Saturday 16 August 2014

Its all yellow

After a week away with work I was keen to get back onto the patch to see what has happened since last week .The weather was fine still warm with a gusty wind .
The first bird I heard was a Greater Spotted Woodpecker and in the end 2 were seen or heard ,also about were a Green Woodpecker.
 Along the magic hedgerow today were a fair variety of birds but not quite the number I saw last week .Most of the following birds were seen in the afore mentioned apart the odd bird. Totals were as follows 8 Chiffchaff, 5 Blackcap, 5 Whitethroat, at least 3 Redstart ( I think maybe four but not quite sure ), and just 2 Willow Warbler today.
As I left the hedge I was really pleased to first hear then see 2 adult and 1 juvenile Yellow Wagtails passing over in a small flock ,were they the local breeders or were they passing migrants?   , I hope they were the former but if they were they have been very elusive this year.
Overhead the conditions must have been perfect for the local Buzzards as up to 8 were seen over the patch today ,also a male Sparrow hawk put in an appearance. There was no sign of the Kestrel today.
2 Raven passed south low the patch both strangely silent today.
I only managed 1 Stock Dove today , much lower than the normal count we are used too.
It seems to have been a good year for the local House Martins as they appeared very active around the local colonies today with at 25 plus around today . Swallows kept them company with at 22 plus ,they seem to have been local birds as none were passing over straight south or south west.
So a bit quieter than last week but still a fair return ,lets hope for the migration engine to really start cranking up over the next few weeks , we still have to find another 4 species if we are to beat last years total of 83 .