Another day off work ,more sunshine and a cool start so we hit the patch again this morning.
The bushes and hedgerows showed a little more life this morning with another Lesser Whitethroat, 8 plus Chiffchaff and at least 3 plus Blackcap .The influx of Robins continues with 13 plus seen again today.
Overhead took most of the attention this morning with 102 plus Swallows feeding over the area, others moved straight south ,they were accompanied by 100 plus House Martins most of the latter were at much lower altitude than the Swallows .
2 more Jays moved to the south as did a solitary Skylark .Its raptors this morning who featured well with a dashing Hobby through at around 9.30 am, 2 Jackdaws were trying to give a hard time but it left them for dead. 5 Buzzards were over the patch and at one point I was watching a soaring Buzzard along with a soaring female Sparrow hawk and a female Kestrel all together ,a great sight. The Raven count was 3 ,down on the heady heights of 6 the other day.
Other Autumn migrants were present albeit in smaller numbers than the other day with just 9 Meadow Pipits today ,again well down from yesterday ,but it just shows how quickly some birds move on. Another single Mistle Thrush was present today as were 20 plus Goldfinch.
A Wagtail passed south but it did not look right for a Pied so I am going to mark it down as an Alba Wagtail although I am not adding it to the species list for the patch for the year as I did not ID firmly . Woodpeckers today were 1 Green and at least 3Greater Spotted.
The bird of the day however was a stunning Greenland type Wheatear perched on wire fence in the top fields , a cracker of a bird .
So a nice bonus walk with a good selection of birds ,the resident birds seem to have had a good breeding season this year as have the summer visitors .
What will Wednesday bring ?
