Sunday October 28 (mostly)

A couple of recent visits can be amalgamated into a single post due to the general shortage of decent birds.

On Friday I wandered around with Richard B, the only thing come close to being noteworthy were a pair of Stonechats. This morning I was joined by Dave and in much brighter conditions we were a little more successful, although the Stonechats were nowhere to be seen.

Instead we began well with a couple of late Chiffchaffs in Netherstead plantation, and then a couple of Bramblings in the same general area. Neither had been seen on Friday, and neither offered up a photo opportunity.

Its looking promising for Redpolls this winter though. A small party was present on both visits, thought to be around 15 birds.

Lesser Redpoll

Also prominent was a flock of about 30 Redwings plus a handful of Fieldfares raiding the hawthorn hedges.

Redwing

Other than that it was all a bit underwhelming. The Flash field offering 34 Teal, a Snipe, and the first Mute Swan since the last of the juveniles disappeared a month ago.