Yesterday morning, although I wasn't able to count them, in the overcast conditions I was surprised to see numerous large of flocks of Wood Pigeons flying east over Seaton, probably totalling about 10,000 birds. Not expected at all.... but neither was what happened this morning!
Today saw a complete change in the weather, much cooler overnight temps and a starlit sky made way for a gorgeous sunny morning, albeit with a cold and noticeable northerly wind. As dawn broke small flocks of Wood Pigeons flew over east, but as I stepped out of my car having changed my viewpoint to Seaton Hole, a single flock of 4,500 Wood Pigeons flew directly overhead and south west, a more usual Pigeon-direction. But it wasn't until I wandered down to the sea front I could see what they were up to - they were flying out to sea!
I simply couldn't believe what I could see. Over the sea at several different distances were long lines of Pigeons, some virtually at the limit of binable range. My first scan revealed 12,000 birds, and over the course of the next 50 minutes I had a total of 64,000 Wood Pigeons fly out south east. Absolutely incredible. The most intense Pigeon passage I have ever witnessed here before.
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| You'll have to open this picture up to see all the specks! |
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| The different shapes of the various flocks were incredible to see |
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| More Pigeons emerging from behind Seaton Hole |
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| A tiny section of one of the distant long lines of birds zoomed in a little more |
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| Which when counted properly shows to contain 2,400 birds. This was part of a line of 8.5k birds. |
It wasn't just Wood Pigeons overhead (well out to sea mostly!) but Chaffinches were again moving well, with a single Brambling and three Siskin over Seaton Hole. Settled at Seaton Hole were a couple of Firecrest and a showy flock of four Bullfinch, unfortunately not Northern birds...
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| Always worth a snap - male Bullfinch |
Also offshore were seven Common Scoter and good numbers of auks flying east, whilst at Lower Bruckland Ponds a good look through a huge Long-tailed Tit flock failed to show anything better than seven Chiffchaff and a few Goldcrest.
Yesterday morning the sea was a bit more productive for seabirds, with over 1,000 auks flying through distantly and two Brent Geese settled off the beach...
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| They were close inshore, just close inshore to a distant part of the beach! |
On Saturday morning three Blackcap were charging around my garden, felt like new arrivals with none of the three looking very settled. Presumably they were sorting some winter territories out before it gets cold.
On Friday morning another seawatch revealed nothing better than 23 Med Gulls east and seven Common Scoter settled offshore.
I have a very busy work-week this week, however I hope to get out a bit at least over the coming sunny days. Autumn clearly still has plenty to give, and today it gave me about 32 tonnes of Wood Pigeon!
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