A couple of days ago the weatherman announced it was now meteorological autumn, and this morning it certainly felt that way. A cold front was making its way in from the north-west and the cloud was heavy enough to produce some light drizzle and even a half-hearted rainbow as the front started to clear.
In terms of birds it was a little bit quiet. The vibrancy of the hedgerows in my last visit had gone, as had many of the migrants. Nevertheless, the cast list was similar, just in diminished quantity. I counted 12 Chiffchaffs, five Blackcaps, and four Stonechats before a fly-over Yellowhammer put in a bid for bird of the day. Also largely absent were the hirundines, I saw just two House Martins and two Swallows.
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| Stonechat (unringed) |
The one place which did look good was the flash field. A substantial muddy edge looks perfect for waders, it's just that its come a month too late. Not that the 53 Teal, three Green Sandpipers, and 14 Snipe were complaining.
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| Common Snipe |
It's a shame there is no such thing as a Red-breasted Snipe, because the nearest bird shown above might have been a strong candidate. It just shows how much individual variation there is in their colour tones. I was willing one of them to be a Dowitcher, or for a Ruff or a Pec Sand to wander into view, but it was not to be.
There is a little bit of ringing news. Tony attempted to catch Meadow Pipits again on Tuesday, and succeeded in ringing 17 of them. He also caught two Long-tailed Tits, a Blue Tit, and a Wren.
This morning the Meadow Pipit passage was very weak, and I only saw 19 in total all morning.
In another three weeks the Redwings will be arriving, and proper autumn will be starting.
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