Tuesday 28 October 2014

Where is Autumn ? Monday and Tuesday update

The weather is mental , so warm it feels like a May day and I was out with Willow at just after 7am, I was awoken at 6.10am by a very vocal Tawny Owl calling from just behind the house .As we left the cottage the shed door was wide opened and for a brief moment I thought that the shed had been forcibly entered but it was just that my youngest had left it wide open when putting his bike away .
Overall the walk was a quiet one in keeping with the general theme at the moment ,but there were a few birds moving overhead .Woodpigeons passed south but in truth I could only pick out 158 plus as they passed to the south. There were a few local birds feeding on stubble fields but I did not count them .
Linnets passed south in fair numbers with 40 plus ,and there was a constant trickle of Chaffinches passing south west with 40 plus seen in small flocks. Likewise 3Greenfinches and 12 plus Goldfinches did likewise, but I could not find anything else more exciting. 
On the pastures the wintering flock of 20 plus Skylarks wee still on station and a sprinkle of Meadow Pipits amounted to 10 .
We still have a few more Stock Doves than normal with 13 plus around the patch . In the hedges were 13 plus Robin and 6 plus Blackbirds both species showing a decrease over the last few days, some birds having moved on .
A single Raven was nice to see and 3 Mistle Thrushes passed over heading southwards .Still only very small numbers of Redwings with again just 7 seen today.
The best bird however was seen as I was going back into the cottage when a small bird caught my eye as it flitted about in one of the garden Beech trees , quickly getting the binos onto it I  confirmed it to be a Goldcrest ,a great bird for the garden.
The best of the rest for a quiet Monday morning were a Jay, Kestrel ,Green Woodpecker Greater Spotted Woodpecker ,3 Buzzard and just 4 Pied Wagtails .So you can see we are in the doldrums at the moment and until the weather changes then it looks as if it will stay that way.
Tuesday dawned clear and if anything even milder ! .The bird life proved to show a few subtle changes from Monday and a couple of patch gems were seen .
In the hedges were 19 plus Blackbirds and a whooping 20 plus Robins a jump in numbers from yesterday .A good sighting of  a fine male Yellowhammer was nice to see and a party of 3 Bullfinch flew over calling  northwards .Yet again a superb female/immature Stonechat graced the hedges ,we have had a cracking Autumn for these little gems.
Overhead a party of 4 Raven gronked its way south west , the best number for a while. Two flocks of Woodpigeons passed over to the south with just a small total of 40 birds this morning ,although I know others birders have seen large numbers this morning.
A single Mistle Thrush powered south looking as if he was on a promise somewhere and the Autumns first Lapwing moved serenely southwards .
There was a fairly constant westwards movement of Starling s this morning with 160 plus passing over maybe a promise of whats to come.
On the pastures  were 24 plus Meadow Pipits and there were more Skylarks than of late with 28 plus ,some moving over straight southwards.
A superb female Sparrow Hawk flushed 9 plus Pied wagtails and 28 plus Linnets off a field as it looked for breakfast. Other birds seen on the fields were 5 Red Legged Partridge and 10 Stock Dove.
A lone Jay headed south east and a few Redwing were dotted about with 13 plus seen today.
The best of todays other birds were 2 Greater Spotted Woodpecker, the usual Green Woodpecker and 3 Buzzard .
Lets hope things pick up soon

Sunday 26 October 2014

Scarlet Saturday

Willow and I were greeted by a scarlet sunrise just after 8am on Saturday as we hit the patch .After a day with out any Woodpigeon passage they were on the move again and in the 2 and half hours on the patch 625 plus passed due south the largest flock being 250 plus .They are a common bird but it is still a thrill to see these flocks of birds heading straight through due south bound for who knows where . Passage overhead was generally fairly limited but Linnets were much more plentiful of late with 81 plus passing over or feeding briefly on stubble before moving on .A small trickle of Chaffinches moved in the same direction but nothing of any real  note. Like wise Meadow Pipits numbered 30 plus ,some passing straight over south ,others feeding on pasture. The last bird to feature overhead were Pied Wagtails with 12 plus passing south west.
On the pasture were 5 Red legged Partridge ,the largest number for quite a while ,and there were still 17 plus Stock Dove feeding on one of the stubble fields . The winter Skylark flock at the moment seems to be at around 20 plus birds, perhaps more will arrive if any cold weather ever gets here.
In the hedges still only small numbers of Redwings are around with only 6 seen today where are they all?  .The other members of the Thrush family present were 2  Mistle Thrush, 6 plus Song Thrush and 15 plus Blackbird.
There was a an upsurge of Robins this morning with at least 21 plus sitting atop various hedges. With all this looking at the winter Robins it seemed only right when I found yet another 2 Stonechats this time a fine male and another female /immature .We have a great Autumn for these birds this year.
The usual haunt held a pair of Bullfinch ,calling softly from the undergrowth , the male showing its stark red breast , stunning birds .
The other birds worth a note were a single Buzzard ,Green Woodpecker and a Greater Spotted Woodpecker .
I am off work on Monday so I will be out on the patch early to see if any other migrants are passing through .

Friday 24 October 2014

Thursday and Friday update.

So after the huge Woodpigeon migration on Wednesday , I was pumped about what was going to happen on Thursday so Willow and I were out by 8am , well you can guess what happened , I managed to count a whole 10 birds but I really think they were local birds and not migrants as I had hoped.
So having established that over head migration was not going to be like the day before Willow and I got down to finding what may have arrived over night .
In the hedges were 17 plus Robins, 16 plus Blackbird both were supplemented by obvious continental birds. It was great to see a pair of superb Bullfinch in the usual place, they seem to be here for the winter as are the 7 Redwing ,the numbers are really small and I am beginning to wonder when the large numbers we usually enjoy are going to arrive with us .A fine flock of 20 plus Long Tailed Tits was a great sight as they fed along the hedgerows.
The best birds seen in the hedges were 2 superb Stonechats which were feeding near a dung heap ,they really are glorious birds ,a bird of much wilder country than we have here ,where thanks to the local farmer most of the fields and hedgerows look like a landing strip .
Eventually a few birds got moving overhead with 20 plus Skylarks  over along with 39 plus Linnet over to the south . They were joined by 16 plus Goldfinch and 28 Chaffinch which moved south , so it seemed as if a few finches were on the move . The tail end of the Meadow Pipit passage goes on and 14 plus were on pasture or moved over south ,likewise Pied Wagtail numbered 16 plus .The last overhead migrant was a Mistle Thrush .
We still have 4 Jays on site the usual Greater Spotted (3) and Green Woodpeckers were about. A skien of 32 Greylag Geese moved from the river meadows over head heading inland to feed and 4 Stock Dove were in the usual haunts.
The bird of prey count was 2 Buzzard and a female Kestrel .
Friday dawned another grey and mild affair ,a slight  drizzle was in the air as we left the cottage, I have long since given up looking at the weather charts in the hope of a cold snap which might bring in something exciting.
So the hedges were still full of Robins gazing lustfully at each others winter quarters and I managed to count  15 plus this morning .There were a lot less Blackbirds today ,a big drop in numbers after the last few days. The small number of Redwings were still in the hedges with 20 plus been seen .A flock of  very distant presumed 10 Fieldfares would be nice as yet they seem to have not arrived hereabouts but they were so far away it was difficult to really get a firm Id.
There was a small passage of Woodpigeons this morning with 135 plus birds heading due south the largest flock being 71 birds. It only lasted half an hour and I was getting ready for another onslaught but it seem to peter out just as it got going , however a huge count of 45 pus Stock Dove on stubble must of been migrants perhaps brought down by the drizzle.
Finches on the move were 28 plus Linnet and 20 plus Chaffinch which headed west. On the Finch front a good count of 5 Bullfinch was had today ,so my Bullfinch fan should be happy for the time being at least.
Meadow Pipits numbered 33 plus with some passing over south others feeding on pasture . Skylarks only got to 12 plus this morning but I heard others passing over. Only 3 Pied Wagtails today after a run of good days.
The first Ravens for a number of  days were over the patch with 3 been seen today and a single Mistle Thrush was  on station  .
The best of the rest were 3 Jay, a male Kestrel ,Green Woodpecker and a Greater Spotted Woodpecker. Bring on the cold weather that's what I say.

Wednesday 22 October 2014

Big Vis Mig

With a day off work and after the school run Willow and I where out on the patch by 8.15am just as the soon broke the horizon .The low cloud meant it was warmer than I expected given the weather forecast although it was colder than it has been of late.
It soon became obvious that there were large numbers of Woodpigeons moving over in a westerly direction  and in the two and a quarter hours I was on the patch I counted 1972 plus birds over with flocks of up to 300 plus ,there must of been more and I will have missed others that were out of my field of view, all the birds were coming from the north or east and moving west. As the morning moved on the flocks started coming in at a lower level as in the beginning of the morning they were at a high altitude.
Also coming in from the east were 80 plus Jackdaws and they just kept going west as did species 86 for the year on the patch in the form of 2 Snipe ! , great birds to see on the patch and it means we have surpassed last years total and its still only October .
Skylarks passed over with 31 plus but again I heard more passing over but could not pick them up out of the big blue , these birds headed due south as did 37 plus Goldfinch and 22 plus Linnet. A flock of 4 Cormorants came high from the east and kept going west, this was turning into a mega day .As it happens that was about it as far as visible migration was concerned but there were plenty of other birds around in the hedgerows and other areas of cover.
I managed to find 50 plus Redwing  and mixed in with them were 15 plus Blackbirds and 2/3 Song Thrush, but again no Fieldfares where are they ? .It was nice however to see 5 Mistle Thrush dotted about as they pass through southwards.
There were 15 plus Robins dotted about but I think I will have missed some whilst trying to keep my eye skywards. 
Not many Meadow Pipits today with just 12 plus on the pastures and there were 8 Stock Doves which passed over, as did 4 Pied Wagtails.
Birds of prey this morning were in good force with 2 Sparrow Hawk and 2 Kestrel and of course a couple of Buzzards in for good measure.
A male Bullfinch tried to look like a migrant by flying in from the north ,but who knows if that is true ? but a Yellowhammer heard calling as it flew over must have qualified as such .
The best of the rest were a flock of 9 Greylag Geese over, a Green Woodpecker and a Greater Spotted Woodpecker .
So a cracking morning with the patch delivering the goods, with massive Wood pigeon migration and species number 86 thrown in for good measure. No work tomorrow so watch this space.

Sunday 19 October 2014

warm weekend

What is going on with the weather ?  ,18 degrees at the nearly the end of October, some say its glorious I  say its a bit of a worry. As the rest of the birding world seems to be enjoying  an almost orgasmic October here on my little patch of no where it has been overall rather quiet .
Willow and I were out at around 7.30am ish on Saturday and it was almost T shirt weather, cloudy but very mild .
The most obvious thing was the overhead passage of Redwing over with a count of 200 plus over .but as yet no Fieldfares where are they ? they are running late this year . With the Redwings came 15 plus Blackbirds ,superb views of a Continental birds were had , the odd Song Thrush passed over . The last Thrush species seen were 2 Mistle Thrush that passed south . What I would give for a Ring Ouzel ? they have been every where this Autumn .
Other birds that passed over were 25 plus Linnet and a trickle of Goldfinches  with 16 plus straight over south . The usual Autumn migrants tried to make up the numbers with 45 plus Skylarks on pastures and passing over south and Pied Wagtails are still passing over 11 plus passing ,they all looked like Pied but maybe there may have been a White ,but the calls all sounded like Pied . 35 Meadow Pipits trickled through ,their main passage seems to be over for this Autumn , we will still have a few that will winter with us .
In the hedges Robins were decreased in number with just 7 today ,  maybe the winter have found their winter quarters .  A nice visitor was a Yellowhammer I heard calling as it passed over ,a  small population is around locally and we sometimes see them ,but not enough for me . For my Bullfinch fan I managed to pick up 2 birds in the hedges.  
On the raptor front 2 Buzzards and a female Kestrel were on offer and a couple of Ravens were the first for a short while.
The final 2 species worth a mention were a Green Woodpecker and a single Stock Dove . So a quiet period at the moment lets hope it picks up soon as I am getting jealous of what" s going on elsewhere.



Wednesday 15 October 2014

Midweek Thrush

Well the title got your attention ! A quick midweek update as I think that the arrival of the first winter Thrushes is always worth a mention. the first Redwing passed over the house around 10am ,and then a small flock of Fieldfare (6) went north just after. So with that in mind Willow and I hot footed it onto the patch to see what else might of dropped in or was passing over.
Redwing eventually got to 35 plus but none stopped ,they seem to be heading in all directions really. No more Fieldfares were seen .Other thrushes were 12 plus Blackbird including a definite continental bird and 2 Song Thrushes dropped out of the sky.
In the hedgerows there were around 13 pus Robins this afternoon ,so some must of moved on (810 at Spurn Point yesterday !), .Our run of Bullfinches continues with a healthy 5 today and a really nice flock of 20 plus Long Tailed Tits was nice to see.
On the pastures a really good count of 41 plus Skylarks was had and Meadow Pipits were at 89 plus around the patch .100 plus Starling were feeding on stubble, as were 11 plus Pied wagtails.
The linnet passage continues on with 35 plus over along with 20 plus Goldfinch both moving south.
The best of the rest were a Jay, 2 Buzzard, 7 Stock Dove and a Cormorant over. Anyway just a quick update and I am off the latter part of next week but it looks as if I have chosen the wrong week with all the good birds arriving on the east coast this week, well you never know what might turn up next week .
I must mention the incredible 550 plus Ring Ouzels at Dungeness yesterday (YES THAT IS 550 !)

Monday 13 October 2014

Fogbound

Having heard about all the great birds that were bouncing around everywhere I was chomping at the bit to get out on Sunday having missed out on Saturday due to family commitments .So when I opened curtains and saw a real pea souper it brought me down with a bump.
We went out anyway as you never know there could be a really salacious bad ass bird out there ready to been seen.
The first thing I noticed was there were Robins ticking away in the hedges and a count of 25 plus were logged. The last vestiges of summer hung on with 3 Chiffchaff and a male Blackcap that was feeding on elderberries.
The usual haunt held a Bullfinch and a couple of Jays were heard screeching from the undergrowth .
Overhead some birds still moved over below the fog bank with a flock 17 Linnet heading south .A rather unruly gang of Starlings fed briefly on Hawthorns ,they looked as if they were migrants and a count of 100 plus was made. Skylarks were heard overhead but in the fog I only saw 9 ,likewise just 20 Meadow Pipits but I am sure there were many more about, I just could not see them in the fog ! .A small flock of 6 Greylag Geese circled over ,lost in the fog calling.
Wagtails were on the move with 5 Pied Wagtails seen and then a flock of 12 which passed over south west ,one bird sounded and looked like a good candidate for a White but in the fog I could not be sure (would of been number 86 for the year) .
The best bird seen was a superb male Stonechat on a wire fence by some rough ground ,the second bird of the Autumn for the patch .
There had been an arrival of Blackbirds overnight with at least 20 plus seen in the hedges ,also a couple of Song thrushes dropped out of the fog.
The best of the rest were a Raven, Green Woodpecker, Stock Dove ,2 Red Legged Partridge .
The high light of the week for me was the late surge of 21 Swallow on Thursday ,the first birds seen for at least 2 and half weeks ,it was great to see the last of the summer "gang" before they left for the winter.  Good luck on your journey my old mates see you next year Amigos .Lets hope the next week starts with a bang ,maybe a Great Grey Shrike ? .

Sunday 5 October 2014

Fields of Gold

A truly stunning morning ,and the first frost of the Autumn . As the sun rose a mist hung over the meadows , just stunning. Although there had been a frost it was only slight so had no penetration  into the already hard ground.
In the bushes the Robin invasion continues with at least 25 plus seen today, they really are every where at the moment. The last embers of summer remain in the form of Chiffchaffs that continue to pass through with another 7 plus found this morning ,2 even sang for a short while . But it was the real Autumn birds that got the blood pumping this morning with a double whammy in the form of a pair of Reed Bunting and species number 85 for the year with a superb Stonechat on one of the hedges. I know there has been a large influx this Autumn and so its great to say they have reached even here.
On the pastures and stubble fields a nice flock of 50 plus Linnet were feeding. They will build up over the next few weeks as they pass through on the way south ,along side them were at least 118 plus Meadow Pipits which were feeding and some were passing over .
Skylarks have got going with at least 35 plus today ,some were on the pasture feeding but some passed over straight southwards. A slight disappointment were the 5 Pied Wagtail  that were on pasture,I had expected many more today. A fellow birder had seen over 80 plus over Painswick Beacon this morning.
Overhead a Cormorant  passed north and a fine skien of 45 plus feral Greylag flew out from the river meadows , 9 birds  fed for a short while on a stubble field. The other birds that passed over were a Grey Heron north to south  and a flock of 10 Stock Dove  .
 Raptors were 3 Buzzard ,a male Sparrow Hawk that was getting a good kicking from the local Jackdaws ,and like wise a female Kestrel that was suffering the same fate.
A Jay screeched deep from cover, so its nice to know that they are still around.  The usual Woodpeckers were around with 2 Green Woodpeckers and a single Greater Spotted .
There appeared to be a few more Finches passing southwards and the highlight was a flock of 4 Bullfinch that passed over south , a further 3 were seen or heard in the hedges ,so a good count of 7 were seen today, more than enough for my Bullfinch fan !
So today we reached the same total of species seen in the whole of last year and its only October ,so hopefully we will break our record. We still await the arrival of the winter thrushes and it cannot be long before they arrive.
The total number of species for the year for the patch is now 85.

Saturday 4 October 2014

Autumn Blast

So with a great gush Autumn arrived overnight ,the first spit of rain fell as Willow and I left the cottage, it certainly felt very different to the roasting September we have enjoyed .
The last week has stood out for the good passage of Meadow Pipits that have passed through with flocks over a 100 plus through out the week. I also managed to find Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps in the bushes and both Tawny and Little Owls have been vocal .
 So Saturdays walk as I say was a very wet affair with constant rain in the 2 and half hours Willow and I were out .
In the bushes Robins were still very prevalent with 19 plus been seen  , some must be continental in origin .I also managed to find 10 plus Chiffchaff and I have no doubt that there were more around lurking in the under growth .
A nice female Blackcap feeding on black berries was a nice bonus ,and a Bullfinch was heard but not seen .
On the pastures the rain had brought down the passing Meadow Pipits  and over 200 plus were on pastures and the stubble fields . The wagtail passage has finally got going with 10 plus Pied Wagtail  feeding on the stubble in the top fields. A small flock of 20 plus Linnet were also feeding on the stubble. Skylarks were feeding on pastures and the wintering flock is beginning to build with 22 plus seen today.
A rather soggy Red Legged Partridge ran across a wet field, and just 4 Stock Dove were feeding on the stubble with around 50 plus Wood pigeon. .
 Overhead 2 Mistle Thrush passed south and around 60 plus Starling were on the over head wires . Song thrushes and Blackbirds seem to be dropping in in ones and two s , I presume they were migrants but as yet no sign of Redwings or Fieldfares although I understand a few have been seen around fairly locally.
A Green Woodpecker was seen feeding near the magic hedge (which is not so magic at the moment ).
So with a northerly airflow from tomorrow Willow and I will be out looking for the first winter Thrushes in the morning ,wish us luck !
Oh I forgot a Jay flew over the garden as we arrived back at the cottage , just as I was thinking they had moved on.