After a brief sunny start a large cloud bank blocked the sunshine until late morning when the sun returned. An extremely light breeze, possibly south-east.
In ideal conditions it took a while to finally see a decent bird. The
Greenshank flew from the pool and headed for the flash. When I got there, further calls indicated it was flying again, but this time I didn't see it. Fortunately, about 15 minutes later it reappeared and I got some rather distant shots.
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| Greenshank (with Teal and Mallard) |
Other birds present included 41 Teal, 22 Snipe, and four Green Sandpipers. The Greenshank flew silently away after about 20 minutes, but I'm pretty sure it was heading back to the pool. A Little Owl called a couple of times, and a large tit flock was carrying Lesser Whitethroats, a Blackcap, and Chiffchaffs.
The grassland gave me a Roesell's Bush Cricket and many grasshoppers. I was dismayed, but not surprised, to find that I could not hear a stridulating Meadow Grasshopper. The sound of grasshoppers in the field must have been amazing. The joys of getting old!
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| Roesell's Bush Cricket |
As I reached my car I spotted a bird under a farm vehicle. It turned out to be a young Wheatear, my first of the autumn.
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| Wheatear |
It was remarkably static, allowing prolonged views, eventually coughing up a pellet.
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