This morning the strong wind which had characterised the last twenty-four hours had subsided somewhat, although it was still somewhat fresh at Morton Bagot. I was joined by Dave, back from an eventful birding holiday on Scilly. From the sublime to the ridiculous, the local patch cannot remotely compete.
There was one species which stood out today, although we probably overlooked most of them. For the first hour, against a backdrop of clear blue skies, the odd Meadow Pipit was logged as and when we heard their calls. Towards the end of the visit some cloud rolled in, and suddenly we could see them as well as hear them. In about thirty minutes our count had ballooned to a reasonably impressive 93 birds, all heading south-west. For every call we heard, a quick scan would reveal a loose group of up to twenty birds. We couldn't help reflect that if we'd just stood still all morning we would probably have logged a lot more of them.
The rest of the walk round had produced six Stonechats, each one perching briefly in full view before being blown into cover by the next gust of wind. A Kingfisher called as it flew over our heads, Dave seeing it (or another) twice more before the morning was out. Occasional Redpolls, Siskins and Skylarks called high above, presumably migrating.
The flash pool revealed the same old stuff; 44 Teal, a number of Mallard, two Snipe and two Green Sandpipers. Nothing was perching up for long enough to tempt me to get the camera out, but eventually a Kestrel took pity.
It won't be long before the wind eases and maybe shifts to the east, and then the first Redwings will be back and the next phase of autumn will be in play.
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