Thursday November 5

Another mild cloudy morning with a threat of rain. A light southerly breeze.

My circuit this morning took in the usual finch hot spots, finding the male Brambling in a tree containing 100 Linnets and a few other finch species. The area was frequently crossed by small parties of Redwings and Fieldfares which kept me scanning the skies.

One of these scans picked up two gulls heading south, but they did not look like the usual sort we get here. They were in fact a pair of adult Common Gulls, not common at all in these parts.

Common Gulls

Not the most exciting year-tick, but they all count.

The puddle is starting to expand, and may yet become transformed into the pool. In the meantime it did at least attract a pair of Wigeons among a small group of Teal and Mallard.

male Wigeon

At the flash field the Teal and Snipe had further increased their numbers, now 31 Teal and 66 Snipe, along with two Green Sandpipers. At this point the rain arrived, and I headed back in heavy drizzle (not ideal for the spectacle wearing birdwatcher).

Fortunately it abated after twenty minutes, but I could find any birds to set my pulse racing, and had to settle for photographing a couple of yellow field cap toadstools.

My Collins guide suggests they may be Conocybe tenera, a species which is fairly widespread and occurs in fields.