IBOC II material now available
At IBOC II in Cape May, one item on the agenda was breakout discussions in a smaller format. Now results from two of those discussions have been made available as seen below.
- Sustaining a bird observatory over the long term, moderated by Erica Dunn and Jay Carlisle
- The future of IBOC, moderated by Alan Fish and Luke George
These two documents will be excellent starting points for yet more discussions during IBOC III. The first, Sustaining a bird observatory over the long term, is in itself valuable to all, regardless of IBOC III participation.
Member news
This section shows news from members that regularly produce news (a "blog") and make these news available to others through a RSS feed. Many standard tools such as Wordpress do this out of the box.
Through birdobservatories.com's news aggregation functionality, your observatory blog will have a potential world-wide spot-on audience. An awesome recovery will be awed by all, no matter where the the bird was caught and found again!
A final, party overlapping reason for sharing all these news, is of course to create a (during season) regularly updated content for this site, making it an interesting stop-over for all being interesting in "bird observatorying".
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Dungeness 3rd July
Jul 19, 2025 | 00:00 amThere was a hint of autumn migration today with a Little Ringed Plover, two Song Thrushes, two Yellow Wagtails, a Grey Wagtail and a Siskin on the land and nine Mediterranean Gulls offshore.A Common Toad in the Observatory garden this evening was an uncommon sighting.The highlight of the day was a superb Black V Moth caught by Owen Leyshon in his garden. at Littlestone. Black V Moth Arctornis l-nigrumDungeness3rd July 2025Dragonflies seen today included a Norfolk Hawker and a Lesser Emperor
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Dungeness 4th July
Jul 19, 2025 | 00:00 amA Little Ringed Plover and two Yellow Wagtails flew over the area and 50 Mediterranean Gulls were feeding offshore.Two Porpoises and three Grey Seals were feeding offshore and a Brown Hare was seen in the Desert.The highlights from the moth traps were a Scarce Black Arches and the first Observatory record of the tortrix Acleris umbrana.Two Mediterranean Stick-insects were seen at the Observatory.
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Dungeness 1st July
Jul 16, 2025 | 00:00 amAt least 36 Mediterranean Gulls were feeding offshore.Four Porpoises and two Grey Seals were seen.A moth trap set at Sunray caught a Green Arches.Green Arches Anaplectoides prasinaDungeness1st July 2025
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Dungeness 2nd July
Jul 16, 2025 | 00:00 amA Honey Buzzard came in over the Point and then lingered over the Trapping Area/Long Pits before heading north over New Romney. A Little Egret, 200 Sand Martins and a Yellow Wagtail were also seen.It was a superb night at the moth traps with two Light Crimson Underwings, a Scarce Black Arches, a Small Mottled Willow, the first shingle record of the pyralid Elegia similella, an Acrobasis tumidana and the second area record of the tortrix Sparganothus pilleriana and second area of Agonopteryx kochiella while other notable records included a total of 35 Sussex Emeralds, four V-pugs, a Clay Triple-lines, aScorched Carpet, a Black Arches and the pyralid Anania perlucidalis.Light Crimson Underwings Catocala promissaDungeness2nd July 2025Acleris kochiellaDungeness2nd July 2025Elegia similellaDungeness2nd July 2025Scarce Black Arches Nola aerugulaDungeness2nd July 2025
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Dungeness 30th June
Jul 14, 2025 | 00:00 amA Bee-eater was heard calling at the Point this morning and 71 Mediterranean Gulls were feeding offshore.The clutch of Kestrel chicks had all finally fledged this morning but were still around the tower so we returned the sixth individual to the site where it successfully flew off and was later seen with its siblings back at the nest.Kestrel Falco tinnunculusDungenesss30th June 2025The rescued bird successfully returned into the wild. The moth traps produced a couple of examples of the tortrix moth Acrobasis repandana.Acrobasis repandanaDungeness30th June 2025
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Dungeness 21st June
Jul 13, 2025 | 00:00 amA Little Egret and a Yellow Wagtail flew over the area while 41 Common Scotersflew east offshore. Thirty-three Mediterranean Gulls were also feeding offshore.The moth traps produced a Blue-bordered Carpet, the tortrix Gypsonoma aceriana and a Bird Cherry Ermine of note.Gypsonoma acerianaDungeness21st June 2025A new species for the shingle.Blue-bordered Carpet Plemyria rubiginataDungeness21st June 2025Somewhat surprisingly this is only the secord for the Observatory traps with the first being seen in 1989.
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Dungeness 22nd June
Jul 13, 2025 | 00:00 amA White Stork (presumably a release bird) came in over the fishing boats flew over the area and then headed inland while seawatching produced 103 Mediterranean Gulls and three Manx Shearwaters.Two Porpoise and two Grey Seals were feeding offshore.The moth traps produced a Brown Scallop (only the second Observatory record, a Beautiful Hook-tip and the pyralids Doryrictria abietella and Palpita vitrealis of note.Two Norfolk Hawkers were seen in the Trapping Area.Two Mediterranean Stick-insects were found in the Observatory garden.
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Dungeness 23rd June
Jul 13, 2025 | 00:00 amA bit of interest offshore again with 39 Mediterranean Gulls, two Arctic Skuas and three Manx Shearwaters. A Little Egret and 243 Swifts flew overhead.Two Porpoises, three Grey Seals and a Common Seal were feeding offshore.The moth traps produced a Delicate and a Scarce Bordered Straw of note.
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Dungeness 24th June
Jul 13, 2025 | 00:00 amA similar day to yesterday with 138 Mediterranean Gulls, an Arctic Skua and two Manx Shearwaters offshore and 1620 Swifts and a Grey Wagtail passing overhead.Three Porpoises were seen offshore.
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Dungeness 25th June
Jul 13, 2025 | 00:00 amThe only birds of note were two Egyptian Geese over the area and 15 Mediterranean Gulls offshore.Porpoise and Grey Seal were feeding offshore.A Lesser Emperor and two Norfolk Hawkers were notable.
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Dungeness 26th June
Jul 13, 2025 | 00:00 amSix Mediterranean Gulls were feeding offshore and 38 Swifts passed overhead.The Kestrels are now getting quite big but a combination of crowding and a strong wind resulted on one of the chicks falling to the ground. It was decided to take it into care with a view to releasing it again when the rest of the brood had fledged.Kestrel Falco tinnunculuschickDungeness26th June 2025A Grey Seal was seen offshore.The moth traps produced the tortrix Acleris kochiella, (the second area record), a Small Ranunculus, an Obscure Wainscot and two Small Mottled Willows of note.Acleris kochiellaDungeness26th June 2025
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Dungeness 27th June
Jul 13, 2025 | 00:00 amThere were large numbers of Mediterranean Gulls feeding offshore with at least 127 birds counted and four Manx Shearwaters also seen. There was also a nice early movement of 160 Sand Martins and a Grey Wagtail passing through.Mediterranean Gulls Larus melanocephalusDungeness27th June 2025Belgian and German colour-ringed individualsSand Martins Riparia ripariaDungeness27th June 2025Porpoise and Grey Seals were seen offshore.The moth traps were productive with the highlights of a Bright Wave (third Observatory record), 21 Sussex Emeralds and five Small Mottled Willows.Bright Wave Idaea cantiataDungeness27th June 2025
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Dungeness 28th June
Jul 13, 2025 | 00:00 amThirty Mediterranean Gulls feeding offshore were the only birds of note.Singles of Porpoise and Grey Seal were feeding offshore.Two Small Mottled Willows were the best from the moth traps.
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Dungeness 29th June
Jul 13, 2025 | 00:00 amA bit of passage overhead included 26 Swifts, 54 Sand Martins and three Grey Wagtails while 35 Mediterranean Gulls and a Manx Shearwater were seen offshore.Two Porpoise and three Grey Seals were feeding offshore.
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