Tuesday 4th August

Counts from the estuary included 223 Sandwich and seven Common Tern, 100 Ringed and two Grey Plover, 28 Dunlin, 12 Greenshank, nine Mediterranean Gull, four Black and a Bar-tailed Godwit, two Common Sandpiper and two Turnstone.

Elsewhere relatively quiet for passerines on the reserve, 34 Sanderling were on the beach, the Red-legged Partridge was on the Golf Course and the female Mallard is doing well with her eight ducklings still at the Main Pond.

Other Wildlife: A Lesser Thorn-tipped Longhorn Pogonocherus hispidus on Hemp-agrimony by the station was just the second site record.

Lesser Thorn-tipped Longhorn Pogonocherus hispidus - Alan Keatley

Eight Clouded Yellow and five Painted Lady were on the wing with the usual butterflies, but with no Gatekeeper, so the season may be over for the species. A few moths on the wing included a migrant Vestal, whilst nectaring bees noted included male and female Green Furrow Bee Lasioglossum morio and Geoffroy's Blood Bee Sphecodes geoffrellus.

Vestal - Alan Keatley

Geoffroy's Blood Bee Sphecodes geoffrellus - Alan Keatley

Saturday 1st August

Ringing News: A total of 12 colour-ringed Sandwich Tern were noted over the high tide. 

Friday 31st July

The moulting Eider remains offshore, with a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull on Finger Point and 236 Redshank in the saltmarsh at high tide.

Other Wildlife: At least five Clouded Yellow and a Painted Lady were in Greenland Lake. 

Painted Lady - James Marshall

Thursday 30th July

The bushes were busy with recently fledged second brood passerines being fed by attentive adults including Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Reed Warbler and Whitethroat.  In Greenland Lake there were juvenile Cirl Bunting, Stonechat and Linnet. A Green Woodpecker alarm called as it got too close to the Sparrowhawk nest, still being used occasionally by the fledged young.

On the beach, the adult Yellow-legged and three Mediterranean Gull, with the constant coming and going of Sandwich Tern with food for their young attracting the attention of two Arctic Skua. 

Other Wildlife: More overcast of late, with the rarity of a few passing showers, reducing the number of nectaring insects, but those noted included a Dark Seedhead Neb Apodia martinii on its foodplant, Common Fleabane, Pantaloon Bee Dasypoda hirtipes and a javelin wasp Gasteruption jaculator. The usual butterflies were on the wing when the sun came out including up to eight Clouded Yellow.

Pantaloon Bee Dasypoda hirtipes - Alan Keatley

Gasteruption jaculator - Alan Keatley

Elsewhere the mirid bug Compsidolon salicellum was near the now waterless First Pond, a Sand Lizard was basking on Warren Point and appreciating the damp weather, a Common Toad was on the Back Path.

Sand Lizard - Alan Keatley

Compsidolon salicellum - Alan Keatley

Wednesday 29th July

Two Wood Sandpiper, both juveniles and just the fourth multiple record, were around The Bight on the evening tide. There were smaller numbers of Dunlin and Ringed Plover today with 21 Sanderling and single Knot and Turnstone also present.

Wood Sandpiper - Lee Collins

Wood Sandpiper - Lee Collins

The high tides also produced at least 255 Sandwich Tern, five Mediterranean Gull and two Common Tern, an adult and juvenile, around The Bight.

Common Tern (juvenile) - Lee Collins

Elsewhere the moulting Eider remains flightless off the beach or roosting on groynes. 

Year List addition:

158. Wood Sandpiper

Ringing News: Amongst the increase in Sandwich Tern, an impressive 15 ringed birds were recorded, most returning and/or birds that have been noted already this month, but including a new Danish ringed adult. 

Tuesday 28th July

Counts from the estuary included 44 Ringed Plover, 41 Dunlin, 11 Greenshank, including the first juvenile, nine Sanderling, eight Mediterranean Gull, four Common Tern, two Grey Plover, two Shelduck, a Common Sandpiper and a Turnstone.

Elsewhere the Eider was offshore and there was again no sign of the Coot at the Main Pond, presumably having left due to the declining water levels, what may have been the same bird was in Cockwood Harbour on Saturday afternoon. However a Kingfisher and eight young Mallard ducklings were present.

Mallard - Alan Keatley

Other Wildlife: The flower meadows were productive with a wide varied of insects including a male White-footed Furrow Bee Lasioglossum leucopus, a new species for the Eecording Area, males are active from July. Other nectaring insects included Bronze Furrow Bee Halictus tumulorum, Stripe-faced Dronefly Eristalis nemorum, Sandpit Sphecodes pellucidus and Geoffroy's Blood Bee S. geoffrellus.

White-footed Furrow Bee Lasioglossum leucopus - Alan Keatley

Bronze Furrow Bee Halictus tumulorum - Alan Keatley

Stripe-faced Dronefly Eristalis nemorum - Alan Keatley

Further emergences for the year included Large Rose Sawfly Arge pagana, the micro moth Golden Argent Argyresthia goedartella and Lucerne Bug Adelphocoris lineolatus.

Large Rose Sawfly Arge pagana - Alan Keatley

 Lucerne Bug Adelphocoris lineolatus - Alan Keatley

Golden Argent Argyresthia goedartella - Alan Keatley

Eleven butterfly species included several Clouded Yellow, Painted Lady and two Brown Argus, with two Hummingbird Hawkmoth and several Silver Y. A nocturnal search of The Bight at low tide revealed at least 20 Lagoon Snout Cranefly Geranomyia bezzii, assessed as vulnerable to extinction in Britain, it is only known from five other UK sites (on the south and east coasts). 

Monday 27th July

Counts from the beach and estuary included 160 Redshank, 140 Sandwich Tern, 35 Dunlin, 29 Sanderling, 25 Ringed Plover, nine Mediterranean Gull, five Knot, four Bar and three Black-tailed Godwit, two Grey Plover and a Common Tern.

Black-headed, Common and Mediterranean Gull - Jim Summers

Elsewhere two Sedge and two Willow Warbler were on site, 30 Swallow, 10 Swift and five House Martin were overhead and the female Eider was offshore.

Willow Warbler - Jim Summers

Sedge Warbler - Jim Summers

Other Wildlife: At least two Common Dolphin were offshore early morning.

Sunday 26th July

Counts from the estuary included 420 Oystercatcher, 165 Sandwich Tern, including 64 juveniles, 73 Whimbrel, 42 Dunlin, 35 Ringed Plover, 25 Mediterranean Gull, seven Greenshank, five Bar-tailed Godwit and single Common Sandpiper, Common Tern and Grey Plover. 

Elsewhere a Grasshopper Warbler was in Greenland Lake, a Willow Warbler was by the Main Pond, two Common Scoter and a Budgerigar on the Golf Course. 

Other Wildlife: Large numbers of Bee-wolf still around flowering Fennel, with the Lesser Knapweed also proving attractive to pollinators. 

Bee-wolf - Kevin Rylands

Red-tailed Bumblebee (male) - Kevin Rylands

Six-spot Burnet - Kevin Rylands

Rush Veneer - Kevin Rylands This migrant moth has been seen daily in recent weeks

Saturday 25th July

Counts from the estuary included 180 Sandwich Tern, including 59 juveniles, 180 Redshank, 57 Whimbrel, 40 Dunlin, 28 Ringed and a Grey Plover, 18 Mediterranean and a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull, 10 Greenshank, three Bar and a Black-tailed Godwit and a Common Sandpiper.

Elsewhere 44 Sanderling were on the beach, the Eider was on groyne 12 and the Coot was on the Main Pond.

Other Wildlife: A Heath Potter Wasp Eumenus coarctatus was again on Fennel in the Car Park, with the tiny solitary wasp Large-headed Bethylus B. cephalotes found on the dune slope, where an Alopecosa cuneata, a nationally scarce wolf spider was blending in well with the background.

Heath Potter Wasp Eumenus coarctatus - Kevin Rylands

Large-headed Bethylus B. cephalotes - Alan Keatley

Alopecosa cuneata - Alan Keatley

An increase in hoverfly numbers included Small Spot-eye Eristalinus sepulchralis, Hornet Plumehorn Volucella zonaria, Plain-faced Dronefly Eristalis arbustorum and Stripe-backed Fleckwing Dasysyrphus albostriatus.

Stripe-backed Fleckwing Dasysyrphus albostriatus - Alan Keatley

Today's selection of twelve butterfly species included a single Brown Argus and Small Tortoiseshell with at least five Clouded Yellow.and Painted Lady.

Small Tortoiseshell - Kevin Rylands

Painted Lady - Kevin Rylands

Brown Argus - Alan Keatley

Scampering for cover a Water Shrew near the Golf Course and a Brown Rat near the station.

Friday 24th July

Counts from the estuary included c200 Sandwich Tern, 169 Oystercatcher, 162 Redshank, 30 Whimbrel, 29 Dunlin, 22 Ringed and two Grey Plover, nine Greenshank, eight Mediterranean Gull and three Bar-tailed Godwit.

Elsewhere 30 Sanderling were on the beach, four Great Crested Grebe, two Common Scoter and the female Eider were offshore, four Stock Dove were in the Railway Saltmarsh, the Coot was on the Main Pond with single Great Spotted and Green Woodpecker on site. 

Ringing News: Amongst the Sandwich Tern were, as usual, a number of colour-ringed birds, the majority of them from Netherlands, highlighting more travelled birds as post-breeding dispersal gathers apace. Other birds included the second Danish recovery this week and a metal ringed bird from Wexford, Ireland, also recorded last year.

Other Wildlife: At least five Clouded Yellow were on site and a new location for Corn Spurrey was discovered, after the first record for over 50 years back in May.

Clouded Yellow - James Marshall