5 September - WestMidsAllDayer

 So here we are again, another all day endurance test to enjoy. Having missed out on the Spring one due to Covid restrictions it seemed as though more teams than ever were taking part. My team was mostly just me, although Mike Inskip joined me for an hour in the late afternoon. I forgot to tip the ringers off again, and they seem to have chosen Sunday to visit.

Like last year I was on the patch a little too late to record a Tawny Owl, but my pre-breakfast stroll still started at 06.00 when it was just starting to get light. By 08.00 I had recorded 40 Species including Mistle Thrush, Grey Wagtail, Green Woodpecker, Sedge Warbler, Snipe, Little Owl, and Coal Tit none of which I was to see or hear for the rest of the day.

Sedge Warbler

Neither Sedge Warbler nor Mistle Thrush have been seen here for several weeks, while the high water-level in the flashes had led me to write off any chance of waders other than Lapwing. I also saw a Kingfisher, and 15 Siskins. I heard the latter's calls all day, and they seem to have joined the Goldfinches to feed on thistle heads. The early sun revealed several Blackcaps, Lesser Whitethroats, and Whitethroats as well as the Sedge Warbler.

I was back just after 09.15, and set off for a proper look at the flash field. Here there had been an influx of dabbling ducks, and the usual Mallard and Moorhens had been joined by a Pintail (first this year and only the fifth record for the site), two Wigeon, and two Shovelers, while the Teal numbers had swelled to 67. Who needs waders? 

Pintail

The first Wigeon since the winter

I also located some Whinchats in the pool field. Initially I thought there were two individuals, but my late afternoon visit revealed there were actually five, just one short of the site record.

Whinchat

One other valuable record was added at the flash field. I could see some Greylag Geese looking skyward and thought they could be eying a raptor. They weren't (it was just some Mallards flying in) but I did spot a Swift as I scanned about. I am sure this will be my last here this year, a species I was not expecting to see today.

The rest of the morning became a bit of a slog as I hauled myself down to the south end via the old Curlew Field, all for a Meadow Pipit, and three Linnets. However, things improved as I reached Netherstead at 13.20 when I saw a Cormorant over Bannams Wood, and then flushed my only Greenfinch of the day. So that was 58 species by lunchtime.

I was back again at 14.30 and after a fruitless time around the church I parked by High Field farm and walked back along the road under Bannams Wood hoping for the woodland species I was still missing. Woodlands in September are dreadful places to birdwatch, especially in the afternoon. After 20 minutes of near silence I picked up a faint tapping noise. It was, as I suspected, a Nuthatch, bird number 59. My plan had been to walk through the village in the hope of seeing a Collared Dove, but just then Mike Inskip pulled up after spending a few hours on his own patch (Middle Spernal) where he had seen a Stonechat. I told him what I had seen, and he glanced at his watch. He was due back at 16.30 but could just have time to try to see the Pintail and Whinchats. I decided to join him.

As we strode down from the church another of my missing species piped up from a hedgerow tree, a Treecreeper. We reached the flash pools and the Pintail was still present. Next was the pool field where we saw the Whinchats and then had the bonus of a male Stonechat.

Stonechat

The walk back was rather rapid, as Mike was now late, but as we reached the road a pair of Collared Doves flew in and perched on wires. This species is definitely declining here, perhaps due to agriculture being replaced by trees.

I drove back to Netherstead but my last two hours added only a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls as my final species. My total for the day was 63 species, one fewer than last year, but not bad.

I could list all the birds recorded today, but its easier to list the ones I didn't see. Song Thrush (difficult in September as they are moulting), Chaffinch (also moulting and much declined as a breeding species here in the last few years), Marsh Tit (should have seen one somewhere), Peregrine (not on the pylons today), Sparrowhawk (I saw one from our living room but that doesn't count), Starling (scarce here until the winter), Black-headed Gull (where were they?), Green Sandpiper (water-level too high).

You never see everything.

PS: I found a tiny moth on our kitchen window when I got home. It is some kind of Mompha and may be Mompha divisella which is quite a scarce species.

Mompha bradleyi

Actually, its probably just a pale example of Mompha propinquella. Further research will be required to clinch it.

Update: The recorder, Nigel S, has identified the moth as Mompha bradleyi and stated it was the first for the 10km square. Interestingly the species was only detected in the UK in the 1990s after a number of specimens of M divisella were reexamined. I'm not sure what its current status is in the UK, but it seems my record is a very useful one, and given its close similarity to divisella I'm pleased to have got quite close to the right species in my own research.