5-6/10/2026

The lovely Yellow-browed Warbler trapped and processed by the DBO ringing team who kindly showed the bird to me and David G. yesterday

 

Black Tern feeding off the fishing boats yesterday

With flat a calm conditions the sea watching has been grim, so poor that I even spent the afternoon in my garden tidying things up for the winter.

Bothe Little Owls were out this morning and still there 2 hours later.

A small flock of Ruff disturbed from the ploughed fields at the back of Scotney farm.

Once the fog lifted this morning I cycled all around the Scotney Complex. Highlights of a couple of hours out there were 11 Ruff, 3 Green Sandpipers, 11 Dunlin, 4 Ringed Plover, a Greenshank, 6 Redshank, 400+ Golden Plover, 300+ Lapwing, 250 Linnets, 30+ Skylarks, 20+ Tree Sparrows, a Merlin, 3 Marsh Harriers, several Common Buzzards and several Clouded Yellows, downside was large numbers of feral Greylag, Canada and Egyptian Geese.

Ruff over the ploughed fields at the back of Scotney farm

A Common Buzzard with a raucous Rook for company over my garden this afternoon

The 3rd Dialectica scalariella to turn in my trap a nationally scarce leaf miner, specialising on Vipers Bugloss. 

A colourful example of a Vestal from my trap