Before I get to today's exploits, I need to refer to some Thursday night ringing at Morton Bagot. Tony was using his thermal imaging equipment to creep up on roosting birds. He caught two Skylarks, a Meadow Pipit, and a Wheatear, the latter being the first he had ringed at the site.
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| Skylark |
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| Wheatear |
This morning I opted to try for some visible migration. Tardebigge Reservoir stands at quite a decent height above sea-level, and so I went there for 09.00am. This is probably over an hour later than would have been ideal, but it was the earliest I could manage.
The viz-mig aspect of the visit was pretty uninspiring. Just 12 Meadow Pipits calling as they headed south (although to be fair I only actually saw one of them, so there may have been several more), four Swallows, and two Redpolls which were my first of the autumn.
The reservoir itself contained nothing better than a Little Egret, plus 14 Tufted Ducks, three Great Crested Grebes, 62 Canada Geese, and 84 Mallard. I think it would be wise to try to pick cloudy days for future visits as the sun was blinding behind where most of the birds were gathered.
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| Little Egret |
The best period came when I scanned a hedgerow leading along the towpath to the south-west. At least seven Chiffchaffs were darting around with a tit-flock, and 10 Chaffinches were also in view. Then on a distant hawthorn I spotted a chat sp which turned out to be a Wheatear.
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| Wheatear (very distant) |
So there was just enough to make me think that further autumn visits might prove worthwhile.
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