvenile on July 24th.
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| Sun Rise, 11th September 2026 Photo - Nige Lound |
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| Newly arrived Pink-footed Geese, 11th September 2026 Photo - Nige Lound |
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| Wheatears, 11th September 2026 Photo - Nige Lound |
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| Young female Sparrowhawk, ringed 11 September 2026. Photo - George Gregory |
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