31st December

Lesser Yellowlegs Brue Estuary

At Weston STW the Bewick's Swan still present behind Warren Farm and a Greylag flew in from the east and landed with the swans.

30th December

A dull day from the heavy cloud with a 7mph WSW. Temperature 8 degrees. At Brean the Black Redstart was relocated around the caravans adjacent to the car park. On the down 2 Stonechat, 2 Bullfinch and 10 Redwing. A flock of 200 Teal flew distantly around Weston bay.
At Weston STW 2 more Stonechat found on the Axe bank whilst further up river 4 Goosander were found.
Purple Sandpiper count at Anchor Head now at 5

29th December

Strong overnight westerly winds soon died down early morning averaging 22mph then dropping to 16mph. A brief visit to Sand Point produced small vismig counts involving 45 Dunlin, 70 Black-headed Gulls, 50 Herring Gulls, 3 Common Gulls, 2 Curlew and 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls heading west. Heading east were 25 Shelduck.

27th December

High pressure building over the southern half of the UK forming mid-level layered cloud and a light 7mph southerly wind. Temperatures a mild 11 degrees. Along the river Axe 2 Green Sandpipers and 2 female Goosanders. Overhead a notable west and south passage of gulls included 600 Herring, 150 Common, 2 Lesser Black-backed and 300 Black-headed. A single Snipe seen flying high south-west. Redwings also recorded heading south in small groups.

24th December

Winds over the last week have been mainly westerly bringing mild temperatures with frequent fronts. On wednesday night an arrival of Redwings noted with a count of 100 around Milton alone. Big numbers of Black-headed Gulls seen passing through from the east. Today a Woodcock flushed from fields in the Brean area, a Black Redstart at the fort and at least 15 Golden Plover amongst 900 Lapwing. At Weston STW still 300 stock dove, 1 Brambling, 80 Pochard. The Bewick's was still with 55 Mute Swan. Last weekends Fieldfares have moved on after stripping the hawthorn bushes.
Black Redstart at Anchor Hd this afternoon.

weekend 17th/18th

Bleadon level is attracting good numbers of birds moving through the country. Most notable being Fieldfare and Stock Dove. With the Fieldfare are much smaller numbers of Redwings and Blackbirds. Stock Dove numbers an impressive 300 with just a few Woodpigeons amongst them. Numbers seem down on Chaffinch, Reed Bunting and Skylark but this could all change with a cold snap. 1-3 Water Pipits recorded yesterday on the Axe whilst the fields behind Warren Farm still holding 50ish Swans. Viewing was a bit more difficult so I couldn't tell if the Bewick's Swan was still present. The Bean Goose seen briefly in flight and the regular Barn Owl put in an appearance at dusk.

13th December

A Sand Point sea watch failed to produce anything of interest this morning. Birds on the move during a 45 minute count included 15 Kittiwake, 20 Common Gull, 25 Shelduck, 2 Great Black-backed Gulls, 10 Black-headed Gulls, 20 Dunlin.

Bean Geese

Tundra Bean Goose

I managed to catch up with the Bean Goose this morning and achieved much better views. The neck appears shorter and thicker than taiga Bean and the peaked forehead is more fitting for Tundra Bean so I'm going for Tundra Bean in the photo. The legs although not visible in the picture were bright orange and the mantle looked brown in the field eliminating confusion with Pink-footed Goose. Tundra Bean numbers have been steadily rising in the UK since the 2nd of December with the biggest numbers occurring in Aberdeenshire, Clyde, Norfolk and Northumbria. The birds arrivals can be easily explained by examining weather systems throughout the month with many days showing winds coming from their breeding grounds in the Arctic Tundra.

The Ring-necked Duck was still present this morning. I saw the Mute Swan flock had risen to 53 but was too far away to see if the Bewick's was still present.

11th December

Spotted Sandpiper

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

The Ring-necked Duck, Bewick's Swan and Bean Goose were all still present at the Sewage Works this morning.

10th December

Bewick's Swan

Bean Goose

A clear night with a full moon and reduced winds. Vismig at Sand Point produced no sea birds making their way back down the channel. Total birds on the move included 20 Curlew, 22 Shelduck, 20 Linnet, 11 Goldfinch, 7 Rock Pipit, 2 Teal, 8 Meadow Pipit.

Weston STW held some good birds starting with 3 Short-eared Owls (A.Hockey). A juvenile Bewick's Swan (M.Ponsford) was with 50 Mutes and a Bean Goose (M.Ponsford) gave distant scope views. The Ring-necked Duck was still present.

7th December

Kittiwake

Strong winds overnight from midnight onwards. By morning the direction was consistently north-westerly at Sand Point. Movement was fair but the lack of sea bird variety was noticeable. Recorded this morning were 46 Kittiwake involving birds moving both up and down channel. Heading down were 2 Black-headed Gull, 126 Shelduck, 8 Curlew and 50 Dunlin. 20 Common Gulls counted moving in both directions. Totals: 269 individuals, 9 species, 2:10 hours

At Weston STW both the Greylag and Ring-necked Duck still present.

6th December

All per B.Blake - The Ring-necked Duck still present at Weston STW along with Merlin and 2 Grey Geese considered to be either Bean or Pink-footed.

5th December

Up until the first day of winter at the beginning of the month the lows coming across the Atlantic have been hitting central Europe bringing warmer southerly winds to the UK but recently we've had winds from a cold polar airmass hanging between the UK and Iceland.

A half hour sea watch this morning produced 17 Kittiwakes flying up river close in in small parties. 200 Dunlin went down river distantly and a trickle of Common and Black-headed Gulls through.

The 1st winter drake Ring-necked Duck remains at the sewage works for it's 3rd day.

4th December

Ring-necked Duck

Greylag Goose

A 1st winter drake Ring-necked Duck was found yesterday at Weston STW along with Greylag. Both were still present today.

3rd December

Scarce Umber

Strong West and WSW winds overnight that had already dropped by first light. Three fronts went through overnight raising temperatures to 11 degrees. A trip to Sand Point to intercept any birds blown up the channel making their way back down started off quite bleak. From 8:15 to 9:15 no sea birds just 5 Shelduck, 5 Curlew and 2 Black-headed Gulls. Then a single flock of 96 Kittiwake flew down channel about mid-channel. They then started spiralling upwards to a height of around 100M and headed off north-west towards the Welsh coast. A single Guillemot came out with the Kittiwakes but continued following the coastline heading south after passing the point. 2 more Kittwakes casually made their way down river some time later one of which was half heartedly pursued by a Merlin. The Merlin continued towards the Welsh coast. It would now seem that Merlins are quite happy flying back and forth across the estuary to hunt on both sides. Totals for the morning: 30 Black-headed Gull, 6 Shelduck, 6 Curlew, 98 Kittiwake and a Guillemot.

2 Moths in the garden trap last night one of which was my first garden record of Scarce Umber.

29th November

Waved Umber

December Moth

Winter Moth

Low pressure over the south-west keeping temperatures up to an unseasonal high of 14 degrees over night. A front went through before dusk on 28th after that it remained cloudy and dry. In the morning strong SSW winds with some light rain.

Mothing last night produced Dark Sword-grass, Plutella xylostella, Large Yellow Underwing, 7 Silver Y and 7 Udea ferrugalis. Also a Waved Umber, December Moth, 7 Winter Moth, Cypress Carpet and Angle Shades.

No sea birds recorded in a brief sea watch early morning but 280 Dunlin and 3 Grey Plover went through.

27th November

Common Gull

Strong over night winds initially SSW changing to Westerly by morning. Winds died down quite considerably between 8:30am and 9:30am. At Sand Point a Great Northern Diver flew down channel close in as I was arriving at the Point. Heading down channel: 95 Dunlin, 55 Shelduck, 7 Common Gull, 20 Black-headed Gull and 25 Curlew. Also of note a Skua sp harassing a Gull mid channel and a female type Merlin in/off the sea from the North-west flew straight through. Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls moving in all directions but didn't give the impression of migrating so not counted.
Mothing not over quite yet. An hours trapping on Brean Down last night yielded Silver Y and Feathered Thorn. A migrant in December could still be on the cards.

26th November

Windy conditions today from the successive Atlantic lows. The associating fronts generally quite weak as they reach the south-west. This morning at Brean a Short-eared Owl on the Axe Estuary was my first patch record since May 2008. Also on the Axe 60 Curlew, a unusually high count of 10 Cormorant, 13 Wigeon and 80 Teal.
A mass departure of birds since last Sunday left the Down virtually birdless, just a couple of Blackbirds and a Robin left. By the farm a Blackcap and Chiffchaff heard and a female Black Redstart in the Cove made up the passerine highlights. Checking a couple of stubble fields on the way back produced good numbers of Pied Wagtails and smaller numbers of Meadow Pipits. One field held 240 Lapwing.

25th November

Last nights temperatures remained in double figures with a strong SSW wind and little cloud. I trapped at Brean giving up after an hour having had little results. A Dark Sword-grass was the only migrant along with Dotted Chestnut, Mottled Umber and Angle Shades. An early morning visit to Axe Estuary produced 240 Oystercatcher, 200 Dunlin, 60 Teal and 10 Wigeon.

New moth for Weston

Acleris sparsana

An Atlantic low pressure system to the north starting to dominate over yesterdays high with mid level layer cloud building and winds picking up to 13mph SSW. Temperatures set to stay in double figures for the rest of the day and night.

There was virtually no vismig at all this morning and would have been none at all had it not been for 3 Curlew down channel at Sand Point. Very few birds on the ground. A Goldcrest, Bullfinch and Chiffchaff were the only migrants.

A micro caught on 21st that I forgot about until yesterday turned out to be Weston's first Acleris sparsana. There is a lot of Beech in Weston Woods suggesting this species is quite likely to have been overlooked.

23rd November

Yesterday the frontal system started to break up as high pressure began to build bringing brighter conditions and a colder night dipping to 5 degrees. I didn't run the trap last night but the previous night a Mottled Umber caught was a garden first.

Birdwise 3 Purple Sandpipers were at Anchor Head at lunch time yesterday (G.Pudney).

21st November

A weather front hanging over the UK is bringing heavy cloud and some light rain at times along with reduced visibility from low light levels. Temperatures hanging around 11 degrees and light easterly winds. A quick visit to the Axe Estuary on the rising tide produced good numbers of Dunlin but variety was down on yesterday with only a Turnstone of note. This species remains a rarity in Weston despite being common in all surrounding coastal sites.

20th November

Barn Swallow in this mornings fog

A foggy morning with a light ESE wind feeling quite warm with temperatures around 11 degrees. First bird news came from Weston STW when the Bittern was re-found early morning making at least it's third day. A juvenile Swallow was on wires by the Brean Down Inn pub is my latest record for this species. On the Down the only vismig involved 4 Rock Pipits south. Grounded migrants were in good supply with many Blackbirds possibly numbering 80 birds with much smaller numbers of Song Thrush and Redwing. Robins were also plentiful with 40-50 birds present easily outnumbering the summering numbers. Bullfinch numbers were well above average with at least six seen. A Turnstone was heard at the fort whilst at the back of the down the Axe Estuary held 1000 Dunlin, 10 Ringed Plover, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit, 6 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Grey Plover, 20 Lapwing, 150 Redshank. The long staying Wheatear could not be relocated but the Chiffchaff was still present calling regularly. A visit to Anchor Head drew a blank with Purple Sandpiper.

19th November

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

Brean Down: Singles noted of Crossbill, Stock Dove, Redpoll, Chiffchaff and Wheatear.

18th November

Mottled Umber

Silver Y

Weather: Southerly wind with some light rain around mid-night. Temperatures hovering around 12.5 degrees C. Sunset currently around 16:18hrs.

Brean Down. Single 125W MV ran between 11:40pm and 2:40am: 1 Pearly Underwing, 5 Silver Y, 6 Rusty Dot Pearl, 1 Rush Veneer, 3 Dark Sword-grass, 3 Turnip. Non-migrants included E.postvittana, Brick, Black Rustic, Angle Shades, Feathered Thorn, Yellow-line Quaker, Mottled Umber, November Moth and a Chestnut sp that avoided capture. 15 species in total

17th November

Garden moth trap: Plutella xylostella in the trap this morning.

Casablanca

House Bunting

Zitting cisticola

Spoladea recurvalis

Geranium Bronze

A few images from Casablanca

15th November

12th November Middle Hope: 4 Snow Buntings (J.Jones)

13th November Middle Hope: 1 Great Spot, 1 Crossbill, 1 Siskin with the Goldfinchs in the car park, 1 Redpoll, 1 Blackcap. A bit of Chaffinch movement, 100+ in an hour. (P.Gregory)

7th November

Steppe Grey Shrike

2 Snow Buntings on Axe Estuary sea wall yesterday (J.Packer) otherwise little of note locally. Woodpigeons have been recorded on the move with the first signs again in the North-west. Yesterday Stainburn recorded 60,000. This morning 50,000 over Berryhill, Staffs. Locally in Sand Bay a flock of 400 dropped into a field adjacent to the bay.

The Steppe Grey Shrike is the bird at The Wall, Shropshire.

News from Norfolk: I had Crossbill over the house this morning and some lapwings past. Seawatching was pleasant yesterday more the arriving duck which were a nice mix of species, plenty of Wigeon and Shelduck and some teal and pintail, but also Goosander, Scaup and Goldeneye with Eider, Long-tailed Duck, red breasted merganser and scoter, even some of the sea ducks were arriving as we had few Eider recently. Some Great Skuas and an Arctic or two I missed some earlier Poms. Lots of Song thrush, Blackbird, Redwings, Robins in pines and some Fieldfare and I flushed a Woodcock

5th November

Wheatear

Brean Down: 2 Wheatear (1 nr steps and 1 Axe Estuary wall), 4 Bullfinch and a few flyover Siskins and Redpolls.

Sand Point per P.Gregory: 12 Redwing, 4 Fieldfare, 2 Mistle Thrush, 8 Crossbill

4th November

L-album Wainscot

Weather: A changeable night with a brief shower between midnight and 12:30am. After the shower winds from south-easterly swinging southerly and decreasing and cloud cover not enough to keep temperatures up seeing a drop to 12 degrees which looks to be about the cut off point judging by the lack of arrivals.

Brean Down in the wake of the shower: 3 Udea ferrugalis, 2 Silver Y, 1 Dark Sword-grass and a L-album Wainscot.

3rd November

Dark Sword-grass

Weather: Brisk South-easterly wind with rain (sometimes heavy) between 12:30am and 1:30am moving northwards. Temperatures between 14 and 15 degrees.

Brean Down: Moths coming in on the leading edge of the front and the trailing with nothing in between: 5 Silver Y, 5 Dark Sword-grass, 1 Gem, 2 Large Yellow Underwing, 1 RDP. A late Brimstone moth caught.

Garden moth trap: 1 Lesser Yellow Underwing, 1 Large Yellow Underwing and a RDP

2nd November

Weather: A clear night with light winds and temperatures dropping to around 10 degrees. Wind picking up to a 15mph South-easterly by morning with high level cloud.

Sand Point: 500 Starling, 150 Woodpigeon, 80 Chaffinch, 2 Skylark, 1 Fieldfare, 5 Linnet, 1 Goldfinch. A Merlin hunting around the point and 2 Red Admirals.

Garden moth trap: Large Yellow Underwing.

31st October

Weather: Another warm night with temperatures consistently around 15 degrees. With constant cloud cover I'm guessing a trough going through would be undetected on the thermometer. The southerly winds seemed light to moderate extending all the way into France.

Brean Down: 2 The Gem, 2 Pearly Underwing, 2 Dark Sword-grass, 4 Silver Y , 3 Large Yellow Underwing and double figures of Udea ferrugalis. Surprise of the night was Chinese Character.

30th October

The Gem

Scarce Bordered Straw

Weather: A warm night hovering around 14.5 degrees, partly cloudy and a consistent 8mph SSW wind. Last nights sun set time: 16:38hrs

Brean Down: 17 Silver Y, 1 Scarce Bordered Straw, 1 Gem, 2 Pearly Underwing, 11 Udea ferrugalis, 2 Large Yellow Underwing, 1 Lesser Yellow Underwing. 16 of the 17 Silver Y came in before 1:30am and the RDP's came in throughout the night. All the other migrants including the underwings came in between 1:30am and 3:30am.

29th October

Weather: A cold clear night down to 6 degrees, little wind until the early hours of the when light southerlies turned into 10mph southerlies by late morning at which time a tip of an occlusion went through bringing some rain for a period. A slight raise in temperatures between 2:30am and 3am suggested a weak front/trough went through which produced nothing in the garden traps.

Brean Down: 2 Wheatear, 10 Siskin, 5 Redpoll, 15 Skylark, 40 Chaffinch, 3 Bullfinch, 5 Pied Wagtail made up the migrant tally. 5 Red Admiral, 1 Migrant Hawker also seen.

Weston STW: Arrivals noted of 10+ Rock Pipit, 100 Lapwing, 6 Golden Plover. A Merlin, Spotted Redshank and a Spoonbill all on the Axe.

Sand Point: 1 Yellowhammer

28th October

Cold can clear over night with little wind and fog by morning. A rise in temperatures between 3:30am and 5am.

2 RDP 1 in the trap and 1 on a fence at dusk. Also Merveille du Jour and Satellite.

27th October

Crown copyright published by the Met Office

Worle: 1 Redstart (A.Hockey)

Mothing: Here at Weston last nights trough came through about 11:15pm bringing just a lone RDP on the leading edge. Unfortunately it must have been quite a deep trough as it rained quite a bit afterwards. The Warm front hit about 2:30am by which time I had already given up. Looking at the charts and weather data you can see that it took 2.5 hours for the warm front to reach Weston from where it is at 12am level with the French coast. These timings could be useful when predicting migrant arrivals in the future.

26th October

A cool start to the morning with temperatures around 8 degrees, mainly clear sky and a cool 8-9 mph SSE wind.

Sand Bay/Point: 2 Swallows flew south early morning but other than this vismig was almost non-existent. 40 Curlew headed down river most of which ended up in Sand Bay. A trickle of Black-headed Gulls down river also. In the bay 110 Curlew and 110 Dunlin.

25th October

Just 2 Udea ferrugalis in the garden actinics. A cold night with some heavy rain at times and strong winds. The ferrugalis seem to have come in during the last few hours before dawn.

24th October

Female Eppirita sp.

Another promising night for the moths but only garden traps ran producing singles of Silver Y and Udea ferrugalis. A fresh Satellite was the highlight on last nights trapping.

22nd October

Gem Mecyna asinalis
Cosmopolitan

Weather: Mainly clear sky over night with a moderate southerly wind.

Brean Down moths: A very interesting night on the down with a few migrant stragglers in until 1:30am. It all went quiet as the temperature dropped until 3am when a weak front came through lifting temperature and then the main arrival of migrants started spiraling down from the sky. 1 Cosmopolitan, 1 Gem, 1 Mecyna asinalis, 15 Udea ferrugalis, 6 Pearly Underwing, 4 Dark Sword-grass, 4 Silver Y. Other highlights some of which are to be confirmed are Dusky-lemon Sallow, Autumnal Moth, Crescent Dart.

Burnham-on-Sea: A Delicate, Udea ferrugalis and 3 Silver Y

22nd October

Wheatear

Black Redstart

Weather: Sunny and partly cloudy with a 10+mph wind.

Brean Down: A small amount of passage noted. 15 Redpoll, 10 Siskin, 2 Crossbill, 20 Meadow Pipit, 40 Chaffinch, 10 Greenfinch, 20 Goldfinch. Also recorded 1 Ring Ouzel, 2 Merlin, 1 Black Redstart, 1 Wheatear, 1 Chiffchaff.

Garden moth trap: The recent southerlies extending down towards southern Europe currently but the cold feel doesn't bring much hope for migrants. Friday night hasn't been productive nationally. The garden trap produced singles of Silver Y, Merveille du Jour, Green-brindled Crescent and Oak Nycteoline.

21st October

Weather: A wind swing to SSW 9mph with 100% cloud cover.

Axe Estuary 8:15 to 8:45. Rather dull passage today:

37 Black-headed Gulls

10 Woodpigeon

2 Siskin

5 Pied Wagtail

145 Starling

7 Goldfinch

1 Reed Bunting

20 Greenfinch

127 Chaffinch

1 Reed Bunting

1 Brambling

1 Yellowhammer

1 Grey Wagtail

20th October

Weather: Mainly clear sky with 10% high level cloud and a cold WNW 5-6mph wind

Comment: Many birds travelling at height due to the light winds. Yellowhammers recorded at several UK sites today.

Sand Point 8:05 - 8:50:

3 Mistle Thrush

1 Yellowhammer

6 Reed Bunting

265 Chaffinch

72 Greenfinch

2 Siskin

2 Lesser Black-backed Gull

2 Crossbill

9 Skylark

138 Woodpigeon

3 Goldfinch

183 Starling

2 Curlew

7 Redpoll

1 Song Thrush

1 Stock Dove

2 Brambling

1 Redwing

1 Pied Wagtail

1 Linnet

702 birds, 20 species

19th October

Weather: Clear sky with a cold 8mph north-westerly wind.

Comments: The pulse from the Baltic has largely gone through now leaving British movers and some Baltic stragglers going through. Woodpigeons in central and north-west England are now starting to move.

Sand Point: Vis mig from 7:45am to 8:30am all heading west

695 Chaffinch

565 Starling

5 Redpoll

3 Siskin

4 Meadow Pipit

3 Brambling

12 Goldfinch

29 Greenfinch

8 Woodpigeon

7 Redwing

1 Redshank

2 Great Black-back Gulls

2 Reed Bunting

9 Lesser Black-back Gulls

1 Pied Wagtail

11 Fieldfare

1 Skylark

1358 birds, 17 species

16th October

Weather: Light southerly winds overnight swinging south-westerly and strengthening throughout the morning. QNH falling and a weakening cold front through early morning bring some low cloud and very light drizzle clearing by mid-morning bring some sunshine.

Sand Point: Per P.Gregory: 07:00-11:00. All passage

due west along the Point:
Chaffinch 1340
Starling 1430
Meadow Pipit 53
Linnet 17
Siskin 21
Greenfinch 7
Crossbill 3
redpoll 4
Goldfinch 26
Brambling 2
Pied Wagtail 2
Reed Bunting 2
Skylark 13
Greylag Goose 2
Grey Heron 1
Golden Plover 25
Shelduck 44 up river at height in small groups
Other stuff around:
Peregrine 1
Wheatear 1
Chiffchaff 3
Little Egret 1
Bar-tailed Godwit 1

Brean Down: 1 Yellowhammer, 100 Siskin, 100 Goldfinch, 60 Chaffinch, 10 Redpoll. An influx of Blackbirds and Robins at the back of the down. There were a lot of Robins around yesterday also.

15th October

The high pressure on 13th over the UK moving over the north sea and creating and easterly airflow to the southern half of Britain on 14th.

Weather: Light easterly wind with clear sky overnight giving cooler temeratures 0f 8 degrees.

Less overnight passage noted from calling birds than the previous night.

Brean Down: 6 Crossbill, 200 Goldfinch, 1 Swallow, 50 Starling, 20 Linnet, 3 Wheatear, 10 Redpoll, 20 Siskin, 5 Skylark. A bird heard calling at the back of the down before the farm was beleived to be Greenish Warbler but unfortunately never showed itself. On the lepidoptera front 30 Red Admirals, 1 Wall Brown, 1 Peacock, 1 Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Speckled Wood and a Silver Y.

14th October

Merveille du Jour

Pearly Underwing

Dusky-lemon Sallow

Very faded but ID based on head colour and wing shape.

Weather: A light south-easterly breeze with some high level cloud cover and over night temperatures hovering around 14 degrees.

Brean Down: Little evidence of last nights migrant activity this morning instead a good passage off the Welsh coast was noted. 1 Ring Ouzel, 4 Mistle Thrush, 20 Redwing, 10 Skylark, 25 Redpoll, 60 Siskin, 4 Crossbill, 300 Chaffinch, 150 Linnet, 1,200 Goldfinch, 100 Meadow Pipit, 15 Pied Wagtail, 900 Swallow, 500 House Martin, 2 Song Thrush, 5 Reed Bunting, 2 Brambling, 5 Greenfinch.

On the moth front 30 Udea ferrugalis, 7 Silver Y, Dusky-lemon Sallow and 3 Pearly Underwing. 1 Merveille du Jour could also have been a migrant. 2 Red Admirals seen during the morning.

Sand Point: Per A.Hockey: 3 Mistle Thrush, 6 Redwing, c.50 Fieldfare, 5 Swallows, 5 Wheatear inc a possible Greenland, 30+ Meadow Pipit, 8 Skylark, 3 Chiffchaff, 1 Blackcap, 5+ Goldcrest + a good number of other birds on the move in/off the sea from the North-west.

13th October

Crocidosema plebejana

Weather: Westerlies dying out overnight as high pressure moves over the UK bring windless morning with fog. Overnight conditions were mostly windless with thin high level cloud and a full moon. Temperatures hovering around 14 degrees.

Redwings could be heard moving through during the early hours of the morning following influxes in the North-east of England. Spurn reported over 8,000 yesterday.

Lepidoptera: Migrants included 15 Udea ferrugalis, 5 Silver Y, 1 Pearly Underwing and 2 Red Admirals. Also a new moth for me Crocidosema plebejana

8th October

Still nothing to report on the bird front from Weston. Many birds leaving Norway last night but heading south and reaching speeds of 100km/h as they were picked up on radar ascending at dusk and reaching Holland just after mid-night. Any favourable winds from now for the next few weeks will produce falls on the east coast which will filter through the country.

7th October

Figure of Eight

Common Tern

Common Tern

Nothing to report on the bird front.

Sand Point moths: Figure of Eight new for year.

5th October

Bedellia somnulentella all over Weston currently

Sadly nothing to report on the bird front.

Migrant Moths: Vestal in the garden, a Small Marbled at Burnham and Dark Mottled Willow at Taunton.

3rd October

Vestal

Hellula undalis Old World Webworm from Burnham

Brean Down moths: The last of the southerly winds as a wind change to westerly is due to take place. 3 Vestal, 2 Dark Sword-grass, 1 Pearly Underwing, 1 Scarce Bordered Straw, 15 Rusty Dot Pearl, 5 Silver Y the migrant total. Also Yellow Belle, Flounced Chestnut, November Moth agg, Mallow, Oak Nycteoline.

2nd October

Delicate

Mallow

Sand Point: 1 Wryneck at Sand Point this morning (P.Gregory)

Brean Down: 1 Delicate, 5 Udea ferrugalis, 2 Silver Y

Weston: Dewick's Plusia D.Agassiz garden