S\ allows counted flying south, but most summer migrants produced a mere trickle during th first half of the month only and were gradually replaced by incoming Fieldfares, Redwings and Bramblings. There were also reports of five Lapland Buntings and three Srow Buntings during the month and a good number of Twite recorded with a maximum of 18 on 22nd. 'assage migrants were generally rather thin on the ground, but included a Pied Flycatcher (2 ¡d), Yellow-browed Warbler (6th), nine Ring Ouzels, four Stonechats, five Grey W .gtails, Great Spotted Woodpecker and two Woodlarks. The latter species had not been re orded at Landguard since 1986. A visiting observer reported a Wax wing along the aj iroach road on 27th and a Pallas's Warbler brightened everybody's autumn, staying fr m 18th to 22nd. The prize of best bird of the year must go to the Yellow-billed Cuckoo which blundered in o a mist-net on the morning of 25th. As is so often the case with this trans-Atlantic vi ¡tor the bird was extremely weak and quickly released. It rested around the compound th oughout the day delighting hundreds of visiting birders, but despite an attempt to provide it -vith sustenance, by way of a pint of maggots purchased at a nearby angling shop, it d appeared overnight to the disappointment of a new wave of birdwatchers the next day. V iether it succumbed or continued its adventurous journey we will perhaps never know. Butterflies were still present in good numbers with plenty of Holly Blues noted and a g od passage of Red Admirals including counts of 30 on 23rd and 43 on 24th, all moving S( Jth. Mammal records included sightings of Stoats and Weasels and a Grey Squirrel a peared in the ringing compound on 8th. v ) V E M B E R : The winter winding down period for the Observatory usually begins in November, but records continued to arrive. Red-necked Grebes produced a record autumn s; owing with three in October being followed by another seven including an unprecedented fi e south on 7th. Gannet numbers dropped but still produced a count of 14 on 4th. Sightings oi skuas continued with three Arctic and one Great Skua noted and a late Arctic Tern was fishing off the Point on 4th. Little Auk passage continued with a total of three north and six south and a total of 16 Little Gulls was logged during the month. With offshore passage being generally unnoteworthy, a Storm Petrel caught in Ipswich Docks and released at Landguard on 2nd was a surprise find. Bewick's Swans were noted hi higher numbers than usual with a total of 11 birds seen on four dates. Duck passage was generally light with only six Gadwall of note among the dabbling ducks, but sea ducks were more in evidence with Eider producing a good day count of 42 north and 69 south °n 16th; in addition there were respectable totals of 302 Common Scoters, 28 Velvet Scoters and 55 Red-breasted Mergansers during the month. Records also included two Goosander and a Smew on 16th. A fair range of waders was noted, but passage was poor with only Dunlin producing reasonable counts including 766 on 7th and 558 on 2nd; seven Avocets were seen flying south on 11th. Four species of owl were recorded with only Little Owl being absent from last month's list and a Kingfisher appeared briefly on 12th. There were few records of lingering summer migrants with the only species noted being Swallow to 22nd, House Martin (12th), Wheatear (2nd), Blackcap (18th) and Chiffchaff (12th). Fieldfare records were few, but Redwings came through in good numbers during 'he first half of the month and three Firecrests were noted up to 9th. Southerly passage of passerines on 1st was very noteworthy and produced some interesting counts including 169 House Sparrows, 99 Tree Sparrows, 18 Reed Buntings, two Lapland Buntings and single Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting. Additional records of interest included 31 Siskins south on 3rd and a total of four Snow Buntings during the month. Red Admirals continued to move through with the highest count being 22 south on 5th.
D E C E M B E R : Coverage was incomplete during the month and records were therefore 133