We are now in the first peak of autumn. By that I mean the time when the summer visitors start to desert Europe, and with any luck one might turn up at your local patch en route. For that reason I formulated a cunning plan, which was to get to Morton Bagot at dawn and hope that something exciting, like a Tree Pipit, would migrate over me.
Well, it was a thought. In fact I saw very little, nothing moving overhead and just a few warblers in the bushes.
Part two came when I returned after breakfast. Dave was away, but Andy Gooding joined me. We walked down from the church and arrived at the flash field to find the nearest scrape full of water. No matter, it was also full of waders.
We counted 16 Green Sandpipers, seven Snipe, and 24 Lapwings. Not bad. I turned my attention to the ducks and noticed there had been an influx of 19 Teal. Make that 18, one of them turned out to be much more interesting. A Garganey trying to blend in, and nearly succeeding.
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| Garganey |
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| Garganey on the left, with two Teal |
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| All seven Snipe |
We weren't quite done. Andy spotted a bird of prey sitting in the shade of a tree beyond the flash. It turned out to be a Tawny Owl. I can't remember having seen one in this part of the site before.
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| Tawny Owl |
In case you are wondering what the second peak of autumn is, I would say the middle of October when the Redwings and Fieldfares arrive. Hopefully accompanied by something a little rarer.
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