6th – A crisp, fresh and windless morning saw flocks of Thrushes and Finches passing through and over Mannez quarry reserve. I flushed up 4 Woodcocks whilst opening the ringing nets just prior to first light. A female ring Ouzel showed well feeding amongst the Blackthorn with Redwings and Fieldfares. Finch flocks of up to 100 Chaffinches at a time passed over with Bramblings amongst them. Two separate flocks came into the quarry that were made up of Bramblings only (11 & 23 birds respectively). A male Reed Bunting flew over and shortly after we ringed a first year female. Amongst 88 birds ringed were large female Sparrowhawk, 1 Lesser Redpoll, 19 Redwings and 31 Chaffinches. As a finches fan I have been thoroughly spoilt this autumn and was delighted to ring 13 Bramblings today. A further 5 Bramblings were ringed at Longis nature reserve and Paul Veron ringed a further Brambling in Barrackmasters Lane.
Brambling – Mannez -photo JH/ABO
1st winter female Sparrowhawk – Mannez – photo – JH/ABO
7th – Strong SW winds left us with only Mannez available to ring below its sheltering walls. 60 birds were ringed, mostly Thrushes; 43 Redwings, 5 Song Thrushes, 3 Blackbirds and 1 Ring Ouzel.
Ring Ouzel Mannez quarry – photo – JH/ABO
8th – SW winds turned to NW overnight, another blowy morning allowing just a couple of nets open. 39 Birds were subsequently ringed at Mannez quarry, again the vast majority thrushes, 31 Redwings and 1 Fieldfare. A couple more Woodcock in the quarry first thing. 2 Sandwich Terns in Longis Bay. Late afternoon a productive 2 hrs ringing using 2 nets at Essex farm 21 new birds included 3 Redwings, 1 Siskin, 1 Brambling, 3 Firecrests and 8 Long tailed Tits.
9th – Rain until around 9am but then a flurry of birds moving included 2 Yellow-browed Warblers ringed, one at Rose Farm, the other Barrckmasters Lane. A woodcock flushed up from the footpath to Mannez hide from which a single flock of 11 Siskins was observed. A male Bullfinch, Siskin and Brambling were seen at Rose farm where a trickle of late moving migrants were ringed including 3 more Firecrests, Blackcap and Chiffchaff. The Lesser black-backed Gull was back on Crabby beach.
Yellow-browed Warbler – Rose Farm – photo JH – ABO
10th – A blustery day of NW winds. We can always fall back on the nets at Essex farm in this wind direction and this afternoon 19 new birds were ringed that included 3 Chiffchaffs, 2 Bullfinches and a Firecrest.
11th – An awful morning of 40mph NW winds turned into a bright breezy afternoon. There were 11 Turnstones and 4 Ringed Plovers beside the Razz causeway. 22 Mallards on Corbletts quarry. Renovations at the Nunnery are coming along, a new roof for one of the out buildings almost complete. A new roof for the main obs building to follow !
Nunnery renovations – photo – JH – ABO
12th – 30+ NW winds all day, a bit of everything in between, sunshine, rain and hail! There was a gathering of over 130 Herring Gulls in the fields behind Kiln Farm with 3 Lesser black backed Gulls amongst them. Still Chaffinches around with flocks of 30 at Kiln farm, 12 by the goats field and 20 at Rose Farm. By Razz causeway 15 Turnstones, 9 Ringed Plovers and a White Wagtail. 2 Sandwich Terns in Longis Bay and a further 3 in Braye bay. The bird feeding station was very busy (perhaps due to the colder weather) amongst the many Tits and finches a male Brambling. Justin and I did a late afternoon sea-watch for an hour from chateau Le Toq, there was a lot of movement with a fairly constant stream of auks (75) and Kittiwakes (35). We checked Longis pond just before dark there were 2 Teal and 1 Little Grebe on the pond and a flock of 26 Fieldfares came in to roost.