June 18th. A much warmer day (mid 20s) with broken sunshine throughout not being cooled down by a light to moderate south-westerly wind.
On the move today were 300 Swift, 120 Starling, 8 Curlew, 17 Sand Martin, 5 Swallow, 3 House Martin and a Crossbill. A further 2 Crossbills were around the pines. Other birds recorded included a Peregrine, a Grasshopper Warbler and 2 Cuckoo.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 23 new birds: 7 Long-tailed Tit, 4 Chiffchaff, a Robin, 2 Blackcap, 3 Great Tit, 3 Whitethroat, a Meadow Pipit, a Dunnock and a Magpie; and 9 retraps: 3 Whitethroat, 3 Great Tit, a Chiffchaff, a Long-tailed Tit and a Dunnock.
June 17th. A wet start to the day with light rain for much of the morning, the cloud then breaking somewhat with a moderate south-westerly blowing through the day warming the temperature to around 20 degrees.
About 25 Swifts flew south.
June 16th. A more cloudy day with occasional sunny breaks with a light easterly blowing throughout.
A good day for birds of prey with a Honey Buzzard drifting high south late morning, a ringtail Montagu's Harrier pausing to hunt the New Saltmarsh before moving south early evening and a Short-eared Owl.
Sea-watching in the easterly wind resulted in 6 Eider, 50 Common Scoter, 10 Sandwich Tern, 1 Kittiwake (North), 1 Fulmar (North), 6 Manx Shearwater (North) and 48 Gannet. On the beach were 30 Ringed Plover, 60 Bar-tailed Godwit, 4 Turnstone and an adult Little Stint over the high tide with a group of Dunlin.
Elsewhere around the reserve were 1 Spoonbill, 1 Grasshopper Warbler and 2 Cuckoo.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes yielded 6 new birds: 2 Chiffchaff, a Chaffinch, 2 Great Tit and a Dunnock; and 3 retraps: 2 Whitethroat and a Great Tit.
June 15th. Another fine sunny start to the day quickly clouding over with the cool northerly wind switching around to an easterly by late afternoon.
The fine weather provided a great opportunity for getting around the census area, counting common birds, with many family parties of Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits, Blackcaps, Whitethroats, Dunnock and Robins etc active. Lesser Whitethroats had been quiet during the latter part of spring, but several singing birds and others feeding young are now apparent. Cuckoos are also more in evidence this week, with 4 again this morning. Dispersal from other local sites has brought a small number of Coal Tits to the Reserve with one of today's birds in song. A late Firecrest was also around.
Totals from the water bodies were 12 Gadwall, 1 Pintail, 6 Teal, 25 Tufted Duck, 11 Little Grebe, 79 Avocet, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 14 Lapwing, 77 Black-tailed Godwit, 7 Redshank, 1 Little Gull (Tennyson's Sands still) and 1 Spoonbill.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 7 new birds: a Chiffchaff, a Great Tit, a Robin, a Blackcap, a Whitethroat and 2 Meadow Pipit; and 7 retraps: 3 Dunnock, a Linnet, 2 Reed Bunting and a Whitethroat.
June 14th. Another sunny start to the day quickly clouding over to some extent with the westerly wind moving around to a northerly by lunchtime.
A morning sea watch resulted in 47 Little Tern, 10 Sandwich Tern, 2 Razorbill (North), 4 Auk species (North) and 3 Gannet.
A Serin was vocal around private gardens early morning but disappeared and could not be relocated near to the Reserve entrance. Two Crossbills were still present. A Green Sandpiper was a new arrival on Tennyson's Sands. Other highlights today included, around the reserves water bodies, 2 Spoonbill, 1 Great White Egret, 2 Little Ringed Plover and 3 Redshank. Also about were 4 Cuckoo.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 11 new birds: a Willow Warbler, 6 Whitethroat, a Great Tit, a Blackcap, a Dunnock and a Starling; and 10 retraps: a Chiffchaff, a Lesser Whitethroat, 3 Whitethroat, a Dunnock and 4 Great Tit.
The fifth session of CES was done this morning by Mike Polling. The 29 new birds were 5 Chiffchaff, 6 Long-tailed Tit, 3 Robin, 3 Blackcap, 4 Whitethroat, 3 Blue Tit, a Chaffinch, a Great Tit and 3 Dunnock; and the 6 retraps were a Chiffchaff, a Wren, 2 Sedge Warbler, a Long-tailed Tit and a Whitethroat.
June 13th. A sunny start to the day quickly becoming more cloudy with a moderate to strong westerly wind blowing all day.
A distant large shearwater was picked up at some distance and watched as it continuously soared up and down without flapping over 500 metres at 0620hrs. It was later seen at sites further up the coast by two observers - all concluded that it was a Cory's Shearwater. There followed a distant small Skua sp also heading north.
2 Crossbills were new arrivals. Other highlights today were still on the water bodies where there were 75 Avocet, 150 Black-tailed Godwits, 2 Spoonbill, 1 Little Ringed Plover and 1 Little Gull.
Also about were a Cuckoo, 60 Swifts (South), 16 House Martins, 2 Cetti's Warblers and 2 Grasshopper Warblers.
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| Black-tailed Godwits with the odd Lapwing thrown in, 13th June 2026 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Two Spoonbills, 13th June 2026 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Swift, 13th June 2026 Photo - Jack Hood |
Highlight of the day were two Barnacle Geese that flew south over the shorebird sanctuary. A few brief sea watches during the day recorded 1 Great Crested Grebe (South), 60 Common Scoter, 22 Manx Shearwaters, a few Auk sp and a feeding flock of 200 Sandwich Terns and 30 Gannets.
On the water bodies around the reserve were 16 Shelduck, 9 Gadwall, 1 female Pintail, 2 Teal, 12 Tufted Duck, 10 Little Grebe, 63 Avocets, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 143 Black-tailed Godwits, 1 Common Tern, 4 Spoonbill and a 2nd calendar year Little Gull.
Also around were 50 Swift (South), 2 Cuckoo, 2 Buzzard, 12 House Martin, 2 Cetti's Warbler (Tennyson's Sands and Mill Hill) and 1 Grasshopper Warbler.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes yielded 3 new birds: a Chiffchaff, a Chaffinch and a Great Tit; and 9 retraps: 3 Whitethroat, a Blackcap, 3 Dunnock, a Blue Tit and a Great Tit.
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| Avocet chick, 12th June 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Redshank, 12th June 2026 Photo - Jack Hood |
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| Spoonbills, 12th June 2026 Photo - Jack Hood |
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| Little Gull, 12th June 2026 Photo - Jack Hood |
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| Clouded-bordered Brindle Moth (Top) & Angle Shades Moth (Bottom) showing their effective camouflage, both very common moths. 12th June 2026, Photo - Nige Lound |
Highlights were on the water bodies with a Little Ringed Plover, a Little Gull remaining and a Spoonbill. Also around were a Grasshopper Warbler, 6 Starlings and a Cuckoo.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 29 new birds: a Chiffchaff, 11 Great Tit, 10 Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, a Chaffinch, a Robin, a Blue Tit, a Reed Bunting and a Starling; and 8 retraps: 2 Great Tit, 2 Dunnock, 3 Whitethroat and a Blackcap.
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| Shoveler chicks, 11th June 2026 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Black-tailed Godwit in summer plumage, 11th June 2026 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Black-tailed Godwit in winter plumage, 11th June 2026 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| Muntjac Deer taking a swim, 11th June 2026 Photo - Tom Baker |
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| The foreshore and beach erosion, 9th June 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Big skies over Tennyson's Sands, 9th June 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Rough weather incoming! 9th June 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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