Sunday October 11 - Morton Bagot

 There's lots to talk about this week, not all of it good news.

The most interesting titbit came from Tuesday, when one of Tony's Meadow Pipits proved to be a re-trap. Normally, re-traps aren't big news because they tend to relate to residents such as Blue Tits which are around all the time. It would have been unusual for a Meadow Pipit to remain for any length of time, and it turned out that Tuesday's bird had first been caught as an immature at Morton Bagot on October 26 2025. So this bird was passing through Morton Bagot almost a year later, presumably having hatched in northern Britain and on its way to the south coast or beyond. It seems almost certain therefore that this Meadow Pipit was following exactly the same route as it had 12 months ago. Has anybody ever proved such a thing before?

On the same trapping session Tony caught a male Stonechat, and although we saw seven in total today, none of them got photographed, so here is Tony's bird.

Stonechat by Tony Kelly

I suppose I'd better get to the bad news. Yesterday John Chidwick reported that the route to the best place to view the nearest flash from had been blocked by whoever owns the Kingfisher Pool. Sadly, we will no longer be able to get a proper view of the nearest flash. They are also in the process of constructing a fence to prevent anyone from going there. Of course it's their land and they have every right to do that. But from our point of view it will further diminish the experience of birding at Morton Bagot. At least the habitat will remain, we just won't have a clear idea of what's there.

The path now blocked by brushwood

The only place to view the flashes from now is the traditional spot, although that is becoming more difficult every year as the vegetation grows.

The traditional viewing place

The first Redwings of the autumn are starting to appear. I saw eight over Earlswood on Friday, and two or three here today. We noticed a small movement of Skylarks during the morning, and a single Grey Wagtail flew south.

I've been counting the moths in my moth trap. 25 on Friday night included five Black Rustics and a White-point, which were new for the year. 

I'll have to decide whether to continue blogging at the end of 2026. Maybe I should do a new blog referencing the fact I'm getting more and more interested in other wildlife (I was trying to identify grasses today!)

Morton Bagot Birder's days may be numbered.