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...