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.
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