A cloudy morning with a brisk north-westerly breeze. My last visit encouraged me to think that its all started happening, waders are on the move, you just can't fail.
Well I suppose waders are indeed on the move, the Greenshank having disappeared. The wind direction and strength meant that most of the birds on the flash were sheltering against the western edge, which meant they were more visible than usual.
I counted seven Green Sandpipers (the most this year I think), 41 Lapwings, two Snipe, at least 16 Teal, a Grey Heron, and 22 Mallard.
The remainder of the visit was hampered by the breeze. Warblers were hiding (I could hear them), and I was left clutching at straws. Something was being mobbed in Stapenhill Wood, but I didn't see whatever it was. Instead I counted the mobbing birds; four Whitethroats, a Blackbird, several Tits and two Nuthatches. A calling Marsh Tit put in a brief appearance.
A flock of corvids just west of the recording area turned out to comprise almost entirely Rooks, 114 of them. Then 47 Goldfinches appeared, the first sign of the usual autumn flock.
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| Kestrel |
You get days like this, and by mid-morning I clumped off back up the slope to my car.
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