Sunday October 14

Back at the patch after our Cornish break.

Its feeling properly autumnal now. For a start a slow moving cold front deposited a deluge of rain from just before dawn until early afternoon. Dave bailed out, and so did I. The thought of a soul-destroying morning slog in pouring rain was more than I could cope with. Instead, I waited until 14.15 when the rain was showing signs of abating before setting foot out of the house. The temperature was down to a chilly 10 degrees.

Autumn fungi

The signs of autumn were everywhere, from fungi like those shown (I have long since given up on trying to identify toadstools) to newly arrived autumn migrants.

The weedy field and hedge behind the pool (still a puddle) played host to 25 buntings, including ten Yellowhammers, and also 70 Goldfinches and 15 Linnets. A couple of Chiffchaffs are still hanging on, and I also heard a tacker which was bound to be a Blackcap.

A big flock of Greylag Geese announced my arrival by flying noisily from the flash field. The disturbance caused the dabbling ducks to take flight, but they all returned, revealing the first Wigeon of the autumn and a decent count of 52 Teal.

Of course you know autumn has really arrived when the winter thrushes turn up, so I was pleased to accumulate ten Redwings, typically silhouetted as they flew around. I also heard my first Redpoll of the autumn. Its normal to get the first Redwings a week or two before the first Fieldfare, so I was very pleased and surprised to discover a single Fieldfare on wires accompanied by a single Meadow Pipit.

Fieldfare and Meadow Pipit

I flushed five Roe Deer from the weedy field, a good count for this species. Several Brown Hares were also seen.

The final bird to report was a single Peregrine, presumably the one seen three weeks ago.