Sunday November 8

An early start to a long day in response to the Patchwork Challenge website choosing this weekend to hold its first Patch Day competition. Naturally the competitor in me found it impossible to resist.

The weather was a bit iffy. It started to rain as soon as I got there, and showers were frequent during the first hour. Fortunately, as reinforcements (Dave) arrived, the weather turned calmer for the next hour, after which the southerly wind increased in strength.

The trick to a successful day list is to look out for birds you might miss. I gradually ticked off these missable birds; three Collared Doves, a Kestrel, three Herring Gulls, Green Woodpecker, three Marsh Tits, two Coal Tits, Nuthatch, three Stonechats, a Cormorant, and with Dave's assistance a female Brambling.

Brambling

We decided to head along the road because I knew a pair of Mistle Thrushes had been present in the hamlet. Sadly there was no sign of them, although we did see at least a dozen Lesser Redpolls. Also absent was the Tawny Owl (I should have gone before dawn).

We reached the pool where the recent rain has doubled the surface area, and in response a flock of Canada and Greylag Geese now jostled with Mallard, Teal, and Wigeon for space. Fantastic. They all flew off before I could get the camera out, but during the day I saw them several more times and came up with counts of 112 Canada Geese, 95 Greylag Geese, 35 Teal, 50 Mallard, and five Wigeon.

By now we were up to 55 species and still had the Flash field to look at. This was to prove a disappointment, with just 22 Snipe, and no Green Sandpipers.

We reached 57 species and started walking back along a hedge containing a hundred thrushes (Fieldfares and Redwings) and at least 30 Siskins. Among them we spotted a single Mistle Thrush. A little later on we spotted some very distant Black-headed Gulls, while our last tick of the morning was also our best, as four Golden Plovers flew over Bannams Wood, only my second record of the year.

I headed home for lunch thinking I was on 62 (I was actually on 61 species.)

At 3.30pm, shopping done, I returned in drizzly condition to try to add to the list. The light was terrible, but after a couple of hours I had seen a Green Sandpiper at the pool, and heard a Treecreeper in Stapenhill Wood.

My final total was 63 species, better than I thought. Missing from the list was Grey Wagtail, Lapwing, and any species of Owl. You never see everything.