Little, Caspian (x2) and Yellow-legged Gulls

Didn't have much time free today, but with the weather (strong southerly wind and some showers) I knew I needed to check the Estuary gulls at least once.  I actually managed to get two looks in which was a bonus, one at either end of the day, and both had their rewards...

The first decent bird was an adult Little Gull which Clive had just found from Tower Hide prior to my arrival.  This was my first adult here for years, which looked so diminutive surrounded by all the other species of gulls...

A very little Little Gull! But very smart too!

 

Then came the first of today's two Caspian Gull, a long and pale-billed lanky first-winter which unfortunately didn't hang around long...

Great profile on it!

 

Shortly after finding the first-winter Casp, I had brief views of what looked to be a second-winter Casp, but as I went from binoculars to camera I lost it and despite half an hour of checking the flock I couldn't pick it up again.   

So imagine my delight when during the late afternoon check of the Estuary, I pick up a second-winter Caspian Gull!   A really striking, small-eyed pale headed beaut, which I had no reason to suggest wasn't the other bird from the morning...

It looked amazing on the water.  Have often found that swimming Casps seem to hold their head low in the water - is this a thing?  

Looked amazing in flight too! 

Mantle colour shows up nicely here, being surrounded by all those Herring Gulls

 

Also on the Estuary today ten Mediterranean Gulls, eight Cattle Egret and a first-winter Yellow-legged Gull.   Sadly had no time to look at the sea, but I blame the gulls for that!

   

Merlin, Firecrest, Black Redstarts and a Bunting

It's feels like we've had a relentless north west wind for most of October, so it was nice to wake up to a still morning yesterday.

I checked as many sites as I could during the time I had, revealing a good spread of Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests along with a single Firecrest (although this was a bird I first saw a couple of weeks ago) and a Redwing, but nothing better.

Love Firecrest but they are a bloody nightmare to photograph!

 

At Black Hole Marsh four Dunlin and a Greenshank were the best on the marsh, with a group of five Crossbill over west.

Back home, thanks to a heads-up from Tim C, I was pleased to add Black Redstart to the house list, with two a little further up the road from my place - both viewable from my driveway.

Only my second and third of the autumn - often get more than this in late October

 

Today the wind returned, although from the south, but a much clearer dawn than I was expecting meant I had to do an impromptu vismig session from Mum and Dad's front garden on the west side of Seaton.

It was worth it with a really nice highlight of an imm Merlin (probably a male) at 07:40 that came in from high to the east and flew west right over my head.  Not seen many on active vismig, just a few over the sea, so it was a novel experience.

Less enjoyable was the bunting that flew over about five minutes later.  I half-heard what I thought was a Yellowhammer, heard it once more and much clearer and it wasn't a Yellowhammer. More clipped, lacking the harsh tone of this species, higher pitched and more metallic.  It was only after I saw the back end of the bird that had made this noise disappearing around the house that the penny dropped - Corn Bunting!  I just didn't hear or see it well enough to confirm, and annoyingly this was the first vismig session I've done for ages without my sound recorder on next to me. Very frustrating to miss out on what would have been my first vismig record of this species on patch - one that got away.

Other birds overhead during this relatively short watch included: 2,200 Wood Pigeon, 150 Starling, 72 Chaffinch, 10 Skylark, 4 alba Wagtail and 3 Siskin. 

Cannot believe it is nearly November!  But before that, let's have one last go at squeezing something else out of October...

 

Male Hen Harrier

Wow what a roller coaster of a day!  Started with excitement, then shock and elation, almost immediately followed by despair, then a few hours later absolute admiration and gratitude, then elation again.  I shall explain all...

I went up Axe Cliff again this morning, and despite a bit too much wind I had high hopes for some more exciting vismig.  However after the first 40 minutes I had lost much of my enthusiasm.  No Wood Pigeons moving and finch numbers were much lower than of late, presumably because of the wind.  

Even found myself taking arty photos of one of the Stonechats!

 

Then a tight flock of three Brambling flew low over my head, at first just giving the short contact calls before uttering a series of the usual long nasal calls.  I managed to record them on my handheld sound recorder too, and a quick play-back in the field revealed it to be a nice little sound clip.

Then at 07:15 the morning changed dramatically!

I was looking around in all directions as I thought I half-heard a Golden Plover, when 60 meters in front of me having just flown over a hedge to come into the field I was in, there was the unmistakable shape and flight of a harrier - a non-Marsh Harrier too! It was flying really low heading north west.

I could immediately see that the route this harrier was flying meant it was only going to be in view for a matter of seconds, so I had the usual quandary of bins or camera!  Well having not actually identified it yet it had to be the bins, although I could already see it was going to be a Hen Harrier on wing shape. However I was not expecting it to be a grey male!  As it floated over the field it turned its upperside towards me, revealing that it wasn't quite a full adult with some lovely soft brown scalloping on its lower mantle, as well as a bit of brown in the coverts on an otherwise fully grey wing with those striking black primary tips. And then it was gone. Lost to view over a hedgeline running east to west at the top of the field I was stood in.

Now I really did want a photo - so I ran!  And I proper ran up the field to a mound in the hedge, but I have clearly got to work on my pace because when I got there, there was no further sign of it.  I can only presume it dinked east back over the hedge it first appeared from, just a little further north up the next field.

I jumped down from the mound, fired off some messages and was extremely chuffed with myself.  Only my fourth ever Hen Harrier on patch, my first adult male (type) and my first of any sort since 4th Nov 2015 - almost ten years! Axe Cliff really has been delivering for me lately.  Of course it was a shame not have managed a picture, but am so glad I went for the binoculars when I had that choice - no doubt I would have messed the photo up anyway!  

I still had an hour left eo enojy some more vismig too - brilliant - or maybe I didn't...  I immediately realised that during my haste as I legged it through the field, my two click counters and, far far worse, my Zoom Hn1 sound recorder were no longer in my hoodie pocket.  Disaster!

So I actually spent the next hour, when Wood Pigeons had started coming through with plenty of finches and other passerines too, trying to retrace my steps through the crop field hoping to find my lost belongings.  All my focus had to be down and not up.  Despite my efforts, no luck, and then it was time to go...

I put a message on the local WhatsApp groups to let everyone know I had lost these items in case anyone was thinking of coming up.  Within two hours Phil had gone up and looked for me, followed by Brian, and finally Tim C.  What absolute gents - I cannot express enough just how grateful I am for their kind efforts.  I went back up mid afternoon when I was next free, to join Tim who had given up all his birding time today to search the field with military-like precision, and it was just as I parked up by his car that he phoned me to say he had found my recorder! Absolute legend!  Not only that but he had found one of my clickers too.

So it is thanks to Tim that I am now able to post the sound clip of the aforementioned trio of Brambling that flew over calling this morning, with some Chaffinch and Linnet...  

 

I've also an update from yesterday, although didn't have chance to get out in the morning.  Mind you that didn't stop me with the extra hour of AM daylight meaning I could enjoy some decent vismig from the garden, up until about 8:30am. The highlight was a flock of seven Crossbill over low (but not actually calling that much), with other totals including: 8,500 Wood Pigeons, 100 Stock Dove, 46 Jackdaw, 45 Siskin (a lovely bouncy flock of exactly twenty almost clipped the top of our house as they flew over!), 3 Song Thrush, 2 Teal (these flew the opposite way of everything else, heading east towards the Estuary) and a Reed Bunting.

I did manage to get out in the evening for a quick check of the Estuary.  A redhead Goosander was unusually far down the Estuary (they are almost always north of Coronation Corner), there was a lone Avocet which had been found earlier by Tim C and amongst the gulls were a second-winter Yellow-legged Gull and six Med Gulls.

Quite a Caspian-like neck shawl on this bird, but mantle colour, eye mask, structure, bill and general scruffiness all pointed towards Yellow-legged for me.  If you disagree let me know though as it wasn't an obvious call at first

Only one of the Med Gulls was an adult, a white colour-ringed one too!  Details sent off

 

Two were second-winter birds, but this one was particularly cute looking with a reduced mask and stubby bill!

 

And three were first-winters

 

Scanning through the pre-roosting Black-headed and Common Gulls looking for the odd Med Gull made the evening visit feel very 'wintery'.  We just need a bit more cold weather as there's plenty more birds still to come...hopefully!

 

Axe Cliff

I enjoyed an absolutely thrilling few hours up Axe Cliff this morning.  Thankfully the wind wasn't as strong as forecasted, and with mostly clear skies birds were pilling through west. 

Sunrise over Portland Harbour

 

It was a vismig watch of both quantity and quality. I shall list what went into my notebook first, then write some more about the highlights...

Axe Cliff 07:30 - 09:45 (west unless stated):  Marsh Harrier (juv north at 08:15), Short-eared Owl (lingering for ten minutes over fields from 08:40 then flew NE), 22 Jackdaw, 15,350 Wood Pigeon, 370 Stock Dove (the more I looked the more I saw!), 145 Starling, 64 Skylark, 1 Woodlark (09:08), 8 alba Wagtail, 1 Grey Wagtail, 106 Meadow Pipit, 2 Coal Tit, 395 Chaffinch, 1 Brambling, 240 Linnet, 165 Goldfinch, 76 Siskin, 17 Redpoll, 11 Crossbill (eight and three) and 5 Reed Bunting.

Grounded migrants were few and far between, just two Chiffchaff and five Stonechat.  But am glad the bushes were so quiet as it meant I could spend the whole time looking up!

So the Marsh Harrier, a gorgeous smooth as velvet dark chocolate juvenile was the first highlight. It was actually the first time I have ever seen a Marsh Harrier up at Axe Cliff...

It didn't hand around at all - flying straight through north

Yellow legs gleaming in the early morning sun!

 

Next nice treat was the Short-eared Owl, which spent ten minutes looking like it didn't really know where it was going, before it finally moved off north east.  My first on patch since 10th May 2023...

My first view of it - love their ridiculous shape!

  

Something tells me this may have been the moment that it spotted me!

Then at 09:08 it went a bit crazy, starting with a flock of eight Crossbill that flew overhead chupping excitably. Just as they disappeared out of view the sweet sound of a calling Woodlark caught my attention, and I proceeded to a lovely views of one flying low west just inland of me, in perfect light 'tu-leeing' sporadically as it flew.  Incredibly, especially when considering Axe Cliff is my favoured vismig spot on patch, this was my first Woodlark here!  And since we've lost our wintering flock they are a bit of a patch rarity now, in fact this was my first one on patch since Feb '19 when I had one over Seaton during a period of snowy weather.  

Dan over Salcombe Hill (east of Sidmouth) had one just over thirty minutes later, be great if it was the same bird. I haven't had chance to calculate the distance but it feels about right to me!

Another three Crossbill flew over just as I was leaving, and for entertainment value the two Coal Tits are worthy of a special mention.  Twice they chickened out of leaving the Undercliff, calling frantically each time they tried, but they finally got the confidence on their third attempt and flew off west along the cliff edge.

So yes, that's the quality covered.  And of course quality does help, but as ever it is the quantity that really made it special.  The number of finches on the move was really impressive for Axe Cliff, which does not act as a funnel at all with many birds passing inland of here.  However it was the first big autumn push of Wood Pigeons and Stock Doves that really wowed, with most flocks today passing really low...

Let the spectacle commence!

Coming in front of Beer Head

 

As often is the case the flocks seemed to get better as the morning progressed

  

The closer you look the more you see!

And I'll sign off with this very short video.  Many of the flocks flew though this low, so the whoosh of Pigeon-wings was often heard as they came over...

 

Hopefully this is a flavour of things to come for what is left of autumn 2025...

 

Vismig Update

I was able to give Axe Cliff an hour of uninterrupted vismigging yesterday morning (Wed 22nd), although starting at 07:30 meant the sun hadn't risen above the horizon or the low cloud just above it, until about twenty minutes into the watch.  Am sure an hour from 07:50 would have been even better for numbers but that wasn't an option for me.   Weather conditions were ideal, with a light north west wind, some high/distant cloud and plenty of clear skies.

By 08:30 my notebook and clickers had recorded (all west):  18 Jackdaw, 4 Song Thrush, 11 Starling, 53 Skylark, 11 alba Wagtail, 1 Grey Wagtail, 87 Meadow Pipit, 48 Linnet, 22 Goldfinch, 292 Chaffinches (biggest single flock 42 birds, many flocks high and some out to sea), 1 Brambling (my first of autumn, giving five wholesome and deeply satisfying nasal 'dzhweeeee's as it flew over), 17 Siskin, 4 Redpoll and 5 Reed Bunting.   

Today, although I haven't been able to do any birding, during a sunny spell this morning I did see my first flock of Wood Pigeons fly west, fewer than 60 birds but it's a start!  

In what is proving an excellent autumn for overhead passage - when the weather's been right - it's been great to watch the species mix and numbers change as we've moved through autumn.  Watching it as close as I have this year, the different periods of the autumn transition almost seemingly into each other, with new species fading in as others fade out.  I always notice the 'first of' each species, but never know when my 'last one' is until it's long gone and a week or more has passed!  

First it was Swifts (although these quickly thinned out), followed by hirundines and Yellow Wagtails with a few Crossbill and Tree Pipit.  By mid September these were joined/replaced by Siskins, Linnets and Goldfinches and then Meadow Pipits which took over numbers-wise as they always do.  Soon after, alba Wagtail numbers picked up (lots this year!) with the first Redpoll coming through, then as hirundine numbers dropped (dramatically for me, thousands to none in days!) Skylarks joined the mix. Now it's the turn of what I call the classic late autumn species - namely Wood Pigeons and Chaffinches. Thrushes will be next, I have only had the odd one come through so far but hopefully there are flocks on their way.

Something I also love about vismig, regardless of the general patterns mentioned above, is that two consecutive days can be so different.  It might be Goldfinches that are suddenly pilling through one morning, or Linnets, Siskins or hirundines, etc, but no two days are the same.  Overall, once the season is off and running and you know what species are having a good autumn, it can appear to be fairly predictable, but in reality each morning is very unpredictable.  

I have got a bit of time off work coming up, which hopefully will coincide with some clear mornings so I can enjoy what is fast approaching the final flurry of vismig of autumn 2025.

It's Been Raining Gulls!

The Axe Caspian Gull influx of autumn '25 hit a new level yesterday, with three looks along the river showing the presence of SIX birds!  There were four at lunchtime, with a further two showing after work at 5pm.  

Five were first-winters...

Probably the darkest looking first-winter I have seen during this recent influx, with the dusky underparts really showing off the white head

 

This was the third Casp that I picked up in this smallish flock of Great Black-backs, it was alongisde the above bird and the second-winter below.  What a trio, all stood within 20 meters of each other!

This one was much more distant, but was on the Estuary at the same time as the first three, all which I could still see within the GBBG flock.  Another fairly dusky bird.

 

This bird was much later in the day, and I did see it much closer than this but fluffed my chances of a shot of it then.  Although hard to tell here, it was a really white thing - looking quite unlike any of the other first-winters on this day

 

I first picked this one up, with real ragged greater coverts, distantly when it was stood next to the previous bird of later in the day.  Thankfully it moved downriver and landed much closer.  Quite a hefty bird, but yes, a real worn and ragged individual.

 

And the sixth was a second-winter...

Would love to have seen this bird more side-on, a real classy 2w

This view was as side-on as it got for me

 

The Casps were accompanied by two Yellow-legged Gulls, an adult or near-adult and a first-winter.    I got a photo of the older Yellow-legged whilst trying to get some shots of a very distant possible adult Caspian Gull, which frustratingly I didn't get enough on...

The interesting adult Gull is just next to the tips of that Crows left wing - just look at those long pink legs!  The Yellow-legged is just beyond the next Herring to its left, looking straight at the camera

 

Mediterranean Gull was the other species of gull that arrived in unprecedented numbers yesterday.

Considering I could count the number of Med Gulls I have seen on the Axe over the last month (prior to yesterday) on one hand, I was a bit shocked when an early morning look along the Estuary revealed a flock of 110 Med Gulls north of Coronation Corner!!

They never seemed to settle that well so were often just a swirling mass of white

Part of the flock settled in the early morning gloom

 

Shortly after, and whilst the flock was still there, a look out to sea showed another 40 Med Gulls feeding offshore - making 150 the day count.  I had twenty fly downriver during the afternoon too, which could well have been additional but can't say for sure.

Although this isn't the highest count for the patch, which was when I had 243 Meds fly west past the seafront during the evening of 23rd August 2024, I believe it is a record for numbers present at any one time on the Estuary.  The previous highest single count made being 83 on 29th Jan 2020. The highest day-total for Axe Estuary was also the 29th Jan 2020, when 123 were counted flying down river up until dusk (so probably including all 83 settled birds mentioned above).  Am sure I would have beaten this too mind, with the twenty in the afternoon plus the 40 over the sea which probably would have ventured into the Estuary at some point during the day.  A remarkable event, and what makes it even more bizarre and random is...

...today I have seen a grand total of three Med Gulls!  So I presume they have all flown back towards Portland?

Common Gull is another species that has increased in numbers dramatically over the last few days, with 100+ birds recorded including some lovely fresh and still quite juvenile-looking young birds.

Today I have seen another Caspian Gull, and I know it was a new one for me as it was sporting a green ring. When I first clapped eyes on it I thought it was one of the birds seen at Dawlish Warren yesterday, however Gav nailed the ring number half an hour later proving it was a different bird...

The white headed dude at the back!  

 

No more Caspian Gulls for me despite another two looks at the Estuary today, but two more Yellow-legged Gulls included singles of first and second-winter birds. 

So these seven Caspian Gulls takes my 2025 Casp tally to 22 birds, of which twenty have been since 30th August (one in August, nine in September and ten in October).  I think I have probably seen another two birds, which on views I couldn't be certain were different birds but highly likely they were, but I will stick with 22 to off-set any potential double-counting, although I have tried to prevent that by taking photos of them all.

I have missed another five or six Casps seen by others (including a second bird seen today by Gav) so the Axe 2025 total is around 28 birds.  To put this into perspective, before the turn of the year a total of 38 Caspian Gulls had been recorded on the Axe, since the first in 2007.  2023 was the previous best year when six were recorded. Six.  Is this a one-off year or is it the new normal?  Only time will tell, but they are clearly still coming through/hanging around.

Other oddities that I've seen today include a Great Crested Grebe on the Estuary...

My first of the autumn

And at dawn, three Egyptian Geese on Black Hole Marsh...

Wonder if they're the same as the three we had in spring!?

 

I've also seen a couple of Redwing shooting around, and there were a few Goldcrest and Chiffchaff calling from nearby trees and shrubs when I was out and about.  When this wind drops I think there's going to be a few birds around to find - which will be fun.

Could do with doing some bush-birding really, before I start looking like a Gull!

  

 

Spoonbills, Black Redstart, Firecrests and More

I was in Tesco this afternoon when a message came through about two Spoonbill on the upper Axe Estuary.  A few minutes later I was looking at them...

Two squabbling first-winter Spoonbills

 

Although Spoonbills are annual on the Axe, it is really surprising we haven't seen an increase in records parallel with the increase in the size of the wintering population on the south coast of the UK.  In fact it feels to me like they have actually become a bit scarcer, with birds rarely lingering beyond an hour let alone a day.  I cetainly reckon we have had fewer birds in the last five years than we have in the previous five year period, and that was probably less than we had in the five year period before that one.

It doesn't sound like these two lingered long.  They flew south about ten minutes after I left them and I don't think they've been seen again since.

I started today walking around on Beer Head, I had until 8:15.  Lots of Goldfinches, Linnets, Siskins, Meadow Pipits, alba Wagtails and a few Chaffinches flew over east, along with a single Redpoll.  In the bushes were a few Chiffchaffs, two Blackcap, two Goldcrest and a Firecrest.

Yesterday I started the day with a quick look over Black Hole Marsh, showing eight Dunlin and a Greenshank of note.  My walk to work was quite productive with a flock of five Cattle Egret down the Estuary and out to sea, two Crossbills over west, and my first Black Redstart of the autumn on the east side of Seaton...

It was an adult male too... not that you can tell from this phone-pic!  

 

The two days before this (Tues and Weds) I was housebound with the lurgy.  Still got it now, it's not been pleasant at all but at least it is better than it was!  Still, housebound doesn't mean no birds, and over the garden on Tuesday morning I had my first eight Redwing of the year, as well as nine Song Thrush (all as singles of pairs).  Then on the Wednesday I had singles of Chiffchaff and Goldcrest in my back garden, and a Cattle Egret flew north over late morning.

Go back a bit more, and Monday morning two Firecrest at Seaton Hole were my highlight of the day.  Yes this does show I am now in stripey-warbler search-mode!  Let's see if I can beat my four Yellow-browed Warblers of autumn 2024, though I doubt it looking at how many have arrived this year elsewhere in the UK.  A non-Yellow-browed striped sprite would be appreciated though! 

My final paragraph is for Saturday morning (11th) when I spent several hours at Axe Cliff from dawn.  Overheard passage was going east and west, and included lots of lovely little flocks of Siskins, the odd Redpoll, a Reed Bunting and the other usual species.  There were fewer birds in the bushes, but a nice little arrival of crests included five Gold and one Firecrest.  It's already the best Goldcrest autumn we've had for a few years, and it is still early.  

It is so good to have such good numbers of finches going over too - some years Siskins can be really scarce but they are anything but at the moment! As for Chiffchaffs they are still pilling through, having been moving through in good numbers for several weeks now.  It is great to know that all these birds must have had such a good breeding season.

Roll on next week, hopefully I will continue to feel better and will be able to get out a bit more...

 

The Big One

....well what I really mean is 'The Big Gull' but I knew if I titled this blog post that then no one would click on it!   

I first found this absolutely unit, my 15th Caspian Gull on the Axe this year, late afternoon on 4th.  Views remained distant so I was absolutely thrilled to see it again on the 5th, and much much closer!  It hung around all afternoon too which was nice, and despite the high count of Casps for me this year I think this one takes top spot.  

It's the kinda big male Caspian Gull that you could easily scope over in a flock of young Great Black-backed Gulls, an absolute bruiser...

My first views of it were of its long neck and white head sticking up from the back of a throng of gulls, however after ten minutes it moved into the open

Despite the distance, was dead pleased with this upperwing shot!  Actually not the cleanest tail for a 1w Casp but everything else was on point

These views were more like it.  So pleased it spent at least two hours on the lower Estuary on 5th

A typical structure for a big male Caspian with a big belly and a high and heavy chest.

Check out those legs!  Those two pairs of Herring Gulls legs look tiny in comparison

Nice details on its wing feathers in this shot, such lovely smooth coverts

This was my first view of it on day two. Only a small part of it in view but so striking.  That head and bill looking so epic on its gleaming white head and neck - nothing like a Herring Gull at all!

Will hopefully have a few hours out in the morning.  Fingers crossed for another decent pulse of autumn migrants.

 

 

A (Mostly) Passerine Update

So this is the 'catch-up' post that I have been threatening for well over a week now! Enjoy... 

 

Thursday 25th Sept

A busy work day, however once home and whilst playing 'keepie-uppies' with Harry in the front room with a balloon, the game had to be urgently halted when two Great White Egrets came lumbering past the front window!  They were flying west, and were clearly the two birds that had been present on the Estuary that afternoon.  Still, a lovely surprise and a nice house-tick!  

Great Whites aren't as frequent here as you may expect when you look at the growth in the breeding population in our neighbouring county to the north.

 

Friday 26th Sept

I spent the first hour and a half of the day vismigging from the front garden, in the clear and sunny conditions.  Pleased to see my first two Redpolls of the autumn go over, as singles, as well as my first vismig Song Thrush and Skylark of the autumn.  A low flying Crossbill virtually clipped the tops of our roof as it went over 'chupping'.  Meadow Pipits, Siskins and Pied Wagtails made up the bulk of the numbers, with a few Grey Wagtails, Chaffinches and Linnets.

 

Saturday 27th Sept

Not much birding happened on this day.... my 40th.  Bit shocking really!

 

Sunday 28th Sept

This was an amazing morning!  I went up to Axe Cliff with a pocket full of clickers and my sound recorder, hoping to tap in to vismig.  In reality, overhead was really quiet with the only highlights being my first vismig Reed Bunting of the autumn and a Golden Plover.  I think the overnight cloud and rain just lingered a little too long past dawn, it was supposed to clear pre-dawn.  

On the deck however there had been a really impressive falls - all Chiffs and chats.

Axe Cliff isn't usually that good for 'bush birds', however every hedgeline I looked along there were multiple Chiffchaffs flitting around, with many hedges having more than ten birds.  I checked them all hoping for something better, however just seeing that quantity of migrants gave me more than enough joy.  I counted 65, but for every hedge I checked, there were probably two or three I couldn't/didn't - so hundreds must have been present.  The fall was noticed across the whole patch too, with numbers recorded in the valley and at Beer Head.  I even saw birds in both mine and my in-laws gardens on that day (both Seaton), so actual numbers on patch must have been in the several thousands.  Incredible.  

Stonechats were also well represented, having gone from just seeing the 'odd on' on previous visits here, there were 12 in all.  Along with three Wheatear, a Whinchat, and finally my first Redstart of the autumn - two in fact!  I found them within less than a minute of each other, one distant on the far side of the field that I was in, but the other popped up right in front of me...

A fall of Stonechats!  Also Meadow Pipits and a Robin, a lovely autumn scene.

A pre-dawn Whinchat

The first Redstart that appeared right in front of me

The second Redstart made me walk all the way across to the other side of this rather large field!  It allowed fairly close views by the time I made it over there

The rear view - such cool birds and always great to watch

Absolutely love birding around and amongst plenty of migrants. There is something that is just so exciting and awe-inspiring seeing everything feeding up having just dropped in, knowing they are about to head-on to their wintering sites - which may be thousands of miles away.  Not knowing where they have come from adds a sense of mystery to it as well.

 

Monday 29th Sept

The lack of any wind meant that overhead passage was a bit all over the place, with birds flying in all directions.  Two Mistle Thrush over west were probably the highlight, but there were good numbers of Siskins again as well as the first big pulse of Skylark.

Grounded migrants during my walk to work were represented by a Wheatear on Seaton beach, and a noticeable increase in crests including two Firecrest, with the male in full song at times and showing nicely.

 

Tuesday 30th Sept

Only had time for a dawn raid on Beer Head, and concentrated my efforts around the newly named 'Quail-field'.  Although there were again plenty of Meadow Pipits on the open ground, with a few Skylark also present, it was the bushes that were more rewarding.  Even though I had to leave pre-8 am I found another Redstart amongst another decent arrival of Chiffchaffs, and a nice duo with a Common Whitethroat and a Lesser Whitethroat feeding together - both being the first of each I have seen for several weeks.

The last one of these I saw was in August!  I only saw this bird pre-sunrise so light not good enough to gauge colours, however date does make me wonder whether it might have come from a fair way away?

The Common Whitethroat accompanying the Lesser

 

Since the turn of October, I have blogged most things I have seen.   However in addition this week every morning the vismig has been good, although I haven't been able to monitor it at all properly.  Alba Wagtails have been particularly prolific, with Siskins continuing to pass over in good numbers, along with ever increasing numbers of Skylarks.  This morning a flock of four Mistle Thrush over really high west were really cool to see, rattling as they went, and over the sea a flock of 16 Common Scoter whizzed around the bay before heading out south east.

I do have a really rather lovely gull to blog about, but it was so epic it deserves it owns post.  Hopefully will have time to do this tomorrow night, so check back soon...