The wind has dropped at last and today was kind of sultry. It felt like a good day to go birding so I headed for the patch.
An early highlight was my first Small Tortoiseshell butterfly for ages. This species used to be so common that it hardly got glanced at, but they've started to get scarcer and scarcer.
As for birds, it looked like being a case of the same old stuff, but in better numbers. For example the nearest flash has had an influx of 29 Teal, all of which flew off when the digger driver working on the Kingfisher Pool lit a small bonfire. Oddly, they weren't bothered by the noise of the excavator. I also counted six Green Sandpipers, which is an increase, a dozen Lapwings, two Little Egrets, two Grey Herons, and the four Snipe seen in previous visits.
On my way back I found the first Whinchat of the autumn accompanying three Stonechats (two juveniles and a male). A nice selection of common warblers including a Lesser Whitethroat rounded things off.
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| Whinchat flanked by juvenile Stonechats |
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| Whinchat |
Encouraging signs, I thought.
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