Sunday December 29 - Morton Bagot

 What a gloomy, foggy week it's been. I did get out a couple of times over Christmas but my stumbling around in the fog didn't amount to much and was totally eclipsed by an excellent visit to Morton Bagot today.

The day began with a nice surprise. Dave's brother Paul, who used to put us up on our regular visits to Filey in the 1990s, was visiting from Yorkshire. It was only his second visit to our patch and I felt I needed to warn him it would probably be a waste of time. I needn't have worried though.

The Tawny Owl was showing well, and was quite oblivious to the three sets of bins grilling it. A good start.

We carried on, probably intending to walk across the marsh in the hope of kicking up a Jack Snipe or two. However, we were distracted by three ducks flying towards the flash field. They were distant, but appeared to be two Mallard and a Mandarin. The latter would be a patch year-tick, so I persuaded the others to cut out the marsh and head for the flash.

On the way we flushed a Little Egret and a Green Sandpiper, and on arrival discovered a small flock of Lapwings on the furthest flash. There seemed to be more small gulls than usual on the nearest flash so we headed for the first viewing point. From here Dave quickly alerted us to the presence of a drake Pintail, a drake Shoveler, and the drake Mandarin. The Pintail was my first in the 10 k circle this year, and possibly only the third adult drake I have ever seen here. I was ecstatic.

Also present were at least 15 Teal, 44 Black-headed Gulls and beyond the flash about 40 to 50 Greylag Geese, while a Mute Swan flew over. 

We ended up walking straight back to the car, but still added a fly-over Yellowhammer, three Snipe, and a Stonechat before we were done.

We were at pains to impress upon Paul that this was a good visit, and he certainly enjoyed our enthusiasm.

PS: John Chidwick twitched the birds in the late afternoon and discovered a female Pintail and a Wigeon in addition to the birds we'd seen. Perhaps we weren't as thorough as we thought.

This will probably be my last visit this year so I suppose I should reflect on the year just gone. Today's Pintail brought my circle total to 137, which is the lowest since I've been doing it. Previous years have tallied above 140. 

However there have been some belters this year.

Highlights were the party of six Common Cranes at Morton Bagot in early April, a Yellow-browed Warbler at Earlswood in October, and a Cattle Egret at Arrow Valley lake and Mappleborough Green in April.

Although I totally missed out on the Waxwing influx last winter, I cashed in on the mini Hawfinch invasion this autumn, seeing birds at both Morton Bagot and from my garden at Winyates East. Also new for the garden was a party of migrating Whooper Swans in late October, with a further eleven in November.

Water-levels were high for much of the year making it exceptionally poor for waders. I failed to see any Black-tailed Godwits, Redshank, Ringed Plovers, or Whimbrels for example, and only managed one Dunlin (over Earlswood), and one Greenshank (Middle Spernal). 

Earlswood's birders turned up a decent spread of less regular gulls and terns, most of which I twitched. I did miss a Knot there (it had nowhere to land), and also migrating Osprey and Marsh Harrier. Next year maybe.

Roll on 2025.

Sunday December 22 - A splash of colour

 On a cold and breezy Sunday morning, with rain in the forecast I didn't fancy Morton Bagot, so opted for Earlswood Lakes which I reasoned might host something storm-blown, and therefore rare.

An hour after my arrival reality had set in, and the best birds on show were five Goosander at the far end of Terry's, and a calling Chiffchaff from bushes on the east side of Engine. 

Luckily, my sister had invited me for a coffee at nearby Tidbury Green so I was able to spend the last half-hour sitting in the warm watching her bird feeders. Previously I had missed the regularly visiting pair of Ring-necked Parakeets, but today my timing was spot-on.

The male

The female

This wasn't all either. A partially leucistic Jackdaw was followed by a much finer corvid. The Jay is generally a nightmare to photograph. When I'm wandering around the countryside they spot you a mile off and rarely allow anything more than a rubbish record shot as they prepare to disappear.

From the comfort of a sitting room on the other hand, this particular Jay was practically posing and irresistible. 

I doubt I'll ever beat that.

Friday December 20 - More exploring

 This week the spin of the dice threw up two local venues which had thus far avoided my attention. On Tuesday I hooked up with Andy Gooding who was keen to accompany me around an area of Lapworth close to where he lives.

We met at the churchyard of St Mary's the Virgin and followed footpaths and towpaths in an approximate circle within a one kilometre square. It was a grey old day and deteriorated into light drizzle before we finished, but I enjoyed the walk as we accumulated 39 species in just over two hours.

The landscape was a mixture of pasture and small woodlands and we saw over 100 Redwings, 45 Goldfinches and decent numbers of other common birds. My favourite field was a partially flooded ridge and furrow next to the canal. As well as Redwings and Goldfinches it contained about 15 Meadow Pipits and both Pied and Grey Wagtails. A pair of Goosanders flew down the canal to my surprise, although I think they were a familiar winter resident for Andy. Unfortunately the gloomy weather did not encourage me to get my camera out. 

This morning I was at least able to remedy that as it dawned fairly bright. The walk was much closer to home, nearer even than Morton Bagot, but I didn't hold out much hope for it. A number of small farms included one called Cadborough Farm which seemed to be a dairy farm. The eventual species list was a paltry 29, but did include some surprises, most notably a calling Green Sandpiper which must have flushed from along the brook between Cadborough Farm and Tracy Farm. Annoyingly I only heard it.

On the opposite side of the Henley Road was a field of rougher pasture and a marshy scrub/woodland which looked worth a visit. Shortly after thinking it looked ideal for a Woodcock, one flushed from a few feet away giving briefly excellent views before disappearing behind the bushes. So after a year of not seeing any, that was my second in a week.

The short walk from Cadborough to Tracy Farm gave me a couple of chances to photograph some birds. There were two or three Meadow Pipits and a few Redwings, which was all I needed.

Meadow Pipit

One of about 60 Redwings

Sunday December 15 - Morton Bagot

Dave and I were back at Morton Bagot this morning following a two week gap.

In the intervening time Storm Darragh had swept across the site, bringing down one dead Elm and the ivy which was wrapped around it. Apart from that there didn't seem to be much difference.

One species seems to have moved in (or at least increased its numbers). We counted eight Jack Snipe including the first we had ever flushed from the Dragonfly ponds. As usual none were seen on the ground, and my attempts to photograph their rapidly disappearing forms was pretty hopeless. I did manage a silhouetted shot of one pitching back into the marsh but I'm not going to show it as the image creates a false impression of size making it look Woodcock-like. Instead you'll have to make do with this:

As for the rest of the visit, it was a case of the usual birds but in small numbers. These included four Stonechats, a Red Kite, a Green Sandpiper, and a Little Egret.

Only small numbers of thrushes remain, but these did at least include a Mistle Thrush.

Actually one species which we did see a lot of was Bullfinch, at least ten altogether.

Thursday December 12 - A late year tick

 My determination to carry on exploring unremarkable tracts of land within ten kilometres of my front door paid off today, even though I didn't realise it at the time.

I picked Wythall and started walking north along a muddy and very little trodden footpath heading away from Becketts Farm parallel to the Wythall by-pass. It was a dull, dank day, the only blessing being that it was hardly raining at all.

Initially a decent flock of Redwings, close to a hundred, caught my attention, but after satisfying myself that there were no rare thrushes with them (there was only one Fieldfare), I trudged on.

As I was approaching some stables I paused and was startled by a medium sized bird which took off from under the hedge I was walking along. I saw just enough of it to confirm it was a Woodcock. Only later did I realise it was my first this year.

The return journey added a calling Ring-necked Parakeet to the day, and I found a flock of over 200 Jackdaws back near Becketts.

The camera was not used at all, so I'll have to mention a much less interesting walk which took place on Tuesday. I walked from Sambourne to the coniferous part of Coughton Park without seeing very much at all, but at least I got the camera out.

Treecreeper

Monday December 9 - Weekly round-up

 It's always a bad sign when I title a blog post "weekly round-up". It generally means I haven't seen much, but on the other hand at least I've got some content.

My most recent exploratory walk was to the south-east edge of the Circle and was pretty uninspiring. A distant perched Red Kite kept vigil over the sheep pastures south of The View, a cafe half a mile south of Wootton Wawen. It was just about worth reporting.

The weekend then brought Storm Darragh. Could this bring in some interesting birds? Well it is December, so the answer was no. Nevertheless, with the ringers abandoning all thoughts of ringing at Morton Bagot and Dave choosing to bird at Marsh Lane GP, I decided to give Earlswood a look on Sunday.

The wind was still strong, and was now northerly. It was cold. Half way around Engine Pool I was wondering why I had bothered, but at least a swirling mass of mainly Black-headed Gulls seemed worth a look. Among them were a few large gulls, mainly Herring Gulls, and eventually I picked out one that looked different.

It appeared white headed, its mantle a grey somewhere between Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gull in darkness, it looked a good bet for a Yellow-legged Gull. Unfortunately it was showing no signs of wanting to land on a raft, preferring to either stay in the air or land on the water.

Something didn't feel right though. It wasn't particularly large, no bigger than a Lesser Black-backed Gull, the head was lightly streaked. Could it just be a very pale Lesser?Eventually it drifted past a normal Lesser Black-backed and it was noticeably paler. I tried photographing and filming it, and eventually reached the tentative conclusion that it was a hybrid Lesser Black-backed x Herring Gull.

The legs look yellowish straw to me, while the webbing and toes are clearly pink. This could be ok for Yellow-legged Gull, but I would have expected the legs to be brighter yellow.

In the afternoon I posted some images on the Earlswood Whats app Group site, and was asked by Matt whether I had seen the colour of the orbital ring. This should be red in Lesser Black-backed and Yellow-legged Gull and yellow in Herring (although it is still subject to individual variation). Well I hadn't, but I tried zooming in on one of my shots and got this;

Not very helpful really. The orbital ring looks grey, maybe with a hint of redness. On balance I think this supports the identification of it as a hybrid, but hopefully it may be seen again in better light.

While I was absorbed with this Gull I got a message from my sister. She had photographed a male Brambling in her garden at Tidbury Green. Perfect, an opportunity for a chat in the warm and some coffee.

The Brambling appeared after about fifteen minutes, but frustratingly refused to visit the actual feeder, preferring to sit in a bush partially obscured from view.

Annie's feeders are fantastic. A swarm of Blue Tits was in constant attendance along with a host of other garden birds. Inevitably we started comparing feeders, but I couldn't think of much which favoured ours in Winyates East. 

Oh wait a moment. Annie never gets these:

Tuesday December 3 - Some exploring, and a quick twitch

 Today was largely sunny with not much breeze. I decided to spend the morning investigating fields between Packwood Hall and Hockley Heath at the north-eastern edge of my Circle. I didn't expect to see much, but it was actually quite enjoyable.

I parked opposite Fetherston House after the very friendly owner confirmed he had no problem with that. Straight away I was watching a decent flock of 75 Redwings and a variety of other small birds.

At this point I heard the unmistakeable call of a Parakeet coming from trees near where I'd parked the car. It turned out to be in the back garden of Fetherston House, and the owner confirmed he had seen a pair of Ring-necked Parakeets visiting his feeders regularly since last autumn. He invited me into his garden, but the parakeet had fallen silent and I didn't actually see it.

I resumed my original walk down the footpath and found a field containing 25 Pied Wagtails, two Grey Wagtails, and two Meadow Pipits. 

Back home I was resigned to that being the end of my day's birding, but mid-afternoon Paul Hands posted a photo of a Whooper Swan he had seen on the balancing lake on Arden Forest Way in Alcester.

I was unable to resist going to see it, and found it was still there, sharing the tiny lake with a pair of Mute Swans. A dog-walker had allowed her two dogs off the leash and they were haring around as I arrived, causing the Whooper Swan  to honk nervously.

Fortunately it was otherwise undisturbed and very photogenic.

A nice end to the day.

Sunday December 1 - Morton Bagot

 The omens were not good today. I met Dave at the patch in pouring rain and we trudged soggily towards the ringer's favoured area with a distinct shortage of optimism. A little further on a Blackbird alarm call caused us to check out the other side of the hedge we were walking down, and we were very pleased to locate a rather soggy (and possibly pissed off) Tawny Owl.

We left the Owl where it was and continued northwards. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad visit after all. 

The scrape field contained a herd of cows spread right across it. This rather put us off any thoughts of looking for Jack Snipe, but I later found out that the ringers had caught one yesterday.

Jack Snipe - Tony and Leigh Kelly

Dave was rather hoping that last Monday's Great White Egret might still be around, but as we approached the flash field there was no sign of it. In fact all we saw was 24 very nervous Teal, a few Mallard, and four Lapwings. However, as we started on the return journey a couple of adult Herring Gulls and a single adult Common Gull flew east. The latter was only the second here this year.

On reaching Stapenhill Wood, Dave proposed we made our way through it in the hope of a Woodcock. I have since heard that the ringers also caught one of those yesterday somewhere on the site.

We were unsuccessful, and became hopelessly separated after Dave opted for the much more challenging brookside route. After a while we could only communicate by phone, and it turned out that Dave had picked the right option. He rang to say he was watching a Hawfinch by Netherstead Farm (as its now called). I made my way towards him, but was too late.

We slowly searched for it, but after about twenty minutes we'd pretty much given up. Virtually back at our cars Dave scanned the bushes back where we'd come from and found it. This time I at least saw it, but it was miles away. It appeared to be with another bird, which I speculated might be another one. To resolve the issue I zoomed the camera up to the max and peered at the image. It turned out that the other bird was a Fieldfare.

The photograph I took was frankly horrible, but just as a record I present it now.

Heavily cropped, the Hawfinch is on the right

I decided to try for a closer image, but only got halfway down the footpath before it took off and flew in a long arc across the fields before disappearing in the direction of the village.

Getting back into my car I looked up at the nearest pylon and found it now contained an adult Peregrine.

The weather had improved considerably and there seemed to be more birds about, but our time had run out.

I'll leave you with Saturday's ringing totals.

Woodcock 1

Jack Snipe 1

Coal Tit 1

Blue Tit 29 (14 retraps)

Great Tit 6 (3)

Long-tailed Tit 4 (4)

Wren 2 (2)

Treecreeper 1

Robin 2 (2)

Blackbird 1

Fieldfare 2

Song Thrush 2

Dunnock 1 (1)

Greenfinch 1

Lesser Redpoll 1

Friday November 29

 It's been a quiet birding week largely because I have doggedly started visiting underwhelming local sites such as Wirehill Wood on the southern edge of Redditch, and even more bizarrely the land surrounding Junction 3 of the M42.

I can't think of anything unexpected at either locality so let's move on to today's brief visit to Earlswood Lakes. I only had time for one circuit of Engine Pool, but there were a few mini highlights to record.

The best was probably a Chiffchaff in the willows bordering the lake, but a close second was a pair of Goosanders at the far end of Terry's Pool (viewed distantly from theTerry's/Engine causeway), a pair of Wigeon, and a decent count of at least 33 Common Snipe on the rafts.

How many Snipe can you count? I reckon nine in this shot.

Monday November 25 - Morton Bagot

 Scrolling briefly back to Thursday, I had a phone call from Mike Lane who was kind enough to let me know that he had seen a Great White Egret at Morton Bagot. Not so very long ago I would have gone to see it straight away, but this species is more regular locally these days. 

So I chose to spend Friday morning at Earlswood Lakes instead, where the modest highlight was a flock of 14 Goosanders.

The weekend was a complete wash-out, so I waited until today to go to Morton Bagot. I was pretty sure the Egret would have gone anyway because all the previous ones have been one day wonders.

As expected the site was inundated with water, all the scrapes being full and the old pool making a brief comeback. It was a sunny morning and I was delighted to discover that the local Tawny Owl was sitting in full view.

I was basically just ticking off the regulars when I reached the first spot that you can get a distant view of the flash field. It looked pretty quiet, but just beyond the back hedge a deep ditch bisects the next field. Anything that might be in it would have to be pretty big to be visible, but as luck would have it....

In case you're wondering, the yellow bill and long neck add up to a Great White Egret, no doubt Mike Lane's bird which has chosen to buck the trend and stay here for more than one day.

I moved on to view the flash field, where the extra water served only to deter the local Teal flock, only two or three remaining, and now supported 33 Mallard and 10 Lapwings instead.

Apart from that I counted three Stonechats across the site and had a fly-over Yellowhammer coming from the direction of Castle Farm, where I notice there is a big field of maize in the ground. I should check it out this winter.

Tuesday November 19 - A false sense of security?

 If you've been birding for a number years, experience tells you when you should and shouldn't go birding.

Now that I'm retired I should be in prime position to take advantage of the signs. But somehow I'm not listening, or at least not reacting quickly enough.

What I'm talking about is the weather. Yesterday the plan was sound enough. The day dawned fairly sunny, and it was still reasonably mild, so it was not a bad day to slip into winter birding mode and go exploring pastures new.

My theory is that birds have stopped migrating and your local patch is likely to contain the same birds as it had the day before, and the day before that etcetera. 

So I tried a random area of farmland between Aston Cantlow and Newnham at the south-eastern edge of my Circle of interest. The upshot was a substantial flock of Linnets (my figure of 179 was the result of a mixture of estimation and counting odd birds), plenty of Redwings and Fieldfares, and a fly-over Yellowhammer.

Linnet

Where I went wrong was not taking my scope. Years ago checking through Linnet flocks in the hope of finding a lost Twite was worth doing, but in the last twenty years Twites have gone from very scarce to virtually non-existent locally. I need to rediscover my old optimism.

Speaking of which, this morning we woke up to snow falling and settling. The wind has shifted to the north and my birding sense should have been on red alert. To be fair, we had been tipped off that friends were dropping in. So maybe I just switched off.

Come the afternoon, our friends had gone and I slumbered, literally, maybe lulled into a false sense of security by the time of year. 

When I finally glanced at the Birdguides app it was too late. Kittiwakes were turning up on Midland reservoirs, a Great Northern Diver at Draycote, and thousands of Little Auks were streaming into the North Sea. I needed to be out there.

The hastily arranged plan was to dash to Earlswood. It sounds as though no-one was looking today, but by the time I arrived there was only half an hour's light left. Gulls were flying off to roost. I'd blown it.

Even so, two drake Goosanders were immediately obvious on Engine Pool, along with two drake Wigeon. I got to the causeway and scanned in fading light. It may well be that there really was nothing much there today, but I wish I'd been there in good time to check.

Never mind, at least there was just enough light to photograph the Goosanders (well one of them), and a remarkably approachable Grey Heron.

Sunday November 17 - Morton Bagot

It's starting to feel a lot like winter. Not so much the weather, more the birds. Nevertheless today proved you can still have an excellent day's birding locally.

It was a largely sunny morning and I was joined by Dave for a stroll around the patch. We had no real expectations of the day, and were quite pleased when we spotted an immature Peregrine  on one of the pylons.

We had reached the area favoured by the ringers and could see that they had erected lots of well-stocked feeders. There was no sign of any actual ringers though, and this was a pity because we flushed two Hawfinches from a hedge right next to one of the feeders. The birds then perched above the small pool and we realised what they were. They disappeared again, but not for long. We found them in a birch a few metres beyond. Close enough for some photos.

The male Hawfinch

The other Hawfinch (thought to be female)

It seems very likely that these were the two birds we saw in flight last weekend. After a few minutes they flew off and after a brief search we resumed our circuit.

An alarmed Blackbird led us to a roosting Tawny Owl, once again the same bird as the one several days ago.

The remainder of the morning brought a steady procession of the regulars, the best being three Yellowhammers flying over, a pair of Red Kites, and two Stonechats.

We eventually accumulated 52 species, which was definitely above par.

Earlier in the week I had paid a visit to Earlswood Lakes, concentrating particularly on Windmill Pool and the scrublands beyond. The latter area produced a calling Water Rail which was an Earlswood tick, and fifty Siskins.

A brief look at Engine Pool proved worthwhile when I noticed a colour-ringed Black-headed Gull among the 170 or so gulls present.

I've submitted the details to the BTO Euring project, and have not yet received news of where it was ringed. However Matt G thinks he may have seen the same gull and believes it was ringed abroad. It could be a while before I find out its origin.

PS: Many thanks to Mike Wakeman for his help with the ring. The bird was ringed in Poland. Further details will follow in due course.

Wednesday November 13 - Morton Bagot

I've always considered myself to be a birder who takes photographs and not a photographer who takes shots of birds. This may seem a subtle distinction, but it's quite fundamental. Looked at from my perspective it means is that I go birding and if the photos I post aren't very good, well that's just the way its going to be. I set my camera onto auto (birdwatching) and off I go.

Occasionally I'm tempted to try to up my game. I'll read another blog with detailed instructions on what to do, and try to follow them.

The Whooper Swan shots were taken following such advice, notwithstanding that it was pointed out that other settings would be needed for flight shots.

This morning I was keen to try again, this time at Morton Bagot. It happened to be a sunny day, so what could go wrong?

Well something did, because my resulting photos all seem over-exposed. Fortunately there was very little to see, so my dreadful shot of a late (for Morton Bagot) Chiffchaff didn't really matter. To be fair the bird was not giving me much chance. Thank goodness it wasn't a Yellow-browed Warbler.

But even when birds did sit in full view, I was a bit disappointed by the results. Reed Buntings are usually pretty co-operative, and I've no complaints about this one.

The original shot looks terrible in the back of the camera, but can be rescued to a point on the computer.

When I got to the flash field I tried photographing the Teal flock and they came out perfectly sharp but with gleaming over-exposed breasts. I then tried with the camera on auto and the breasts were less bright, but the birds were more out of focus. I guess I need to keep trying.

However, a Cormorant which showed very well indeed was taken with the camera on auto, and it looks fine to me.

One thing I much prefer with the auto setting is that there is no camera noise, bleeps and clicks, at all when you press the shutter.

Incidentally I wondered whether this Cormorant could be identified as the race sinensis rather than the "British" carbo. My feeling is that the key feature, the angle of the rear end of the gular patch, is intermediate between the two. This could mean that the bird is a hybrid between the two races, which given that most of the inland breeding Cormorants are thought to be the continental sinensis would not be too much of a surprise.

Tuesday November 12 - Whoopers and Hawfinches from the garden!

 This stay at home birding could catch on. This morning I noticed a flock of 60 Woodpigeons flying south, so decided to station myself on our front drive in case something else turned up. There were a few Redwings and Fieldfares, but not much really until two Hawfinches flew west quite low, and I thought there was a good chance they'd land in the trees along Coster's Lane. So I grabbed my camera and went off in pursuit.

Ten minutes later I was returning empty-handed, but just as I reached our Close I spotted a flock of swans heading south-east over Winyates Green. They were certainly wild Swans and I had my camera to hand. Perfect.

I'm going for Whooper Swans on account of their long necks and triangular head shape. Also there are still only two Bewick's Swans at Slimbridge.

One of the birds has a damaged right wing, probably as a result of someone taking a pot shot at it rather than moult. 

I've tried zooming in on the computer at home, but it didn't add much detail.

I'd like to check Morton Bagot, but we're expecting a district nurse today so I have to stay in. Lyn is making good progress.

Sunday November 10 - Morton Bagot

I arrived at Morton Bagot ten minutes later than intended, but this tardiness resulted in Dave and I being in the right place at the right time to see two Hawfinches fly past, apparently bound for Clouse Wood. They were literally the first birds we saw as we stood around chatting and generally catching up. 

It started out another grey day with hardly any wind and a hint of mizzle in the air. This probably explains why, despite a decent morning's birding, the camera barely got any use at all.

Highlights after the Hawfinches included at least two and possibly four Yellowhammers, an adult Common Gull flying south (the first here this year), a Brambling flying south (the first here this year), and at least 40 Skylarks heading over at height. The first two Yellowhammers were actually perched in a hedge, a reminder of the days when they were common here.

It was generally a day with lots of birds flying out of cover or heading over. These included probably 100 Redwings and Fieldfares as well as double-figure estimates of Song Thrushes and Blackbirds many of which are very likely to be from northern Europe, a good smattering of finches including double figure counts of Linnets, Goldfinches, Reed Buntings, and Redpolls, and we noted the continued presence of at least two Stonechats.

The flash field and scrapes were slightly less productive, although the Green Sandpiper remains, and we counted 65 Teal, which was a decent count.

I really like early November, it's often really good for birds, but you know that in a couple more weeks the patch will be at its quietest as almost everything that made today exciting will have moved on.

Friday November 8 - A morning of surprises

 I had a definite plan for this morning. Part one was to be at St Mary's churchyard near Studley shortly after dawn in the hope that the Yews there will have attracted some Hawfinches, as they did in the last influx.

I was stuck with the same cloudy gloom that has characterised the last ten days, but at least there was very little breeze again. Sadly I was not able to find any Hawfinches, only Goldfinches, Chaffinches and a Greenfinch. But there was still a surprise or two in store.

Looking out towards the river valley I spotted a flock of ducks approaching, and it turned out that they were 23 Goosanders. The flock split, half returning downstream and the rest going upstream. A little later a single drake Goosander appeared from the north, and may well have been a new bird. Shortly after that I was under the cover of the trees when I heard the mournful call of a Golden Plover several times. I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that this was a year-tick.

Back home to help Lyn rise to face the day I was staring out of the bedroom window when, irony of ironies, a Hawfinch flew passed. It wasn't a garden tick thanks to the last invasion year, but was welcome nonetheless.

Part two of the plan was to go to Morton Bagot to check out the area I had not had time to visit on Tuesday. At the flash field there were no real surprises, unless you count a single Wigeon which lurked behind the flock of 39 Teal. I also saw a few Snipe, Lapwings, and Greylag Geese.

Moving on to the scrape field I flushed a few more Snipe but didn't try hard enough to find any Jack Snipe. I also found a pair of Stonechats and flushed a Green Sandpiper.

But lady luck wasn't yet completely done with me. A flock of Woodpigeons emerged from the north side of Bannams Wood, and I know enough to make sure I raise my binoculars to look at them. Sure enough a Goshawk was in hot pursuit of one particular pigeon allowing an assessment of the size of the Gos to be made. It was clearly larger than the Woodpigeon, I would say about 15% bigger, which would make it a male Goshawk as females are larger still. I did attempt a photo, but it was too far away and the resulting image was of no use and will not be shown here.

Wednesday November 6 - Morton Bagot

 When the ringers tipped me off that they would be ringing at Morton Bagot this morning, I was keen to join them in the hope that the Hawfinch might reappear.

So I spent a couple of hours hanging around Tony, Leigh, and Ida as they patiently ringed whatever they could catch. Unfortunately the Hawfinch failed to put in an appearance, but on a gloomy misty morning there were plenty of thrushes in the hedgerows to keep us optimistic.

Only a small proportion of the Redwings and none of the Fieldfares (by the time I had to leave) had found their way into the nets, but I estimated there were 40 Redwings and 30 Fieldfares plus smaller numbers of Blackbirds and Song Thrushes keeping things lively.

Unfortunately there didn't seem to be much overhead passage going on, and all I could come up with was a Peregrine which flew to a more distant pylon while we were there.

Eventually I decided to take a stroll down the hedge before heading for home. This paid off when plinking Blackbirds led me to a sleepy Tawny Owl. Since the regular tree has been abandoned I've found it hard to see this species and this was only my second sighting here this year.

I only got as far as the scrapes (and didn't even check them) before my conscience got the better of me and I headed back home. There was at least a Stonechat visible on the hedge there.

The ringers' update is as follows:

Overnight Tony caught a Woodcock, two Redwings, and a Linnet.

Today's mist-netting produced:

Blue Tit 8 (6 retraps)

Great Tit 5 (2 retraps)

Wren 1

Redwing 2

Blackbird 1

Bullfinch 3

Lesser Redpoll 6

Goldfinch 2

Reed Bunting 1

Sunday November 3 - review of the week

 There are some encouraging signs regarding Lyn's recovery, and I was even able to go birding  this weekend. 

Earlier this week my efforts were confined to hour-long vizmigging from the driveway and a little bit of mothing. Most mornings produced very little, but I did count over 100 Fieldfares on October 31, and there were several 100+ counts of southward bound Woodpigeons. If I needed any encouragement that this wasn't all a monumental waste of time, that came from Dave Jackson vizmigging from his garden near Crabbe's Cross recording Hawfinches on successive days from November 1.

Meanwhile, Tony had been doing some nocturnal ringing at Morton Bagot, and this paid off with his successful capture of a Green Sandpiper on Thursday evening.

Green Sandpiper - Tony Kelly

On Saturday came news of a drake Red-crested Pochard at Earlswood. It was agreed that I could be spared the time to twitch it, and I duly did so.

The bird had been found on Windmill Pool by Joe Owens, and was still present if a little distant when I arrived and was only the third for the site. It took off shortly after the first boat set forth, but I gather it was seen subsequently on Engine Pool. I also had the bonus of a pair of Ring-necked Parakeets flying over as I headed back to the car.

Lyn managed so well that this morning we agreed I could spend two or three hours at Morton Bagot. In fact I hadn't even left the house before Mike Holley messaged me that he had heard a Hawfinch calling there. I arrived ten minutes later, and connected with the bird before I even found Mike. It had taken off from the hedgerow near the beehives. It quickly joined some Redwings and disappeared before Mike joined me. Dave arrived, unaware of the drama, and the three of us resumed the search. 

Mike relocated it half an hour later back near where it had been seen previously but it again flew off before anyone could get a record shot of it. Further searches proved unsuccessful, but I think it's likely that it's still there.

There were a lot more Fieldfares and Redwings in the area, along with at least one Stonechat. The flash field was a bit disappointing, but on my way back to the car I did see a Peregrine.

Finally, I mentioned moths at the start of this post. On October 28 I trapped ten moths. Most were Red-Green Carpets but I also had an early Winter Moth and a Black Rustic.

Black Rustic

PS: I understand the Red-crested Pochard could not be found at Earlswood this morning but there was ample compensation in the form of a first-winter Mediterranean Gull.

Sunday October 27 - The new normal

 I wasn't expecting to post anything more for quite a while, but birds have intervened. The good thing about the little blighters is that they fly, they migrate, they give you a chance even if you are confined to barracks.

So yesterday morning I couldn't help noticing that birds were moving. Flocks of Woodpigeons headed south every so often during the first couple of hours of daylight, and I eventually counted 275 of them, mostly from the bedroom window. 

As luck would have it that was exactly the right place to be when, at 08:40 I turned round from talking to Lyn and spotted three white birds approaching from the north. I grabbed my binoculars and confirmed they were swans. Within seconds I realised they were not Mute Swans, but were actually either Bewick's or Whooper Swans. I could see the yellow base at the base of their bills, and I tried hard to assess the shape of the yellow colour. They were soon lost behind the whitebeam growing to the left of our front garden. A dash downstairs to the back garden proved futile. Nevertheless a quick check of the Internet confirmed my suspicion that no Bewick's Swans have arrived at Slimbridge yet, so it seems very likely indeed that these birds were Whooper Swans which arrive a month or so earlier. In fact it may be relevant that three Whoopers were reported flying south over Seisdon near Wolverhampton just an hour and a half before my sighting.

For the rest of the morning I managed to watch from the driveway which was better for seeing birds which call as they fly over. This added 94 Redwings and a few Skylarks and Chaffinches to the morning's haul. 

Meanwhile Dave and the ringers, Tony and Leigh, have been visiting Morton Bagot over the weekend. They found the first two Jack Snipe of the autumn along with 15 Common Snipe, and two Stonechats. 

Greenfinch - Tony Kelly

The ringing totals included a Blackcap, four Redwings, five Greenfinches, eight Goldfinches, and three Reed Buntings.

The exciting day of movement was also noticed at Earlswood where John O and Matt G counted 4,310 Woodpigeons and a Hawfinch in the space of two hours. Two of the latter have returned to Tardebigge churchyard, and Birdguides is full of reports of them.

This morning by contrast, there appears to be no movement of birds going on over the house whatever. 

Things could be a lot worse.