Thursday, 17 July 2025

Thursday 17th July

No news from the high tide but autumn migration was still evident with the discovery of a juvenile Cuckoo in Greenland Lake, just the third record of the year. Perhaps from the same upland valley, the first juvenile Willow Warbler was with a tit flock in Dead Dolphin Wood.

Other Wildlife: Increasing numbers of Six-spot Burnet and Common Blue were around Greenland Lake, with a Hornet Hoverfly Volucella zonaria by the Dune Pond and a Golden-ringed Dragonfly in Dead Dolphin Wood. 

Six-spot Burnet - Kevin Rylands

Wednesday, 16 July 2025

Wednesday 16th July

Counts over the morning tide110 Sandwich and seven Common Tern, c30 Mediterranean and a 1cy Yellow-legged Gull. Wader numbers included 37 Whimbrel16 Dunlin, five Bar and four Black-tailed Godwit, three Ringed Plover and three Sanderling

Common Tern 3cy - Lee Collins

The only passerine migrants were a Sedge Warbler and a Budgerigar that visited the Bight on the dropping tide, the first since a vismig bird in Oct 2017.

Budgerigar - Lee Collins

Other Wildlife: A female Grey Seal roosted on Finger Point and a Bottle-nosed Dolphin was offshore. 

Grey Seal - Mark Bailey

Despite the overcast conditions a couple of new insects for Recording Area were amongst those on the wing. The first was a soft-winged flower beetle Dasytes aeratus, a common widespread species, in Skipper Meadow.

Dasytes aeratus - Alan Keatley

The second new species was a small dagger fly, Empis scutellata found in Dead Dolphin Wood.

Empis scutellata - Alan Keatley

New emergences included the lauxaniidae fly Homoneura notata, Green Leafhopper Cicadella viridis and a Long-faced Furrow-bee Lasioglossum punctatissimum.

Homoneura notata - Alan Keatley

Long-faced Furrow-bee Lasioglossum punctatissimum - Alan Keatley

Other notable insects were a Brown Argus in Greenland Lake and two Median Wasp Dolichovespula media gathering nest material from the new fencing by the Station.

Median Wasp Dolichovespula media - Alan Keatley

Tuesday, 15 July 2025

Tuesday 15th July

A minimum count of 213 Sandwich Tern including at least 85 juveniles gathered on the dropping tide, with other counts from The Bight including eight Mediterranean and a 2cy Yellow-legged Gull, six Common Tern, six Dunlin, four Bar-tailed Godwit, four Ringed and a Grey Plover.

Sandwich Tern (likely ringed at Pagham Harbour, Sussex) - Lee Collins
Yellow-legged Gull - Lee Collins

Monday, 14 July 2025

Monday 14th July

The post high tide build up of Sandwich Tern peaked at 138 with a substantial increase of at least 58 juveniles, hopefully a sign of a good breeding season. Also around The Bight seven Common Tern (three juveniles), seven Dunlinsix Ringed and a Grey Plover, four Bar-tailed Godwit and four Sanderling. 

Common Tern - Lee Collins

Whimbrel - Lee Collins

Other Wildlife: A welcome change in the weather, even including a few scattered showers, the conditions reducing insect activity, although the usual hoverflies and bees were active, with the strong breeze and swaying flowers keeping them mainly on the move. 

White-zoned Furrow-bee Lasioglossum leucozonium - Alan Keatley

Pied Plumehorn Volucella pellucens - Alan Keatley

Amongst them a couple of flies new for the year, Anthomyia pluvialis and the dancefly Hybos culiciformis.

Hybos culiciformis - Alan Keatley

Anthomyia pluvialis - Alan Keatley

Sunday, 13 July 2025

Sunday 13th July

A minimum of 176 Sandwich Tern, including at least 44 juveniles, were present on the dropping tide with six Common and a Little Tern. Gull numbers were however reduced with a minimum of 52 Mediterranean Gull, with a 1cy Yellow-legged Gull in The Bight.

Little & Sandwich Tern - Lee Collins

Wader counts included 99 Redshank28 Whimbrel12 Greenshank, five Bar-tailed Godwit, five Dunlin, three Ringed and a juvenile Little Ringed Plover and single Grey Plover and Turnstone

Little Ringed Plover - Lee Collins

Elsewhere five Manx and a Balearic Shearwater were offshore, with a family group of three Green Woodpecker feeding on the golf course fairways, with a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker doing the same less expected. 

Cirl Bunting - Martin Overy

Ringing News: A total of six juvenile Sandwich Tern from the same site nr Lymington, Hampshire highlights the importance of the Exe Estuary for this colony. 

Saturday, 12 July 2025

Saturday 12th July

Mediterranean Gull were again a constant feature with at least 137, largely offshore, in the evening, following a minimum count of 126 in the estuary on the dropping tide. Also increasing in number were Sandwich Tern with at least 130 present on the morning tide.

Sandwich Tern - Dave Jewell

Also in the estuary 102 Redshank19 Whimbrel13 Dunlin10 Greenshanknine Ringed and a Grey Plover, six Common Tern, five Bar-tailed Godwit and four Sanderling.

Elsewhere a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull, two Great Crested Grebe and an Eider were offshore with migrants from the mainland including juvenile Buzzard, Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker, and behind the Main Pond, the first Treecreeper of the year. 

Year list addition: 
154. Treecreeper

Ringing News: Recoveries revealed the origin of some of the increased numbers of Mediterranean Gull and Sandwich Tern with several of each from Belgian or Dutch colonies. The highlight was the third Hungarian Mediterranean Gull recovery for the Warren. 

Friday, 11 July 2025

Friday 11th July

Counts from the estuary over the high tide included 78 Redshank71 Sandwich and six Common Tern24 Whimbrel20 Shelduck13 Dunlin, seven Ringed, a juvenile Little Ringed and a Grey Plover, five Greenshankfour Bar and a Black-tailed Godwit, a Sanderling and the first juvenile Yellow-legged Gull of the year. 

Mediterranean Gull were a continuous feature with a peak of 75 on the dropping tide, with at least 50 offshore late evening, although many more no doubt moved through. 

Mediterranean Gull (juvenile) & Bar-tailed Godwit - Dave Jewell

Mediterranean Gull (adult) - Dave Jewell

Also feeding offshore 1800 Herring, 21 Lesser Black-backed and three Common Gull, with five Manx Shearwater, four Great Northern Diver and a Great Crested Grebe

Elsewhere eight Swift were overhead and the first autumn Sedge Warbler was on the Golf Course.

Year list addition: 
153. Yellow-legged Gull

Ringing News: An arrival of at least 20 juvenile Black-headed Gull included a bird colour-ringed in the nest nr Lymington 

Other Wildlife: At least five Bottle-nosed Dolphin and an Atlantic Bluefin Tuna were offshore.

Thursday, 10 July 2025

Thursday 10th July

A total of 62 Sandwich Tern (17 juveniles) were present on the dropping morning tide, but only 30 were present in the evening, when they were joined by four Common Tern, two adults and the first two juveniles. 

Also around the estuary on both tides max counts of 15 Mediterranean Gull11 Dunlin, eight Whimbrel, five Bar-tailed Godwit, two Greenshank, two Little Ringed, two Ringed and a Grey Plover.

Elsewhere 10 Common Scoter and three Great Crested Grebe were offshore.

Other Wildlife: The hot temperature meant it wasn't just the birds that were quiet in the woods, however, some insects were active in the heat with nectaring bees, wasps and butterflies. Butterflies included Red Admiral, Peacock and Comma on nettles, with Meadow Brown, Small Skipper and Common Blue searching for larval food plants in the decidedly brown grassland.

On the umbellifers near the fire site was a recently emerged male Geoffroy's Blood Bee Sphecodes geoffrellus, one of the smallest blood bees, a cleptoparasite of Lasioglossum bees, with several Red-sided Eriothrix E. rufomaculatus on Ragwort and Small Red-eyed Damselfly were active on the Main Pond.

Geoffroy's Blood Bee Sphecodes geoffrellus - Alan Keatley

Small Red-eyed Damselfly - Alan Keatley

Red-sided Eriothrix E. rufomaculatus - Alan Keatley

New for the year, on its foodplant, was a female Rose Curl Sawfly Allanus cinctus.

Rose Curl Sawfly Allanus cinctus - Alan Keatley

Wednesday, 9 July 2025

Wednesday 9th July

No sign of yesterday's Roseate Tern, but an increase in Sandwich Tern, with a minimum of 61 birds, 29 juveniles. Also present around the estuary, 251 Curlew73 Redshank45+ Mediterranean Gull, 22 Whimbrel, seven Dunlin, five Greenshankfour Bar and a Black-tailed Godwitfour Ringed, a Grey and the juvenile Little Ringed Plover
 
Elsewhere 28 Sand and two House Martin and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew along the Dune Ridge.

Ringing News: The start of autumn migration has seen a welcome increase in ringing recoveries, with eight Oystercatcher, including birds first ringed here as adults in Jan 1997, Nov 2000 (5C) and Sep 2004. The first bird is now at least 30 years old.

Oystercatcher 5C - Lee Collins

Also recorded five Mediterranean Gull including an adult (yellow AT.LU) ringed on the German/Dutch border as a chick in Jun 2022 and seen here Jun-Sep 2023; and four Sandwich Tern including an adult (Red KJB) ringed as a juvenile at Ynyslas, Ceredigion in Aug 2018 and seen here for the eight consecutive autumn, a new bird (Blue TJJ) from Holland and a juvenile (Red 348) ringed at Lymington, Hampshire just a month ago. 

Tuesday, 8 July 2025

Tuesday 8th July

The year's first Roseate Tern was the highlight, present on and off in the Bight over the evening tide, closely followed by a moulting male Ruff, also new for the year. The latter is just the sixth July record and the earliest by several weeks after one on 22nd July 1989. 

Roseate Tern - Kevin Rylands

Ruff - Lee Collins

Also in the estuary minimum counts of 49 Sandwich Tern (20 juvs), 220 Black-headed and 58 Mediterranean Gull, with wader numbers also increasing with 72 Redshank, nine Bar and two Black-tailed Godwit, six Dunlin, four Greenshank, two Little Ringed, two Ringed and a Grey Plover

Elsewhere 60+ Swallow, five Sand and two House Martin were feeding around Warren Point, 12 Manx Shearwater and three Great Crested Grebe were offshore, a Buzzard was overhead and single Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker were on site. 

Year list addition: 
152. Roseate Tern
151. Ruff

Other Wildlife: The run of discoveries continues with a new digger wasp for the Recording Area, the tiny (four mm), black Solsky's Wasp Stigmus solskyi found running around on a Sycamore leaf behind the Crocus Meadow, possibly looking for its aphid prey; it's widespread, but local across England and Wales.

Solsky's Wasp Stigmus solskyi - Alan Keatley

It was a busy day for insects with many Silvery Leafcutter and Little Flower Bee collecting pollen on brambles. Amongst them were three new hoverflies for the year, Wasp Plumehorn Volucella inanis, Marsh Tiger Hoverfly Helophilus hybridus, Common Paragus P. haemorrhous and Four-banded Digger Wasp Gorytes quadrifasciatus

Four-banded Digger Wasp Gorytes quadrifasciatus - Alan Keatley

Marsh Tiger Hoverfly Helophilus hybridus - Alan Keatley

Other insects included two pairs of Small Red-eyed Damselfly mating on the Main Pond, several Javelin Wasp Gasteruption jaculator on umbellifers, several fresh Peacock butterflies, many Gatekeeper and a steady flow of Small White.

Javelin Wasp Gasteruption jaculator - Alan Keatley