September 29th. Generally cloudy, with increasing south-easterly wind.
Today's highlights so far: over 100,000 waders in the roost, a Leach's Petrel south, a Black Tern, 7 Arctic Skua and 3 Manx Shearwaters north offshore, Yellow-browed Warbler in the West Dunes and another at the Wash Viewpoint and an arrival of Bramblings and Redwings. A Great Grey Shrike was found along the Storm Ridge east of the Visitor Centre early afternoon and viewed from the platform by the Bird Observatory.
Also recorded today were 21 Pied Wagtails, 16 Brambling, 12 Redwing, 50 Linnet, a Pied Flycatcher, 2 Redstart, a Peregrine and a Hen Harrier.
A wind-restricted morning ringing session at Aylmer Avenue provided a new Great Tit; and 3 retraps: a Great Tit, a Long-tailed Tit and a Wren.
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| Row upon row of waders on the high tide out from Mill Hill, 29th September 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Waders waiting on the tide turning, 29th September 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Greenshanks Creek break in from the south, 29th September 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| The Southern end of Greenshanks Creek looking towards the Shorebird Sanctuary 29th September 2026, Photo - David Nutt |
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| Looking North from the Southern End of Greenshanks Creek 29th September 2026, Photo - David Nutt |
Sea-watching resulted in 87 Wigeon, 4 Pintail, 434 Teal, 1 Tufted Duck, 9 Common Scoter, 2 Arctic Skua, 4 Auk Species, 10 Red-throated Diver heading South, whilst heading North were 65 Gannet and 1 Grey Heron. On the beach were 16 Great Black-backed Gulls, a 1st Calendar year Mediterranean Gull, 15 Sandwich Terns, 41 Cormorants and 1 Peregrine, and a further 180 Teal were on Greenshank's Creek.
On the water bodies around the reserve were 187 Pink-footed Geese, 22 Shoveler, 9 Wigeon, 220 Teal, 200 Black-tailed Godwit and 12 Greenshank, whilst over Croftmarsh were a Marsh Harrier, 5 Buzzard and a Red Kite. A Yellow-browed Warbler was found at Shovelers Pool.
Also about were 5 Grey Herons (West at 9.20am), 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Peregrine, 1 Sparrowhawk, 5 Jay and 1 Stonechat (Visitor Centre). Highlight on the butterfly front was a Clouded Yellow.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 20 new birds: a Wren, 9 Long-tailed Tit, a Robin, a Reed Bunting, a Blackcap, 4 Blue Tit, a Dunnock, a Song Thrush and a Great Spotted Woodpecker; and 7 retraps: a Wren, a Blue Tit, 2 Robin and 3 Long-tailed Tit.
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| Tennyson's Sands at Dawn - Pink-footed Geese City. 28th September 2026, Photo - Nige Lound |
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| 1st Calendar Year Mediterranean Gull, 28th September 2026 Photo - Nige Lound |
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| Waders on the hightide - flushed again by a jogger, 28th September 2026 Photo - Nige Lound |
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| Clouded Yellow Butterfly, 28th September 2026 Photo - Nige Lound |
Flying north-west were 240 Pink-footed Geese. Around were 3 Jays, a Pied Flycatcher (trapped and ringed at Aylmer Avenue) and a Grey Wagtail.
Sea-watching resulted in 510 Pink-footed Geese, 5 Arctic Skua and 107 Gannet heading North, whilst heading South were 12 Shoveler, 111 Wigeon, 1 Pintail, 178 Teal, 81 Common Scoter, 1 Goosander, 1 Great Crested Grebe, 28 Sandwich Tern, 1 Common Tern, 3 Arctic Skua, 5 Auk species, 12 Red-throated Diver and 2 Manx Shearwater.
Waders on the high tide viewing included 10,000 Oystercatcher, 2000 Grey Plover, 83 Ringed Plover, 51 Curlew, 6000 Bar-tailed Godwit, 50,000 Knot, 600 Sanderling and 2000 Dunlin. On the beach were 9 Turnstone.
Also around the reserve were 1 Buzzard, 1 Tawny Owl, 1 Green Woodpecker, 4 Jay, 19 Swallow (South), 3 Stonechat, 1 Grey Wagtail, 2 Rock Pipit (South) and 173 Linnet (South).
A morning ringing session in East Dunes yielded 4 new birds: a Reed Bunting, a Lesser Whitethroat, a Blackcap and a Great Spotted Woodpecker; and 16 retraps: a Dunnock, a Robin, a Blue Tit, 10 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Great Tit and a Reed Bunting.
A morning ringing session at Aylmer Avenue by Dave Vincent yielded 14 new birds: 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Goldcrest, 3 Blackcap, 1 Pied Flycatcher, 2 Great Tit, 5 Blue Tit and a Robin; and 8 retraps: 5 Long-tailed Tit, a Blackcap, a Blue Tit and a Great Tit.
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| Greenshanks Creek Southern end looking North towards the old wartime defences 27th September 2026, Photo - David Nutt |
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| Low tide out on the beach, 27th September 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
On the sea were 37 Gannet, 15 Sandwich Tern, 2 Auk species, 2 Red-throated Diver, whilst heading south were 70 Teal and 17 Wigeon. Flying North-west out of the New Saltmarsh roost were 300 Pink-footed Geese.
The high tide roost produced 8000 Oystercatcher, 2000 Grey Plover, 2000 Bar-tailed Godwit, 30,000 Knot, 550 Dunlin, 450 Sanderling 30 Ringed Plover, 1 Spotted Redshank and 1 Greenshank.
Also around were 5 Stonechat, 3 Chiffchaff, 1 Green Woodpecker and 3 Buzzard,
A morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 5 new birds: a Chiffchaff, a Great Tit, a Reed Bunting, a Dunnock and a Song Thrush; and 4 retraps: a Great Tit, a Robin, a Dunnock and a Reed Bunting.
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| Low tide out on the beach, 26th September 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Low tide out from the dunes, 26th September 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| More erosion around Greenshanks Creek after the last high tide, 26th September 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
It was a good morning for covering the census area and counting common birds such as Robins which have clearly been increasing over the last week. Not so much attention paid to visible migration this morning that in any event, seemed lighter than recent days, but with more Reed Buntings and Skylarks in the mix. The first Yellow-browed Warbler of autumn was around the west side.
On the sea were 6 Eider and 2 Gannet. 300 Pink-footed Geese left the New Saltmarsh roost early morning. On the water bodies were 3 Snipe, 1 Spotted Redshank and 5 Greenshank. 3 Grey Heron cam in off the sea, Also around were 4 Marsh Harrier, 4 Buzzard, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 5 Stonechats were new arrivals, 12 Chiffchaff and 2 Blackcap. A Clouded Yellow Butterfly was in the East Dunes during the warm afternoon sunshine. On the Tennyson's Sands were 3 Spotted Redshank and 4 Greenshank.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 5 new birds: a Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, a Reed Bunting and a Blue Tit; and 2 retraps: a Great Tit and a Wren.
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| Clouded Yellow Butterfly in the East Dunes, 25th September 2026 Photo - Vicki Bush |
Flying north-west out of New Saltmarsh roost were 325 Pink-footed Geese. Around were a Wheatear (on Old Saltmarsh), 2 Jays (including 1 trapped and ringed) and several Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps. Visible migration largely involved Meadow Pipits heading south from early morning. Kingfishers were along the River and Greenshank's Creek and a Spotted Redshank was on the River. It was still busy offshore with Gannets, Red-throated Divers, Arctic Skuas and Wigeon moving - the highlights were a Puffin, a Long-tailed Skua, a Manx Shearwater, 5 Little Gull and a Fulmar.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes resulted in 12 new birds: 2 Chiffchaff, 6 Reed Bunting, a Blue Tit, a Goldfinch, a Dunnock and a Jay; and 4 retraps: a Great Tit and 3 Blue Tit.
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| Bar-tailed Godwit, 24th September 2026 Photo - Jack Hood |
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| Greenshank, 24th September 2026 Photo - Jack Hood |
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| Ringed Plover, 24th September 2026 Photo - Jack Hood |
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| Jay, ringed 24 September 20926. Photo - George Gregory |
Flying north-west out of the Wash early morning were 750 Pink-footed Geese. The sea was buzzing with bird activity with c1000 Gulls and Terns in the feeding flock, good numbers of Red-throated Divers, Gannets, Auks and Arctic Skuas heading south with 6 Little Gulls, 3 Manx Shearwaters and a juvenile Long-tailed Skua. A difficult 2.5 hour session trying to keep track of numbers, particularly while pulses of Pipits, Hirundines and Linnets were moving south over the beach and dunes too.
Two Whooper Swans were the first of the autumn and 3 Spotted Redshanks were on Tennyson's Sands
An evening sea-watch was very busy again around the feeding flock and with birds moving south including more Gannets and Red-throated Divers. A juvenile Sabine's Gull (presumably yesterday's bird) was offshore again with 2 juvenile Long-tailed Skuas, and a Black Tern. Heading south were a Great Skua, 7 Manx Shearwaters and 2 Sooty Shearwaters. The Sooty Shearwaters were unusual in that both were extremely close and flying south - pretty much all Sooty Shearwaters off Gibraltar Point are always heading north. They may have been attracted by the feeding flock as were two Manx Shearwaters and up to 6 Arctic Skuas with the 2 Long-tailed Skuas.
A wind-shortened morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 2 new birds: a Wren and a Robin; and a retrap Robin.
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| Pink-footed Geese, 23rd September 2026. Photo - Jack Hood |
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| Spotted Redshanks, 23rd September 2026 Photo - Mike Watts |
Flying north-west early morning were 600 Pink-footed Geese, and south-west 120 Pink-footed Geese.
Hundreds of Gulls and Terns were again involved in a large feeding flock over the sea with the morning highlight being an adult Sabine's Gull, initially close in but then drifting out to sea where it blogged for a while landing on the water occasionally. Other than that, the main theme of the morning was incoming parties of Teal - some 700 had arrived form the north by 0900hrs. Also offshore were 2 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Arctic Skuas, several Red-throated Divers and many Gannets. One of the two ringtail Hen Harriers came out of roost and hunted the outer dunes and beach area early morning. The feeding flock was checked late afternoon in the hope that the morning's adult Sabine's Gull had joined but there was no further sign of it. However, a very smart juvenile Sabine's Gull was a new arrival, showing well before landing on the sea and lost amongst the various other small gulls and terns etc. Also this evening were another Manx Shearwater, 4 Little Gulls, 10 Arctic Skuas, a Fulmar, more Red-throated Divers and Gannets.
Otherwise, little coverage of the dunes today, but a Brambling arrived in the East Dunes in the afternoon - first of autumn.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 24 new birds: a Chiffchaff, a Wren, 2 Robin, a Great Tit, a Goldfinch, 16 Blue Tit, a Song Thrush and a Kingfisher; and 2 retraps: a Long-tailed Tit and a Great Tit.
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| Artic Skua, 22nd September 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Skua on Tern parasitic behaviour, 22nd September 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Kingfisher, ringed 22 September 2026. Photo - George Gregory |
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| Common Seal sunning itself on the beach, 22nd September 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
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| Common Seal on the beach, 22nd September 2026 Photo - David Nutt |
Flying north-west out of the Wash early morning were at least 1800 Pink-footed Geese. A further 500 came over from Norfolk later. This morning's recording effort gave a snapshot of overland migration and sea passage in limited time and in tricky sunny conditions. Although a similar range of species to recent days was involved, the impression was of reduced numbers overall. However, 2 juvenile Hen Harriers hunting the saltmarsh and outer dunes together provided an opportunity to count many flushed Meadow Pipits and Skylarks! Along the dune frontage there was a Short-eared Owl, 2 Stonechats and 2 Wheatears, with another Stonechat at the Visitor Centre. Three Kingfishers today included two together along the River Steeping. Two Jays flew south.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes yielded 12 new birds: a Goldcrest, a Chiffchaff, 3 Robin, a Blackcap, 2 Reed Bunting, a Blue Tit, 2 Great Tit and a Dunnock; and 2 retraps: a Long-tailed Tit and a Robin.
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| Kingfisher, 21st September 2026 Photo - Kev Wilson |
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| Short-eared Owl, 21st September 2026. Photo - Kev Wilson |
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| Jay, 21st September 2026. Photo - Ste Taylor |
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| Goldcrest, ringed 21 September 2026. Photo - George Gregory |
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