Sunday November 8 - heaving with birds

 There are days in early November which can be pretty exciting, all you need is the right conditions, lots of birds, and a major rarity hopping onto a hedge in front of you. Well, two out of three ain't bad. We had the weather, we had the birds, and that was it.

The sky was steely grey and the breeze virtually non-existent. Even as I arrived I could see Blackbirds and Song Thrushes bursting out of the hedges. A good sign. Better still, I scoped the weedy field at the south end of the site, where we had seen record numbers of Redpolls a few years ago and I could see finches. A very good sign.

Dave arrived and we made our way there. Sure enough there was a large flock of Lesser Redpolls in the field feeding on seeds. A few Goldfinches and Linnets were with them but the Redpolls seemed determined to stick together. A quick estimate put their number at 80 to 100, but the following snatch of video suggests over 150 finches, and I would say they were nearly all Redpolls.

Of course we were mainly interested in relocating the Mealy Redpoll trapped during the week. After about thirty minutes we had seen no sign of it, so maybe it has indeed gone.

Lesser Redpoll

While watching the Redpolls we were aware that there were loads of other birds flying about. Hundreds of Fieldfares and Redwings were going over, with plenty of Starlings, a variety of finches, and a single Yellowhammer. 

So we abandoned the field and struck out northwards to see what else we could find. In the event it was more of the same, but no less impressive. Our estimate of numbers rose steadily, but with the birds all so mobile our estimates of 380 Redwings, 200 Fieldfares, 100 Starlings, 15 Blackbirds, and 10 Song Thrushes may wildly underestimate the true numbers. It seemed that everywhere you looked there were birds.

Fieldfare

We amassed nine Stonechats across the site, saw a single Snipe in flight, and noted down about a dozen Greenfinches. 

The only place to disappoint was the flash field which produced a paltry three Teal. 

A rarity may well be hiding somewhere. At one point I tried to convince Dave I could hear a Red-flanked Bluetail (based on hearing a tape of one in Lion Wood), but he just grinned and I realised I was going mad. 

Next time, maybe.