This morning I was joined by Mike Holley for a walk around the patch. We arranged to meet at the church, and I was a little early so had the opportunity to assess whether there was much overhead migration going on.
The answer was a qualified yes. Meadow Pipits and Skylarks hinted at the winter to come, while a few Swallows headed south. Once Mike joined me, I suggested we start at Netherstead and inevitably it became more difficult to keep track of the numbers moving south. I totted up a modest 30 Meadow Pipits, eight Skylarks, and five Swallows at the end of the morning but I'm sure many more were missed. A single Siskin call represented the first of the autumn.
We met up with the ringers who mentioned catching Linnet as well as plenty of Meadow Pipits. After leaving them, having already seen a Stonechat near Netherstead, we added three more in the scrape field.
Other species which seemed more obvious than usual included Reed Buntings, Blackbirds, and Song Thrushes. I'm never sure whether the early autumn thrushes are simply local birds which have competed their moult and are now only interested in fattening up for autumn, or are actually the forerunners of an autumn arrival which will soon include Redwings.
We finally reached the flash field and were a little disappointed, but not surprised, to find that the water level had risen to the extent that there was virtually no exposed mud. As a result we saw only 17 Teal, one Snipe, and heard a Green Sandpiper.
During the morning we logged eight Chiffchaffs and three Blackcaps but nothing rarer. Mike professed himself to be quite content with the morning's list, while I had to admit my enjoyment of it would have been enhanced if we'd winkled out something a little less run of the mill.
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