Linnet ringed LBO 5th August 2009 was recaught 1360 km away at Laguna de San Juan, Madrid, Spain on 13th March 2010. We have seven previous movements to & one from Spain. The dates are correct & it only took the Spanish ringing scheme over 16 years to let us know. Difficult to know whether fewer of our Linnets are going to Spain than in the past or not when it's taking this long to get information back. On the plus side, better late than never & a big thank you to whoever is ploughing through the backlog of outstanding data !

Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus) Blue Tit come out on top this month, with Chiffchaff being knocked down to 5th place - they've held strong from March!. We have to go back to June 2019 with 364 birds to beat this months total of 260 birds ringed, a comparison with these totals and 2023 with 258 birds, reveals a drop in the Linnet abundance with 156 in 2019 and 108 in 2023 respectively. Both years (2019 and 2023) 16 Blue tits were ringed, this year appears to have been good for their young output and therefore contributing to this years increase in birds ringed. It's been a good month ringing here, with interesting highlights including Marsh Tit and Mistle Thrush (shown above) a malting female, both species infrequently occurring at Landguard.  We also ringed our first Ringed Plover chick after a spell of no success in the past few years as well as a juvenile Black Redstart - a nice treat showing they have indeed bred locally and maybe our bird singing on the Fort was not in vain!. Bird Species Count Blue Tit 42 Linnet 30 Dunnock 22 Great Tit 22 Chiffchaff 20 Blackcap 17 Goldfinch 12 Whitethroat 12 Coal Tit 11 Cetti's Warbler 10 House sparrow 10 Wren 8 Robin 7 Greater Spotted Woodpecker 5 Reed warbler 5 Woodpigeon 5 Grey Wagtail 4 Black Redstart 3 Blackbird 3 Lesser Whitethroat 3 Sedge Warbler 3 Garden Warbler 1 Marsh Tit 1 Mapie 1 Mistle Thrush 1 Redstart 1 Ringed Plover 1 TOTAL 260

Common redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus), ringed on the 21st April as a 1st year Male, with black patches on the throat and breast.      This month concludes with 401 birds of 30 species. We have had a good spring with a good mix of spring migrants, some such as the Reed warbler arriving earliest on record. You would have to go back to 2015 to get a higher total of 413 birds. In comparison to 2015 we had an increase from 71 to 144 Chiffchaff, and a slight decrease of Linnet from 49 (2015) to 17 this April, with other species remaining fairly constant.    Chiffchaff 144 Blackcap 88 Willow warbler 35 Wheatear 24 Whitethroat 18 Linnet 17 Lesser whitethroat 11 Song thrush 11 Goldfinch 7 Robin 7 Sedge warbler 4 Long-tailed tit 4 Reed warbler 4 Blackbird 3 Great tit 3 Wren 3 Goldcrest 2 Redwing 2 Woodpigeon 2 Pied wagtail 2 Black redstart 1 Chaffinch 1 Common redstart 1 Firecrest 1 Garden warbler 1 Greenfinch 1 House sparrow 1 Magpie 1 Sparrowhawk 1 Yellowhammer 1

Blackbird ringed Reddingbootpad, Vlieland, The Netherlands, 10th November 2022 retrapped 286 km away at LBO 15th November 2025 would be on autumn migration through both sites. Lesser Redpoll ringed LBO 18th October 2025 was retrapped 306 km away at Nettlefield Wood, Cheshire on 21st March 2026. This bird would be on autumn migration & heading north in spring through Cheshire.

Female adult Yellowhammer, 23/03/2026 This month concludes with 190 birds of 23 species, the highest number of birds ringed this month since March 2020 (211 birds), owing to a greater number of Chiffchaff moving through seemingly earlier. The most noteworthy bird of this month falls to the Yellowhammer, a scarce sight at this location, let alone to ring one!!! Also of note was our second to earliest ever Willow warbler - 24th (record 23rd March 2024).    Chiffchaff 69 Goldcrest 25 Long-tailed tit 9 Robin 9 Blackbird 8 Redwing 8 Chaffinch 7 Firecrest 7 Goldfinch 7 Linnet 6 Song thrush 6 Wren 6 Blue tit 5 Dunnock 4 Woodpigeon 4 Blackcap 3 Fieldfare 1 Great tit 1 House sparrow 1 Starling 1 Woodcock 1 Willow warbler 1 Yellowhammer 1

Lesser Redpoll ringed Hockai, Liege, Belgium 28th January 2024 was retrapped 363 km away at LBO 22nd October 2025 is probably a bird from Northern Britain that was wintering in Belgium then caught on migration heading towards the continent the following year. Blackbird ringed LBO 27th October 2023 was retrapped 20 km away at Witnesham 4th March 2026. This would have been on autumn passage here although difficult to know whether it has settled in Suffolk or is a wintering bird from the continent heading back out this spring.

  SEASONAL WARDEN LANDGUARD BIRD OBSERVATORY Applicants need to be competent birdwatchers and have a BTO bird ringing ‘C’ permit with a mist net endorsement as a minimum requirement. An interest in other aspects of natural history and biological recording is also needed. The position runs from Mid-March until mid-November 2026. A job description is available on request. If you require any specifics, please don’t hesitate to ask. Please e-mail landguardbo@yahoo.co.uk

 SEASONAL WARDEN LANDGUARD BIRD OBSERVATORY Applicants need to be competent birdwatchers and have a BTO bird ringing ‘C’ permit with a mist net endorsement as a minimum requirement. An interest in other aspects of natural history and biological recording is also needed. The position runs from Mid-March until mid-November 2026. A job description is available on request. If you require any specifics, please don’t hesitate to ask. Please e-mail landguardbo@yahoo.co.uk

SEASONAL WARDEN LANDGUARD BIRD OBSERVATORY Applicants need to be competent birdwatchers and have a BTO bird ringing ‘C’ permit with a mist net endorsement as a minimum requirement. An interest in other aspects of natural history and biological recording is also needed. The position runs from Mid-March until mid-November 2026. A job description is available on request. If you require any specifics, please don’t hesitate to ask. Please e-mail landguardbo@yahoo.co.uk

 TERRY HOLLAND    1944 - 2025 Sad news this morning that Terry has passed away. Terry was a regular at LBO a couple of days a week in his retirement until this spring when declining health eventually curtailed his regular visits. He will be missed by all. R.I.P.

 368 birds of 20 species is the highest November total for seven years. 17 Mipits are worth highlighting as very few have been ringed in this month over the years. Blackbird 137 Goldcrest 47 Long-tailed Tit 37 Song Thrush 27 Robin 25 Meadow Pipit 17 Lesser Redpoll 15 Chaffinch 11 Goldfinch 8 Wren 7 Cetti's Warbler 6 Blackcap 5 Chiffchaff 5 Redwing 5 Wood Pigeon 4 Black Redstart 3 Blue Tit 3 Sparrowhawk 3 Firecrest 2 Pallas's Warbler 1

 Jack Snipe fitted with a Motus tag in Sweden 5th November travelled through Sweden, Denmark, Germany & The Netherlands has pinged the LBO tower. Its last detection in Holland was at WUR Brouwersdam Sluice 2023 hrs 8th November moving the 173 km to LBO at 38.1 km/hr flying over at 0025 hrs on 9th November with the detection lasting over 5 minutes. More information about Motus is on www.motus.org