September 30th

The month ended on a cool, damp note as Matt walked from Shuart to Plumpudding and Coldharbour and back along the railway embankment and we walked along the seawall from Reculver and met him at Coldharbour. Between us we recorded 2 Goldcrests, 9 Cetti's Warbler, 32 Chiffchaffs, 5 Grey Herons, 2 Wheatears, 9 Sandwich Terns, 2 Stonechats, 6 Moorhens, 46 Mallard, 8 Little Egrets, 1 Curlew, 64 Ringed Plovers, 22 Turnstone, 2 Dunlin, 1 Sanderling, 1 Rock Pipit, 1 summer plumaged Red-throated Diver, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Merlin, 93 Golden Plover, 3 Kestrels, 23 Lapwings, 6 Coot, 7 Blackcaps, 6 Long-tailed Tits, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 17 Meadow Pipits, 51 Oystercatchers and 2 Grey Plovers.

September 29th

After heavy overnight showers, this morning dawned bright but with a strong, chilly, westerly breeze blowing as we walked from Reculver to Coldharbour and back. We counted 500 Black-headed Gulls roosting at Reculver and sheltering out of the wind, 77 Turnstone, 18 Linnets, 75 Ringed Plovers, 4 Meadow Pipits, 1 Little Egret, 1 Wheatear, 4 Wigeon flying W, 7 Sanderling, 200 House Sparrows, 1 Oystercatcher, 1 Sandwich Tern, 1 Redshank, 1 Kestrel, 5 House Martins W, 5 Chiffchaffs, 1 Blackcap and 12 Goldfinches.

Wheatear

September 28th

It was a nice bright morning as we walked from Chamber's Wall to the Oyster Farm lagoons and recorded 7 Chiffchaffs, 24 Chaffinches, 1 Green Woodpecker, 4 Cetti's Warblers, 27 Linnets, 2 Kestrels, 3 Swallows W, 10 Redshank, 23 Turnstone, 20 Ringed Plovers, 1 Pied Wagtail, 250 House Sparrows, 2 Sandwich Terns E, 1 Wheatear, 1 Grey Heron and 1 Stonechat.

Male Chaffinch

September 27th

On a morning with increasingly heavy rain and a south westerly gale we spent an hour at Reculver where there were 1,000+ House Martins around the Towers and over the adjacent land and sea. In the heaviest of the rain they were flying low over the sea just off the Towers. Other birds we saw included 18 Swallows 1 Swift, 2 Gannets flying E, 1 Ringed Plover, 1 Pied Wagtail and 5 Wigeon flying W.

A wander around inland at Reculver this afternoon produced 9 Mute Swans, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Little Egret, 1 Marsh Harrier and 1 Clouded Yellow.

September 26th

On a mild and cloudy morning we walked from Chamber's Wall to the Wantsum outflow and counted 14 Chiffchaffs, 9 Skylarks, 52 Mallard, 20 Chaffinches, 32 Goldfinches, 24 Linnets, 1 Golden Plover, 4 Coot, 2 Kestrels, 1 Swallow, 11 Redshank, 5 Wigeon, 4 Gadwall, 1 Teal, 3 Little Egrets, 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, 14 Turnstone, 3 Ringed Plovers, 1 Common Buzzard, 5 Cetti's Warblers and 2 Stonechats.

September 25th

We spent the morning ringing on the Marsh south of the railway where it started foggy but cleared to low cloud and a light south westerly breeze. We saw 6 Chiffchaffs, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Blackcap, 1 Reed Warbler, 3 Corn Buntings, 15 Meadow Pipits, 10 Chaffinches, 34 Goldfinches, 2 Kestrels, 1 male Marsh Harrier, 1 Sparrowhawk, 30 Linnets, 4 Swallows, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 32 Reed Buntings, 1 Grey Heron and 1 Common Buzzard.

Birds ringed 40: Wren 1, Chiffchaff 2, Reed Bunting 24, Reed Warbler 1, Blackcap 1, Lesser Whitethroat 1, Goldfinch 6, Linnet 1, Dunnock 1, House Sparrow 1, Corn Bunting 1.

Lesser Whitethroat

September 24th

We spent another sunny morning ringing at Shuart where we saw 40 Chiffchaffs, 2 Green Woodpeckers, 6 Cetti's Warblers, 2 Mallard, 2 Ring-necked Parakeets, 2 Common Buzzards, 3 Kestrels, 10 Blackcaps, 2 Long-tailed Tits, 2 Sparrowhawks, 2 Ravens, 1 Grey Heron, 60 Swallows, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 House Martins, 1 Siskin, 1 Whitethroat, 2 Jays and 2 Reed Warblers.

Birds ringed 47: Chiffchaff 19, Long-tailed Tits 2, Blackcap 8, Cetti's Warbler 3, Robin 2, Chaffinch 3, Reed Bunting 4, Whitethroat 1, Blue Tit 1, Reed Warbler 1, Blackbird 3.

Reed Warbler

September 23rd

We spent a bright and breezy morning ringing at Reculver where we saw 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, 2 Grey Herons, 18 Meadow Pipits, 2 Cetti's Warblers, 35 Chiffchaffs, 3 Pied Wagtails, 2 Green Woodpeckers, 60 Swallows W, 1 Grey Wagtail W, 20 Blackcaps, 2 Sparrowhawks, 1 Whitethroat, 6 Mute Swans, 100 House Martins W and 2 Common Buzzards.

Birds ringed 44: Chiffchaff 28, Blackcap 15, Whitethroat 1.

Chiffchaff

 

This afternoon I received the ringing information on an adult male Sedge Warbler we caught out on the Marsh south of  the railway on 13th June this year. It had originally been ringed as a first year bird at Teralfene, Brabant, BELGIUM on 2nd August 2020. Terelfene is 208 km ESE on Reculver.

September 22nd

We spent a warm and sunny morning ringing on the Marsh south of the railway and there were a lot of birds to be seen notably hirundines flying W all morning with 5,000+ House Martins, 1,100+ Swallows and 4 Sand Martins counted. Other birds included 1 Grey Heron, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Grey Partridge, 35 Chiffchaffs, 5 Blackcaps, 28 Goldfinches, 4 Common Buzzards, 1 Snipe, 1 Peregrine, 2 Kestrels, 26 Skylarks, 1 Curlew, 1 Stonechat, 2 Sedge Warblers, 8 Jays, 1 Kingfisher, 60 Meadow Pipits, 4 Golden Plovers, 1 Tree Pipit W, 8 Corn Buntings, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Marsh Harriers, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Whitethroat, 1 "continental" Song Thrush, 40 Reed Buntings, 6 Ravens, 2 Reed Warblers and 1 Wheatear.

Birds ringed 52: Chiffchaff 27, Reed Bunting 12, Blackcap 5, Blue Tit 1, Sedge Warbler 2, Goldfinch 3, Whitethroat 1, Reed Warbler 1.

First year Sedge Warbler

September 21st

On a beautiful, sunny morning there were a few more birds to be seen as we walked to the Oyster Farm lagoons from Chamber's Wall. We counted 7 Cetti's Warblers, 21 Chiffchaffs, 2 Blackcaps, 22 Reed Buntings, incuding the white tailed indivdual, 5 Mallard, 11 Wigeon, 33 Goldfinches, 1 Grey Wagtail flying W, 2 Kestrels and 7 Little Egrets. We also saw 3 Reed Warblers, 2 Stonechats, 17 Redshank, 1 Knot, 13 Swallows flying W, 5 Teal, 7 Sandwich Terns, 55 Turnstone, 135 Ringed Plovers, 55 Linnets, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Sanderling, 4 Corn Buntings, 6 Dunlin, 23 Meadow Pipits, 1 Green Woodpecker and 1 Sparrowhawk.

Meadow Pipit

September 20th

The weather had changed overnight, although we missed the threatened thundery showers, it was overcast and a cool northerly westerly breeze was blowing as we walked from Reculver to Coldharbour. We saw our first 22 Dark-bellied Brent Geese of the autumn as well as 15 Wigeon flying W, 2 Grey Herons, 2 Little Egrets, 2 Turnstone, 12 Swallows flying W, 27 Linnets, 5 Oystercatchers, 2 Sandwich Terns, 4 Redshank, 55 Mallard, 1 Wheatear, 6 Common Gulls flying W in amongst 250 Black-headed Gulls, 1 Kestrel, 1 Stonechat and 1 Goldcrest.

September 19th

As we left the house this morning a Goldcrest was calling in our hedge. We drove to Chamber's Wall and walked out to Coldharbour and saw 2 Grey Herons, 6 Little Egrets, 5 Cetti's Warblers, 3 Kestrels, 75 Goldfinches, 1 Common Buzzard, 15 Redshank, 9 Linnets, 2 Corn Buntings, 4 Teal, 6 Sandwich Terns, 3 Ringed Plovers, 14 Turnstone, 1 juvenile Knot, 65 Common Scoter E, 5 Sanderling, 2 Coot and 1 Blackcap.

Sandwich Tern

September 18th

This morning we walked from Chamber's Wall to Coldharbour and recorded 8 Chiffchaffs, 2 Kestrels, 4 Robins, 52 Goldfinches, 18 Linnets, 16 Little Egrets, 4 Cetti's Warblers, 17 Redshank, 1 juvenile Knot, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Teal, 102 Oystercatchers, 1 Greenshank, 4 Swallows, 16 Turnstone, 1 Lesser Whitethroat and 1 Common Buzzard.

Redshank and Knot

Derek Smith, who we met at Coldharbour,  walked from Shuart and along the railway embankment to Coldharbour and Plumpudding between 0630 and 1030. Birds he saw included 4 Grey Herons, 14 Little Egrtes, 2 Teal, 2 Grey Plovers W, 14 Redshank, 1 Greenshank, 45 Turnstone, 1 Snipe W, 9 Sandwich Terns, 3 Grey Wagtails W, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker E, 7 Cetti's Warblers, 23 Chiffchaffs, 5 Blackcaps, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Reed Warbler, 3 Stonechats and 8 Corn Buntings.

September 17th

This morning we spent ringing at Reculver where we saw 2 Green Woodpeckers, 20 Blackcaps, 18 Chiffchaffs, 4 Common Buzzards, 6 Long-tailed Tits 2 Common Sandpipers,2 Teal, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Ring-necked Parakeets, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Lapwing, 1 Grey Heron, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 2 Grey Wagtails, 2 Kestrels, 50 Swallows, 2 Jays, 1 Lesser Whitethroat and 70 House Martins.

Birds ringed 31: Chiffchaff 8, Long-tailed Tit 1, Blackcap 17, Robin 2, Great Tit 1, Blue Tit 1, Lesser Whitethroat 1.

First year Lesser Whitethroat

This afternoon we walked from Chamber's Wall to Coldharbour and sat on the beach for half an hour. Birds we saw included 1 Marsh Harrier, 6 Common Buzzards, 3 Kestrels, 8 Chiffchaffs, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Greenshank, 17 Redshank, 1 juvenile Knot, 29 Turnstone, 2 Gannets E, 8 Teal and 1 Cetti's Warbler.

September 16th

We spent a warm, sunny and virtually windless morning ringing on the Marsh south of the railway. We saw 1 Tree Pipit, 25 Goldfinches, 7 Chiffchaffs, 3 Blackcaps, 30 Reed Buntings, 4 Reed Warblers, 4 Whitethroats, 2 Grey Wagtails W, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 30 Meadow Pipits, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Grey Heron, 14 Chaffinches, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 3 Little Egrets W, 1 Kestrel, 3 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Sparrowhawks, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Jay, 1 Green Woodpecker and 1 Swallow. We also found 2 Willow Emerald Damselflies. 

Birds ringed 41: Chiffchaff 5, Whitethroat 2, Reed Bunting 17, Goldfinch 9, Robin 1, Reed Warbler 2, Blackcap 2, Cetti's Warbler 1, Chaffinch 1, Dunnock 1.

An abberant first year male Reed Bunting

This afternoon, Richard Collins found a Razorbill on the sea off Minnis Bay.