Wednesday October 7

Unsure as to when the rain would start, but quite certain the fog/mist was sticking around, I headed back to Hawsker Bottoms. Here, I was pleased to discover that the ringer, John McEachen, was catching birds at the sewage works.

I greeted him with the news that I had seen a Yellow-browed Warbler and Ring Ouzels on Monday. He told me he had been coming every day, except Monday. Oh dear. I noticed that two or three Blackcaps were still present, and also a few Song Thrushes.

The fog seemed to lift a bit so I headed for the coastal path. The only bird of note was a fly-over Curlew, and after 15 minutes I returned to the sewage works. At this point I realised I could hear a Yellow-browed, but after a dozen minutes there was no sign of it. I headed for John to tell him the bird was still here, only to discover he had been playing a tape of Yellow-browed!

However, it was still present. John had seen it, and a few minutes later I had too. The view was typically brief, so I headed further up the hill to search for more migrants. John headed for his nets, and a few minutes later he was giving me the thumbs up. He had caught it.

The Yellow-browed Warbler

It was the first he had ever caught here, although I think it was only quite recently that he had started ringing here.

I wandered back to the coast to seawatch, just as the mist rolled back in.

The sea is down there somewhere

There was nothing for it but to return to the sewage works. John now had tapes blasting out birdsong to the extent that I had to stop listening for birds and just assume everything was tape. Just before I left, John had one more surprise up his sleeve (or to be more accurate in a little canvas bag), a Treecreeper.

Treecreeper

An excellent sight.

The rain duly set in at lunchtime, and birding ended for the day.