Salthouse garden - 18th October 2025

 Another day by the coast, attracting tit flocks in the hope that they would bring a vagrant with them. There were two flocks today forming the greater part of our catch, 67 new and 2 retrapped birds but nothing really unusual. The garden held quite a few Blackbirds although only 3 were caught from a minor influx after 10am. One capture had to be released when hunting in the adjacent field sent several Red-legged Partridges into the garden site for cover. One found its way into a mist net but was released safely and again evaded the hunting. Best birds were probably 3 Redpoll.

Lesser Redpoll male

Adult male Chaffinch

One of 15 Goldcrest

Total: 67 (2)

Blackbird - 3
Blue Tit - 16 (1)
Chaffinch - 2
Chiffchaff - 2
Dunnock - 4
Goldcrest -15
Great Tit - 7
Long-tailed Tit - 7 (1)
Lesser Redpoll - 3
Redwing - 1
Robin - 5
Wren - 2

Morston - 16th October 2025

 Not much arriving today, just a few Blackbirds and an odd Redwing. The total consisted of a tit flock that found the nets put up for Redwing as they crossed from the brambles along the coastal path away from the seaward side of the site, 8 Dunnocks also 5 Reed Buntings that we managed to lure in. Only one Stonechat today and the only one that we managed to see.

Reed Bunting 3M

Most unexpected observation was of a single Swallow rushing westwards.

Total: 37 (7)

Blackbird - 2
Blue Tit - 5 (3)
Cetti's Warbler - 1 (1)
Dunnock - 7 (1)
Great Tit - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 11 (2)
Reed Bunting - 5
Robin - 1
Stonechat - 1
Wren - 3

Norfolk Rivers Trust, Ingoldesthorpe - 14th October 2025

 We have never monitored this site once the summer migrants have left so were unsure of what we might find. We started off with flocks of Redwing overhead, a pleasant surprise although we did know that thrush arrivals have been reported over the last few days. We managed to catch a few of those. Then we noticed some birds along the field edges where grass has been left to grow a few feet high and reeds are beginning to encroach.  One bird was a Stonechat, but later Chris heard the unmistakable pinging call of Bearded Tits. Three of those found their way into our nets.

Male Bearded Tit. One of 2 male and 1 female birds caught with 

another female seen but not caught.

A large flock of Long-tailed and Blue Tits was a bit of a surprise. We have seen Blue Tits in the trees of course, and caught a few, but this large group came right down to the hedge behind the lagoons and connected with two of the nets.

Our first Redwing of the winter

We were joined by Maiana,  collecting samples for the Zoological Society London  studying Usuto virus and she very kindly scribed  for the two of us. The help was much appreciated.

Totals: 64 (9)
Blackbird - 3
Bearded Tit - 3
Blue Tit - 32 (6)
Cetti's Warbler - 0 (2)_
Chiffchaff - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 12
Redwing - 5
Reed Bunting - 1
Robin - 0 (1)
Song Thrush - 2
Wren - 5

Morston - 12th October 2025

 Low wind this morning and not too cold, a heavy mist contributed to the slow start as birds took a while to get moving. There were hardly any Stonechats about and summer migrants are now long gone.

Meadow Pipit

We tried Meadow Pipit on a dog-leg around a bramble bush, narrowly missing a large Sparrowhawk that went storming into the net just over the audio-lure. Unfortunately she escaped the net just before we could get to her.

The total, just over the 30 mark, was partly down to a mixed tit flock that travelled along the ditch and ended up in the nets put up for Meadow Pipits. We could have also used the same nets to try for Redwings but barely any came through.

The winter birdfeed crop is looking very autumnal and shaping up nicely for seed provision throughout the winter period.

Total: 22 (11)

Blue Tit - 4 (4)
Cetti's Warbler - 1
Dunnock - 0 (3)
Greenfinch - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 8
Meadow Pipit - 4
Robin - 2 (3)
Stonechat - 0 (1)
Wren - 2

Sculthorpe Moor - 10th October 2025

 A calm, misty start to the day with two doubles and a single erected outside of the beavers' enclosure. We were aware of some large tit flocks in the trees and tits formed just over half of the catch. We were pleased to get 5 Reed Buntings for the colour marking project, along with 5 Goldcrest and 3 Cetti's Warblers. Just a single Chiffchaff was an indicator that most of these have now moved off site.

One of three Cetti's Warblers captured this morning.

Total:     34 (7)

Blue Tit - 14 - (5)
Cetti's Warbler - 3
Chiffchaff - 1
Great Tit - 1
Goldcrest - 5
Long-tailed Tit - 5 (1)
Reed Bunting - 5
Robin - 0 (1)

Deepdale Farm - 8th October 2025

 A very brief session aimed at catching Meadow Pipits, but there weren't many about and the wind soon strengthened in addition to some squally showers moving through. Despite catching absolutely none of the pipits, a short net through the hedge did provide a few birds, mostly Goldcrest. Off site at 10:15 with only 9 captures.

Total: 9

Blue Tit - 1
Dunnock - 1
Goldcrest - 4
Great Tit - 2
Wren - 1

Red-tailed Shrike at Dunwich Heath - 6th October 2025

 An easy twitch where the viewers were spotted even before we reached the carpark. Not a lifer as we've seen Red-tailed Shrike in Kenya, but a new bird for the UK.

There's something very special about heathland next to the sea, especially on a beautiful day.

Nanjizal, Cornwall - 2nd October 2025

 It's looking as though this will be our last ringing day since the weather will probably be against us by tomorrow morning. Rain and wind is forecast, and with Storm Amy battering the British Isles the chances of getting out ringing are very slim.

But today was a good day. Numbers were down but there were two goodies that made the 5:20am wake up call, all week, worthwhile. Blackcaps continue to dominate with Chiffchaffs continuing to move through the valley. Meadow Pipits have been attracted to calls these last couple of days while the number of Firecrest is dropping. 

The best birds of the day were a juvenile Barred Warbler and a Yellow-browed Warbler.

There was no doubt as to the age of this bird. Demongin confirmed our assessment.

 The next round and finally we have managed to catch a Yellow-browed Warbler. This bird was fitted with a colour combination for a project that was started last year, hoping to discover where these autumn vagrants go after arriving in the UK.

Demongin didn't have much to say on ageing these little gems.

  With thanks to KW and team for opening in the dark and sharing their site. All necessary permits and permissions held for conducting bird captures, ringing and colour marking.

Total: 136 (17)

Blackcap - 60 (2)
Barred Warbler - 1
Cetti's Warbler - 2 (1)
Chaffinch - 3
Chiffchaff- - 25 (9)
Firecrest - 9 (2)
Goldcrest - 6 (2)
Meadow Pipit - 25
Robin - 3
Whitethroat - 1
Willow Warbler - 0 (1)
Yellow-browed Warbler - 1

Nanjizal, Cornwall - 1st October 2025

 Day six and the weather is still holding for us. Another 200+ bird day but no unusual species this morning.

Grasshopper Warbler, age 3

A few to be getting on with.

Meadow Pipits, adult above and juvenile below.

Meadow Pipit, age 3

Total: 232 (42)

Blackbird - 2 (2)
Blackcap - 88 (5)
Blue Tit - 4
Cetti's Warbler - 2 (4)
Chiffchaff - 68 (8)
Dunnock - 1 (1)
Firecrest - 19(10)
Garden Warbler -1
Goldcrest - 10 (4)
Grasshopper Warbler - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 0 (5)
Meadow Pipit - 19
Reed Warbler - 5
Robin - 5 (1)
Sedge Warbler - 2
Wren - 5 (1)

Nanjizal, Cornwall - 30th September 2025

 A chilly, misty start but the birds were still in the valley. We actually caught more than yesterday. We spent the afternoon walking at Kenidjack where there were very few birds to see. A visit to Pendeen churchyard where a Yellow-browed Warbler has been seen yielded a single call heard but no sight of the bird.

Total: 293 (23)

Blackbird - 0 (1)
Blackcap - 138 (4)
Blue Tit - 4 (3)
Cetti's Warbler - 3
Chaffinch - 2
Chiffchaff - 96 (5)
Firecrest - 18 (1)
Garden Warbler - 1
Goldcrest - 8 (4)
Great Tit - 2
Long-tailed Tit - 7
Reed Warbler - 4 (1)
Robin - 1 (3)
Sedge Warbler - 1
Song Thrush - 1
Willow Warbler - 1
Wren - 6 (1)

Nanjizal, Cornwall - 29th September 2025

Very low wind today and looking good for a better catch from the first round. We ended up on 271 new and 24 retraps of 20 species. A lot were Blackcaps with Common Redstart, Common Nightingale and Coal Tit rather less commonly captured here. Off site 2:30pm

Common Nightingale age 3

3M Common Redstart

Total: 271 (24)

Blackbird - 0 (2)
Blackcap - 136 (5)
Blue Tit - 5
Cetti's Warbler - 1 (4)
Chaffinch - 5
Chiffchaff - 59 (4)
Coal Tit - 2
Dunnock - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 2
Firecrest - 21 (1)
Garden Warbler - 1
Grasshopper Warbler - 1
Goldcrest - 10
Goldfinch - 1
Common Nightingale - 1
Common Redstart - 1
Reed Warbler - 2 (1)
Robin - 20 (2)
Sedge Warbler - 1 (1)
Wren - 1 (2)

Nanjizal, Cornwall - 28th September 2025

 A little busier than yesterday but still not so many birds around. It was a lovely day with less wind and with sunshine, but the southerly wind of yesterday certainly is not the wind direction to bring birds. The wind has now turned north westerly and we still have little to show for it. Hoping for more birds tomorrow on a north easterly that will be rather low by the time nets are dropped tomorrow morning. Today there were 18 species.

3M Siskin

Site map, lots of nets and there are usually some that remain closed due to wind direction.

Total: 107 (26)

Blackbird - 0 (1)
Blackcap - 52 (5)
Blue Tit - 2 (1)
Cetti's Warbler - 1 (2)
Chaffinch - 2
Chiffchaff - 17 (6)
Dunnock - 2 (2)
Firecrest - 7 (1)
Grasshopper Warbler - 1
Goldcrest - 2
Great Tit - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 0 (1)
Reed Warbler - 6 (1)
Robin - 7 (2)
Sedge Warbler - 0 (1)
Siskin - 3
Song Thrush - 1 (1)
Wren - 3 (2)

Nanjizal, Cornwall - 27th September 2025

 The weather forecast wasn't good for today with rain expected in the late morning. It was also rather windy, with winds coming from the south. There were a few wind effected nets that were not opened, but those that were in use had only a few birds on the first round with not many more on the second. There was quite a high proportion of Firecrests, more in fact than the previous day when there were  over 150 birds all told.

The rain was setting in earlier than expected and all nets were closed soon after 10am.

Totals: 28 (11)

Blackcap - 8 (2)
Cetti's Warbler - 2
Chaffinch - 0 (2)
Chiffchaff - 6 (5)
Firecrest - 7 (1)
Garden Warbler - 1
Goldcrest - 1
Great Tit - 0 (1)
Long-tailed Tit - 1
Reed Warbler - 2

Nanjizal, Cornwall - 26th September 2025

 We were expecting to start on Saturday, but were asked to get to the site as soon as we could, from our hotel in Camborne as there was only one ringer on site for the Friday. We arrived shortly before 8am and began ringing straight away. We haven't needed to pick up the pace for quite some time, with catches usually around the 30-40 mark in Norfolk, but we managed with no problem. We even remembered parts of the site, and on recalling the drops under some of the boarding, decided to avoid working there in the dark and opted for a later start time.

The total for the day was 145 new birds with 10 retraps. Leading species Blackcap with 72.

Firecrest

Total: 145 (10)

Blackbird - 1
Blackcap - 72 (4)
Blue Tit - 1
Chaffinch - 2
Chiffchaff - 41 (3)
Dunnock - 1 (1)
Firecrest - 5
Garden Warbler - 2
Goldcrest - 1
Grasshopper Warbler - 2
Great Tit - 1
Long-tailed Tit - 4 (1)
Reed Warbler - 1
Robin - 5
Sedge Warbler - 1
Song Thrush - 1
Willow Warbler - 1
Wren - 3

After we'd closed we went for lunch at the Land's End Airport cafe and also managed to see the Isabelline Wheatear that has been staying around the runway. This was the second vagrant of our spell in Cornwall, having seen the very obliging Grey Phalarope at St. Gothians Sands LNR yesterday.

Morston - 20th September 2025

 After a spell of windy weather we took a chance on Morston this morning. We were expecting the gusts to pick up quite quickly, but the presence of a sea fret also seemed to influence the coastal wind flow and nets were more wind affected than we would have hoped from early on.

Meadow Pipit

We caught our first Meadow Pipits of the autumn. Dunnocks were moving through again, as were Stonechats, although whether they were heading south or on an extended feeding circuit is as yet unclear. Stonechats seem to peak in numbers at around 10am, then drop off again. We have darvic marked 10 at Morston this year and none have been seen or recaught so far.

3F Stonechat

The catch consisted of 11 species including departing summer migrants Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and a Whitethroat with fat score 3, indicating it is preparing for a relatively lengthy flight, rather than a short hop along the coast.

Juvenile Whitethroat with fat score of 3, weight 18g.

For most of the morning there was a sustained movement westwards of Swallows.

Totals: 33 (2)

Blackcap - 6
Blue Tit - 5
Cetti's Warbler - 0 (1)
Chiffchaff - 4
Dunnock - 4
Linnet - 1
Meadow Pipit - 5
Reed Bunting - 3
Robin - 1 (1)
Stonechat - 3
Whitethroat - 1

Scolt Head, Norfolk - Update on birds ringed 25th June 2025

 A few more reports of our Mediterranean Gulls and Sandwich Terns.

We didn't have very many local sightings of Med Gulls after fledging. However a couple of birds turned up separately at Beacon Ponds, Kilnsea. There were also 3 individual one day only sightings of birds that passed through Boultham Mere, Lincolnshire, so apparently it's not unusual for them to head off inland. There were a couple of birds reported separately from Red Nab, Heysham on the west coast so perhaps taking into account other records they made a cross country movement. Today a further recovery (bird found dead) at Laytown Beach, Eire.

There have been a lot of Sandwich Tern sightings with birds heading north and south. Most recently there have been sightings from Dawlish Warren. There are certainly sites were a few of our birds get seen, although they are not usually with other marked birds from our project.

Furthest report to date, from Kartong, Gambia - KJ3 has already made it to Africa.

KJ3 recorded at Beacon Ponds, Kilnsea 12/07/2025

Morston - 9th September 2025

 We took our chance to get nets up at the coast. The wind had calmed and any unusual birds that may have been around when flycatchers were popping up along the coast a few days before were long gone. We were surprised to find it rather quiet when we arrived and there were very few captures until around 8'o'clock when we started to see birds feeding along the ditch and in the bramble clumps.

There appeared to have been an influx of Dunnocks and Robins, as there are usually few Dunnocks about and this is the first time we've recorded or even seen Robin there.  Top species was Chiffchaff and a Stonechat and two Reed Buntings were marked for the respective darvic marked projects.

3M Reed Bunting

Thanks to PWL & LC for completing our team of 4.

Total: 38 (2)

Blackcap - 5
Blue Tit - 6
Chiffchaff - 11
Dunnock - 8 (1)
Reed Bunting - 2
Robin - 3
Stonechat - 1
Whitethroat - 1
Wren - 1

Sculthorpe Moor - 8th September 2025

 A quiet morning with only 18 birds processed. Leading species of Blue Tit, quite a late Sedge Warbler, with Cetti's Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat the best of the bunch that were all juveniles.

Cetti's Warbler

Sedge Warbler

Lesser Whitethroat

Total: 18

Blackcap - 4
Blue Tit - 6
Cetti's Warbler - 1
Chiffchaff - 3
Lesser Whitethroat - 1
Reed Bunting - 1
Sedge Warbler - 1
Wren - 1

Dersingham Bog - 6th September 2025

 A few hours this morning focussing on Stonechats and we managed to catch 10. All were marked with red darvics for the project. A few individuals with interesting plumage.

This adult male shows white across the rump as does the following.

Both birds are in full moult, including primary feathers so not quite as smart as usual.

Total:10

Stonechat - 10

Morston - 5th September 2025

 The wind's from the wrong direction for vagrants but our departing summer migrants are skirting the coast so we gave this lovely site within a stones throw of the beach a go with PWL.

The bulk of the catch were migrants with Whitethroat making up just under a third of the catch including a somewhat tardy adult. Blackcaps outnumbered Chiffchaff just, and 4 new Stonechat have us thinking that these are also possibly birds on passage. Linnets, Dunnocks and Wrens represented the resident birds and a Cetti's Warbler was a real surprise, unlikely to have been bred there or nearby and probably on the move.

Adult Whitethroat

Juvenile Cetti's Warbler

3M Stonechat

3JP Stonechat

The winter bird feed crop is coming along nicely.

Total: 33 (2)

Blackcap - 6
Cetti's Warbler - 1
Chiffchaff - 4
Dunnock - 3 (1)
Linnet - 3
Stonechat - 4
Whitethroat - 9 (1)
Wren - 3