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 .
