Thursday September 1

Today is the start of meteorological autumn according to the weatherman. I decided to start at the church for a change, and enjoyed a sunny morning with a light westerly breeze.

The first notable bird was a classic autumn species, a Grey Wagtail. After flushing it from the roof of a farm building, I relocated it at a small pool by the roadside.

Grey Wagtail

Continuing with the autumnal theme I failed to detect a single Whitethroat during the morning, suggesting there has been a bit of a clear-out since my last visit. As I approached the pool, I noticed about 40 Teal circling over the Flash field in the distance, and two-thirds of them seemed to head off to the south. They were probably going to Middle Spernal, where Mike has seen the Garganey in the last few days. Two Whinchats were present in the Chat field.

When I finally reached the Flash field, I quickly spotted a newly arrived juvenile Little Ringed Plover, but also saw only one Green Sandpiper, three Snipe, and six Lapwings.

Little Ringed Plover

At this point I decided on another change in my usual routine. I walked back to the bridle track, set up my scope and spent 20 minutes sky-watching. This is exactly the time of year when Ospreys fly over central England on their way south, although they are always careful to give Morton Bagot a wide berth.

The plan was not completely without merit because, in between seeing Buzzards and Sparrowhawks, I did see a juvenile Peregrine soaring over. Not really evidence of migration though.

Juvenile Peregrine

The only other noteworthy moment was when I picked up a tiny dot jinking its way towards me high over the ridge field. As I wondered what it was, assuming perhaps one of the many Goldfinches, it suddenly dived down to land in the hedge right next to me. It was a Chiffchaff....migrating?