June 30th. Early morning rain, gradually drying out, cloudy with fairly light north-westerly wind.
A Merlin and 2 Mediterranean Gulls were the only reports received today.
June 29th. Sunny with clouds, with light south-westerly wind.
A Quail was heard calling overnight and a Jay was unusual June record. Flying south were a few Swifts and 2 Grey Herons.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 5 new birds: a Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, a Whitethroat and a Great Tit; and 5 retraps: 2 Great Tit, 2 Wren and a Whitethroat.
A morning ringing session at Aylmer Avenue by Mike Polling produced new birds: 4 Wren, 6 Chiffchaff, a Blackcap, 6 Sedge Warbler, a Lesser Whitethroat, 4 Whitethroat and 2 Dunnock; and retraps: a Dunnock and a Sedge Warbler.
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| Fledgling Whitethroat, ringed 29 June 2024. There seem to be fewer breeding pairs here this year. Photo - George Gregory  |
A strong movement of Swifts involved over 5,500. Also moving south were 6 Red Kites, a Whimbrel and 2 Mediterranean Gulls. 2 Green Sandpipers and a Common Sandpiper were on Tennyson's Sands.
June 27th. Dewy, hazy start, becoming sunny with clouds, with increasing south-westerly wind.
The first appreciable movement of Sand Martins was underway this morning with 90 south in 2 hours. Also heading south were 500 Swift, 80 Starling, 18 Curlew and a few Grey Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Redshank and Dunlin, whilst on the lagoons 2 summer-plumaged Spotted Redshanks were new arrivals and Spoonbills had increased to 16. The Montagu's Harrier was still present.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes yielded 18 new birds: 3 Wren, 8 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Blue Tit, a Coal Tit, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Kingfisher; and 11 retraps: 2 Whitethroat, a Sedge Warbler, 5 Dunnock, a Chiffchaff and 2 Long-tailed Tit.
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| Juvenile Coal Tit, ringed 27 June 2024. Photo - George Gregory |
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| Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker, ringed 27 June 2024. Photo - George Gregory |
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| Kingfisher, ringed 27 June 2024. Photo - George Gregory |
Ringing Control: Willow Warbler, ringed Loch of Leys, Aberdeenshire 5 September 2023, controlled GPBO 14 June 2024.
June 26th. Overcast, misty start then sunny, with light north-easterly wind.
The Montagu's Harrier showed well early morning, hunting over the marsh out from the Wash Viewpoint. A Common Sandpiper was at Greenshank's Creek. Offshore 42 Sandwich Tern and 11 Common Scoter went north.
June 25th. Sunny, with light south-easterly wind.
Plenty of birds in song and family groups around today including Sedge Warbler, Whitethroats, Chiffchaffs and Long-tailed Tits. Moving south offshore were small parties of Teal with 4 Shoveler, whilst overland there was a light movement of Swifts, Curlews and a Yellow Wagtail. A Common Sandpiper was a new arrival.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 8 new birds: 4 Wren, a Robin, 2 Whitethroat and a Dunnock; and 7 retraps: 3 Wren, a Great Tit, 2 Whitethroat and a Dunnock.
June 24th. Mostly sunny, very warm, with light south-easterly wind.
A juvenile Wheatear was a new arrival near the Wash Viewpoint whilst a fresh juvenile Siskin may be indicative of the first breeding record for the Reserve. A Kingfisher was along the river haven.
June 23rd. Sunny, with light south-westerly wind.
A flock of 200 Starlings were feeding around the marshes whilst another 190 headed south with a Hobby also south. Grey Plover numbers had increased to 54 with 180 Oystercatchers at roost, whilst on Tennyson's Sands Spoonbills were up to 13, along with single Knot, Snipe and Great White Egret.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 13 new birds: 3 Wren, 4 Chiffchaff, a Great Tit, a Robin, a Sedge Warbler, a Whitethroat, a Dunnock and a Starling; 8 retraps: a Lesser Whitethroat, a Robin, a Wren, a Whitethroat, 3 Dunnock and a Sedge Warbler; and a control Whitethroat.
A Large Skipper butterfly was along the Cycle Track.
June 22nd. Mostly cloudy, with light south-westerly wind.
Some 800 Swifts went south during the morning. Both ringtail Hen and Montagu's Harrier were present again. Other birds around included 2 Cuckoo, a Curlew Sandpiper, 32 Black-tailed Godwits, 2 Crossbill and a Red Kite harassing gulls.
A morning ringing session at Aylmer Avenue by Mike Polling produced 7 new birds: 2 Chiffchaff, a Wren, a Reed Warbler, a Whitethroat and 2 Dunnock; and a retrap Blackbird.
June 21st. Quite cloudy start, becoming sunny, with light southerly wind.
Swifts continued to fly south. The ringtail Hen Harrier was hunting again. On Tennyson's Sands were a Pintail, 6 Pochard, a Black-tailed Godwit and 7 Spoonbill. A Green Sandpiper went south with a flock of Lapwings and the first returning Curlews were noted arriving from the north (5). Other waders were 30 Sanderling and 21 Grey Plover on the beach, with the first fledged Ringed Plover of the season, while 28 Teal and 50 Common Scoter headed south offshore. Around were 2 Kingfishers along the river and 3 Cuckoos.
The sixth session of CES was done this morning. The 17 new birds were 6 Wren, 2 Chiffchaff, a Lesser Whitethroat, a Robin, a Great Tit, 3 Whitethroat, a Dunnock, a Song Thrush and a Great Spotted Woodpecker; and the 3 retraps were a Wren, a Whitethoat and a Sedge Warbler.
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker, ringed 21 June 2024. Photo - George Gregory |
