Sunday November 10 - Morton Bagot

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.

Friday November 8 - A morning of surprises

 I had a definite plan for this morning. Part one was to be at St Mary's churchyard near Studley shortly after dawn in the hope that the Yews there will have attracted some Hawfinches, as they did in the last influx.

I was stuck with the same cloudy gloom that has characterised the last ten days, but at least there was very little breeze again. Sadly I was not able to find any Hawfinches, only Goldfinches, Chaffinches and a Greenfinch. But there was still a surprise or two in store.

Looking out towards the river valley I spotted a flock of ducks approaching, and it turned out that they were 23 Goosanders. The flock split, half returning downstream and the rest going upstream. A little later a single drake Goosander appeared from the north, and may well have been a new bird. Shortly after that I was under the cover of the trees when I heard the mournful call of a Golden Plover several times. I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that this was a year-tick.

Back home to help Lyn rise to face the day I was staring out of the bedroom window when, irony of ironies, a Hawfinch flew passed. It wasn't a garden tick thanks to the last invasion year, but was welcome nonetheless.

Part two of the plan was to go to Morton Bagot to check out the area I had not had time to visit on Tuesday. At the flash field there were no real surprises, unless you count a single Wigeon which lurked behind the flock of 39 Teal. I also saw a few Snipe, Lapwings, and Greylag Geese.

Moving on to the scrape field I flushed a few more Snipe but didn't try hard enough to find any Jack Snipe. I also found a pair of Stonechats and flushed a Green Sandpiper.

But lady luck wasn't yet completely done with me. A flock of Woodpigeons emerged from the north side of Bannams Wood, and I know enough to make sure I raise my binoculars to look at them. Sure enough a Goshawk was in hot pursuit of one particular pigeon allowing an assessment of the size of the Gos to be made. It was clearly larger than the Woodpigeon, I would say about 15% bigger, which would make it a male Goshawk as females are larger still. I did attempt a photo, but it was too far away and the resulting image was of no use and will not be shown here.

Wednesday November 6 - Morton Bagot

 When the ringers tipped me off that they would be ringing at Morton Bagot this morning, I was keen to join them in the hope that the Hawfinch might reappear.

So I spent a couple of hours hanging around Tony, Leigh, and Ida as they patiently ringed whatever they could catch. Unfortunately the Hawfinch failed to put in an appearance, but on a gloomy misty morning there were plenty of thrushes in the hedgerows to keep us optimistic.

Only a small proportion of the Redwings and none of the Fieldfares (by the time I had to leave) had found their way into the nets, but I estimated there were 40 Redwings and 30 Fieldfares plus smaller numbers of Blackbirds and Song Thrushes keeping things lively.

Unfortunately there didn't seem to be much overhead passage going on, and all I could come up with was a Peregrine which flew to a more distant pylon while we were there.

Eventually I decided to take a stroll down the hedge before heading for home. This paid off when plinking Blackbirds led me to a sleepy Tawny Owl. Since the regular tree has been abandoned I've found it hard to see this species and this was only my second sighting here this year.

I only got as far as the scrapes (and didn't even check them) before my conscience got the better of me and I headed back home. There was at least a Stonechat visible on the hedge there.

The ringers' update is as follows:

Overnight Tony caught a Woodcock, two Redwings, and a Linnet.

Today's mist-netting produced:

Blue Tit 8 (6 retraps)

Great Tit 5 (2 retraps)

Wren 1

Redwing 2

Blackbird 1

Bullfinch 3

Lesser Redpoll 6

Goldfinch 2

Reed Bunting 1

Sunday November 3 - review of the week

 There are some encouraging signs regarding Lyn's recovery, and I was even able to go birding  this weekend. 

Earlier this week my efforts were confined to hour-long vizmigging from the driveway and a little bit of mothing. Most mornings produced very little, but I did count over 100 Fieldfares on October 31, and there were several 100+ counts of southward bound Woodpigeons. If I needed any encouragement that this wasn't all a monumental waste of time, that came from Dave Jackson vizmigging from his garden near Crabbe's Cross recording Hawfinches on successive days from November 1.

Meanwhile, Tony had been doing some nocturnal ringing at Morton Bagot, and this paid off with his successful capture of a Green Sandpiper on Thursday evening.

Green Sandpiper - Tony Kelly

On Saturday came news of a drake Red-crested Pochard at Earlswood. It was agreed that I could be spared the time to twitch it, and I duly did so.

The bird had been found on Windmill Pool by Joe Owens, and was still present if a little distant when I arrived and was only the third for the site. It took off shortly after the first boat set forth, but I gather it was seen subsequently on Engine Pool. I also had the bonus of a pair of Ring-necked Parakeets flying over as I headed back to the car.

Lyn managed so well that this morning we agreed I could spend two or three hours at Morton Bagot. In fact I hadn't even left the house before Mike Holley messaged me that he had heard a Hawfinch calling there. I arrived ten minutes later, and connected with the bird before I even found Mike. It had taken off from the hedgerow near the beehives. It quickly joined some Redwings and disappeared before Mike joined me. Dave arrived, unaware of the drama, and the three of us resumed the search. 

Mike relocated it half an hour later back near where it had been seen previously but it again flew off before anyone could get a record shot of it. Further searches proved unsuccessful, but I think it's likely that it's still there.

There were a lot more Fieldfares and Redwings in the area, along with at least one Stonechat. The flash field was a bit disappointing, but on my way back to the car I did see a Peregrine.

Finally, I mentioned moths at the start of this post. On October 28 I trapped ten moths. Most were Red-Green Carpets but I also had an early Winter Moth and a Black Rustic.

Black Rustic

PS: I understand the Red-crested Pochard could not be found at Earlswood this morning but there was ample compensation in the form of a first-winter Mediterranean Gull.

Sunday October 27 - The new normal

 I wasn't expecting to post anything more for quite a while, but birds have intervened. The good thing about the little blighters is that they fly, they migrate, they give you a chance even if you are confined to barracks.

So yesterday morning I couldn't help noticing that birds were moving. Flocks of Woodpigeons headed south every so often during the first couple of hours of daylight, and I eventually counted 275 of them, mostly from the bedroom window. 

As luck would have it that was exactly the right place to be when, at 08:40 I turned round from talking to Lyn and spotted three white birds approaching from the north. I grabbed my binoculars and confirmed they were swans. Within seconds I realised they were not Mute Swans, but were actually either Bewick's or Whooper Swans. I could see the yellow base at the base of their bills, and I tried hard to assess the shape of the yellow colour. They were soon lost behind the whitebeam growing to the left of our front garden. A dash downstairs to the back garden proved futile. Nevertheless a quick check of the Internet confirmed my suspicion that no Bewick's Swans have arrived at Slimbridge yet, so it seems very likely indeed that these birds were Whooper Swans which arrive a month or so earlier. In fact it may be relevant that three Whoopers were reported flying south over Seisdon near Wolverhampton just an hour and a half before my sighting.

For the rest of the morning I managed to watch from the driveway which was better for seeing birds which call as they fly over. This added 94 Redwings and a few Skylarks and Chaffinches to the morning's haul. 

Meanwhile Dave and the ringers, Tony and Leigh, have been visiting Morton Bagot over the weekend. They found the first two Jack Snipe of the autumn along with 15 Common Snipe, and two Stonechats. 

Greenfinch - Tony Kelly

The ringing totals included a Blackcap, four Redwings, five Greenfinches, eight Goldfinches, and three Reed Buntings.

The exciting day of movement was also noticed at Earlswood where John O and Matt G counted 4,310 Woodpigeons and a Hawfinch in the space of two hours. Two of the latter have returned to Tardebigge churchyard, and Birdguides is full of reports of them.

This morning by contrast, there appears to be no movement of birds going on over the house whatever. 

Things could be a lot worse.

Saturday October 26 - Getting out less

 Well the good news is that Lyn is back home. Now the hard work begins. It will take a while before she is able to regain some independence.

My last birding was at Earlswood on Tuesday, the highlight being 700 Woodpigeons heading south in just over an hour. It was a bit of a gloomy morning and the only bird I photographed was a Kestrel.

One thing I have allowed to lapse is my garden moth-trapping. I've not attempted to catch anything since the middle of September. This means I have missed a number of common species which only fly for two or three weeks. But now I'm housebound for the foreseeable, there is the opportunity to resume.

Last night, which seemed fairly mild and calm, the trap was set and I attracted just four moths. Two of these were new for the year; a Barred Sallow a species I catch every year in small numbers, and only my second Juniper Carpet (my last was in 2019).

Barred Sallow

Juniper Carpet

I even saw a few birds, the most noteworthy being a male Blackcap.

So for the next few weeks there's a patch in need of additional coverage if anyone fancies giving Morton Bagot a go.

Monday October 21 - Getting out more

Circumstances beyond my control continue to leave me with extra time on my hands, so rather than sit at home twiddling my thumbs waiting for hospital visiting hours to begin I've been getting out birding every morning.

The weather over the last few days has lurched from gales and rain to pleasant and mild, but none of it has produced any locally unexpected arrivals as far as I can tell. I've paid two visits to Earlswood. In thick mist on Friday I established that the Yellow-browed Warbler had gone and found almost nothing in compensation. Having said that, I do like the scrublands south of Windmill Pool and was moved to photograph some impressive lichen there.

Probably Ramalina farinacea

Next day I was at Morton Bagot at dawn, and joined the ringers who had had to furl their mistnets due to some persistent drizzle. Just as it eased I got news from Lyn that they might be moving her to another hospital (they didn't), so I aborted the visit and headed towards the car. Ironically this meant I was in the right place to see a male Goshawk powering its way towards Bannams Wood, and then to see and hear a Yellowhammer calling as it made its way south. Unfortunately, neither bird presented a photographic opportunity.

On Sunday I had a couple of hours at Earlswood in light drizzle before the wind pepped up and Storm Ashley blew in. It was quiet.

Mallard ignoring the storm

Today I was back at Morton Bagot, determined to give it a longer look. The cloudy weather and still conditions turned out to be not much use for encouraging visible migration, and the morning passed uneventfully. The birding highlight was a female Blackcap, while the usual species included five Stonechats dotted about, 23 Common Snipe, and more Song Thrushes than Redwings, though I only logged 11 of the former.

Stonechat

Reed Buntings seemed to be everywhere, and I counted 17 of them. My most interesting find, just because I hadn't seen them before, were some strange clumps of white stuff in the grass which my phone told me was a species of Slime Mould. Even better, when I got home and tried to find out what it was I came up with the wonderfully named Dog Sick Slime Mould, a description which I certainly wouldn't argue with.

Dog Sick Slime Mould

I suspect that as my phone app didn't want to commit to a full species name, other species of similar slime moulds are available.