So here we are again, another marathon birding session and friendly competition. I was in the field for 05.40, and a Robin kicked off proceedings. The early start was aimed at finding owls, and yielded only a distantly calling Tawny Owl. I failed to see a Barn Owl, and Little Owls no longer occur here.
The early start meant that I would be birding for three hours before my teammate Sam McVie arrived. In that time I found some interesting birds. A Stonechat, and a Yellowhammer were quality birds for the patch, and I discovered six Whinchats (Sam later saw seven) in the old pool field. I may have to rename it now that it is covered in scrapes and has the potential to be very good for birds.
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| Whinchats at dawn |
I should probably admit at this stage that although I saw quite a number of unexpected birds, I failed to photograph any of them for various reasons. The next good birds were a case in point. Two Yellow Wagtails headed south at 07.54 and 08.03 respectively, my second and third here this year. Photographing passerines in flight with a bridge camera is virtually impossible. My first two Meadow Pipits of the autumn were call-only birds.
After returning for breakfast I met up with Sam, and we spent most of the day apart, messaging each other with our respective finds. Sam's best came in the afternoon when he ventured into Bannams Wood and found a Spotted Flycatcher.
For most of the morning it was a case of seeking out and ticking off the local residents. Coal Tit, Marsh Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, and even Pied Wagtail were all birds I thought were missable.
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| Pied Wagtail (probably) |
The bird photographed above was one of three which descended into Netherstead as the horses were turned out of the stables. I thought it stood a chance of being a White Wagtail, but on reflection it's probably just an immature Pied.
By mid-day birding activity had died down, and I was heading back to the car when I flushed a warbler from the ground into a hedge. It posed brilliantly for about three seconds, long enough to see that it was a Grasshopper Warbler. Although a pair probably bred here this year, you rarely see them in September, so this was probably my bird of the day. My camera was tucked away in my bag, so I had no chance before it disappeared deeper into the foliage.
I returned in the afternoon for one more walk round. Sam appeared and we joined forces for an hour adding our last two birds; a Red Kite and a Sedge Warbler before we got drowned by an extremely heavy shower and called it a day.
The full list was:
1. Greylag Goose, 2. Canada Goose, 3. Teal, 4. Mallard, 5. Red-legged Partridge, 6. Pheasant, 7. Woodpigeon, 8. Stock Dove, 9. Collared Dove, 10. Tawny Owl, 11. Moorhen, 12. Lapwing, 13. Common Snipe, 14. Green Sandpiper, 15. Black-headed Gull, 16. Lesser Black-backed Gull, 17. Common Buzzard, 18. Sparrowhawk, 19. Red Kite, 20.Grey Heron, 21. Kestrel, 22. Kingfisher, 23. Great Spotted Woodpecker, 24. Green Woodpecker, 25. Jay, 26. Magpie, 27. Jackdaw, 28. Rook, 29. Carrion Crow, 30. Raven, 31. Skylark, 32. Swallow, 33. House Martin, 34. Sedge Warbler, 35. Grasshopper Warbler, 36. Blackcap, 37. Common Whitethroat, 38. Lesser Whitethroat, 39. Chiffchaff, 40. Goldcrest, 41. Long-tailed Tit, 42. Nuthatch, 43. Treecreeper, 44. Coal Tit, 45. Marsh Tit, 46. Blue Tit, 47. Great Tit, 48. Wren, 49. Robin, 50. Whinchat, 51. Stonechat, 52. Spotted Flycatcher, 53. Blackbird, 54. Starling, 55. Dunnock, 56. House Sparrow, 57 Pied Wagtail, 58. Yellow Wagtail, 59. Meadow Pipit, 60. Chaffinch, 61. Bullfinch, 62. Greenfinch, 63. Linnet, 64. Goldfinch, 65. Yellowhammer, 66. Reed Bunting.
Exactly the same score as last year, although the cast was subtly different.
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