Saturday 6 September 2014

Blue Flash !

This morning it was an early start for Willow and I as we had a visiting birder from London with us this morning. I was hoping for one of those special patch days but in the event we managed to turn up a few nice birds but not the excitement I was hoping that migration may have produced.
After a very quiet start along the magic hedgerow a Blue Flash whizzed by and a very unexpected bird flashed by in the form of a Kingfisher ! what an earth it was doing so far from the river who knows  but it is the 84th species this year for the patch ,a good start for the walk .
 The magic hedgerow seems to have its peak for the year and was pretty quiet. We managed to find 3 Whitethroat, 1 very shy Lesser Whitethroat, a brief Redstart (which was a target bird for Dave ), and a great count of at least 21 plus Chiffchaff . Birds were spread out over the patch and not concentrated in the usual haunts.
 Overhead after a slow start Swallows passed south to south west with 66 plus over and House Martins passed quickly south with one flock of 45 plus ,then another of 30 plus passed south west over the cottage as Willow and I were drinking a well deserved brew after such an early start ,so the final count was 79 plus.
A flock of 12 pus Goldfinch went over ,a far cry from the other day .There are now plenty of Autumnal signs that are appearing thick and fast  and nothing more welcome as the first two small flocks of Meadow Pipits with 3 south west and a further 5 on pasture . A flock of 20 plus Skylarks arrived at 9.30ish . The raucous call of a Jay alerted us to its presence.
Raptors got into the act with 2 Buzzard and a male Sparrow hawk and 3 Raven gronked their way around the patch .
Woodpeckers were plentiful with at least 6 Greater Spotted and 2 Green bouncing over and around the patch this morning.
As we neared the cottage a Little Owl called three times and a Bullfinch was heard from a hedge .
So I hope my visitor from the big smoke enjoyed rural Gloucestershire and although not at its vintage best the patch put on a good show. My thanks to  Dave for his help in spotting and hearing what was passing
The patch list moves to 84 !