June 27th. Another warm and dry morning, slightly overcast and with a light south-east wind. Conditions were perfect for scanning the sea and shore where a feeding flock involved over 1000 Gulls with 200 Sandwich Terns, the first returning Common Terns (6), an Arctic Tern and 2 Manx Shearwaters. Waders arriving from the north included 35 Black-tailed Godwits, 30 Grey Plover, 5 Dunlin and 35 Curlew. 30 Starling, 200 Swift, 85 Sand Martins, a Green Sandpiper and 2 Yellow Wagtails flew south. Around were 2 Cuckoo, a Greenshank and a Whimbrel.
A brief recce over Tennyson's Sands produced; c220 Back-tailed Godwits, 80 Redshank, 3 Spotted Redshank, 3 Greenshank, 4 Green Sandpiper and Little Gull.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes resulted in 14 new birds: 8 Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, a Reed Warbler, a Robin, a Swallow and a Dunnock; and 5 retraps: 4 Whitethroat and a Dunnock.
June 26th. A broken cloud start to the day quickly turning into hot baking sunshine bringing temperatures to the highest for the year here so far in the low thirties. The small amount of breeze was variable bit eventually ending up southerly.
Early news concerned 7 Green Sandpipers and 4 summer plumaged Spotted Redshanks on Tennyson's Sands. From Harvey's Hide there were 8 Spoonbills, 3 Little Ringed Plovers, a Great White Egret and a pair of Little Terns fishing briefly. 220 Sandwich Terns were commuting between the beach and the feeding flock offshore. 4 Red Kites flew south together. Around were 2 Cuckoo, 30 Swallow and 20 Sand Martin.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 17 new birds: a Chiffchaff, a Wren, 5 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Linnet, 5 Whitethroat, a Blue Tit, a Great Tit and a Great Spotted Woodpecker; and 19 retraps: 4 Whitethroat, 3 Dunnock, a Blue Tit, 2 Great Tit and 9 Long-tailed Tit.
Overnight moth-trapping produced an excellent varieity and abundance of moths. Six-beleted Clearwing was a first for the Reserve.
June 25th. Wall to wall sunshine again all day from dawn to dusk with temperatures up in the mid to high twenties again despite a light onshore easterly breeze.
Plenty of bird activity in the dunes early morning but not much on the move except three Spoonbills headed out across the Wash and unusually, a Turtle Dove flying south. It was too hazy for sea-watching but a small increase in the local Eider flock to 15 was notable and an increase of Sandwich Terns with 40 on the sand bar, 70 on the beach and another 80 in a feeding flock offshore.
A hunting Peregrine was heavily mobbed by Little Terns in the Shorebird Sanctuary, forcing it to drift off south. A Ruff was new in on the lagoons where there was a Great White Egret, Spoonbills had increased to 10 and Spotted Redshank had increased to 2.
Along the cycle track near the entrance to Harvey's Hide, there were 15 White-letter Hairstreaks feeding. A good number of Painted Ladies were recorded again.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 5 new birds: a Goldfinch, 2 Whitethroat, a Blue Tit and a Dunnock; and a retrap Dunnock.
June 24th. Another really hot day with constant sunshine from dawn till dusk, the temperatures being held off somewhat in the mid twenties by a moderate north-easterly wind.
Most unusual was a Spotted Redshank heard in song overnight whilst on the water bodies were 40 Redshank, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Little Gull, 9 Spoonbill and 1 Grey Heron. Around was a Cuckoo.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 13 new birds: 3 Wren, 3 Long-tailed Tit, a Robin, 3 Whitethroat, a Blue Tit and 2 Dunnock; and 6 retraps: 2 Great Tit, a Robin and 2 Long-tailed Tit.
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| x9 Spoonbills, 24th June 2026 Photo - Jack Hood |
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| Lesser Whitethroat, 25th June 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Azure Damselflies mating, 24th June 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Black-tailed Skimmer Dragonfly, 24th June 2026 Photo - Jack Hood |
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| Red-veined Darter Dragonfly, 24th June 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Common Blue Butterfly, 24th June 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Large Skipper Butterfly, 24th June 2026 Photo - Jack Hood |
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| Cinnabar Moth Caterpillar, 24th June 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
Around the water bodies were 28 Redshank, 1 Spotted Redshank, 1 Greenshank, 2 Oystercatcher, 68 Avocets, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Ringed Plover, 1 Little Gull, 2 Mediterranean Gulls, 2 Grey Heron and 6 Spoonbill.
Around the reserve were a a Grasshopper Warbler, a Cetti's Warbler, a Grey Wagtail (South), a Cuckoo and a Barn Owl.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes yielded a new Blackcap; and 3 retraps: 2 Chiffchaff and a Dunnock.
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| x2 Mediterranean Gulls, 23rd June 2026 Photo - Jack Hood |
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| Squabbling juvenile Grey Herons, 23rd June 2026 Photo - Jack Hood |
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| x6 Spoonbill, 23rd June 2026 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Ruddy Darter Dragonfly, 23rd June 2026 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Hummingbird hawk-moth, 23rd June 2026 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| A Ground Crab Spider (Xysticus genus), a spider family that do not spin webs, instead laying in wait to ambush an unsuspecting prey, 23rd June 2026 Photo - Tom Baker |
On the water bodies around the reserve were 10 Redshank, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 4 Spoonbill and 2 Grey Herons (Juveniles). Elsewhere there were 8 Curlew and a Sparrowhawk.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 4 new birds: a Sedge Warbler, a Robin, a Whitethroat and a Dunnock; and 4 retraps: 2 Dunnock, a Robin and a Whitethroat.
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| x2 Grey Heron juveniles, 23rd June 2026 Photo - Jack Hood |
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| Reed Bunting male, 22nd June 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Comma Butterfly, 22nd June 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Essex Skipper with Hummingbird Hawkmoth (top left), 22nd June 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Hummingbird hawk-moth, 22nd June 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Hummingbird hawk-moth, 22nd June 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Large White Butterfly, 22nd June 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
On the water bodies were 6 Redshank, 4 Spoonbill, 2 Great White Egret and the regular Little Gull.
Around were 3 Cuckoo, a Grasshopper Warbler, 8 Whitethroat and a Cetti's Warbler
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 9 new birds: a Chiffchaff, 2 Long-tailed Tit, a Wren, a Whitethroat, 2 Robin and 2 Blue Tit; and 3 retraps: a Great Tit, a Chiffchaff and a Whitethroat.
The sixth session of CES was done this morning by Dave Vincent. The 20 new birds were 3 Wren, 2 Chiffchaff, a Robin, a Lesser Whitethroat, 6 Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, a Great Tit, a Goldfinch, a Dunnock, a Blackbird and a Great Spotted Woodpecker; and the 7 retraps were 3 Chiffchaff, a Wren, a Long-tailed Tit, a Whitethroat and a Dunnock.
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