Sunday Nov 17

Dave summed up today's visit quite succinctly when he said it was as though last weekend we were Premier League and now we're back in the Vauxhall Conference.

Actually it wasn't that bad, it was just that the emphasis had switched from quality to quantity. There were far more Fieldfares (c300) and Redwings (c150) around. The Skylark flock was at least 60 strong, and 245 Lapwings circled the flashes.

We found a new Stonechat at Netherstead Farm. It showed well, as did a Brambling, but I chose not to photograph them because I did them last weekend! Probably a mistake because although there were plenty of birds after that, they were annoyingly flighty. 17 Wigeon took off from the flashes before we even got settled there, eight Long-tailed Tits shot past, and none of the four or five Bullfinches we encountered stayed around for long enough.

Other flocks we briefly encountered were 100 Woodpigeons, 23 Stock Doves, 80 Linnets, and 80 Starlings. Eventually desperation dictated I snap this out of focus Reed Bunting,

one of at least 20 we found at the south end, and these Chaffinches;

we probably encountered about 40 around the area.

Hopefully next weekend will be more memorable.