Pretty dire

I met up with Dave, who had spent a week in the Lake District and felt starved of migrants. Unfortunately he had come to the wrong place to put that right. We did at least see the Little Owl again and indeed the Tufted Duck. The Teal count on the flashes stood at 20, and we later saw another five heading for it. However, the Little Ringed Plover and a few singing Chiffchaffs were the only migrants we could find. Finally, last chance saloon was to drive down the road and try ascending Spernal Hill in the hope of seeing a Wheatear or maybe a Ring Ouzel (it has no track record for either but looks as though it should have). A pair of Mistle Thrushes were disputing the hill top with a pair of Kestrels, and we managed a handful of fly-over Meadow Pipits.


Mistle Thrush

I had heard a distantly singing Mistle Thrush at Morton Bagot during the morning. Its not a frequently seen species here, and can probably be described as a scarce breeder. Most records relate to birds heard singing from or commuting to the surrounding woodland.