Firecrest and... It's Spring!

Felt sorry for this lovely Firecrest today, found by one of my team on the ground near a tram parked up outside Seaton Station.  She took this snap on her phone, but when she subsequently went to pick it up it flew off strongly into nearby bushes.

Am pleased to report that about an hour and a half later I was watching it busily feeding in bushes alongside the track a little way north of the Station (at the back of Tesco). I've not seen one in the centre of town before!

I managed a whilst-at-work Wheatear yesterday too, on a day there had been a significant influx of this species on the south coast.  I could only spy one on Sheep's/Seaton Marshes, but he was much appreciated.  I saw/heard four Chiffchaffs yesterday too.  Spring has clearly stepped up a notch within the last couple of days, with Dad seeing a few Sand Martins and a Swallow at Black Hole Marsh mid morning today as well.

Am leading a bird watching tram this Saturday. Hopefully... More migrants please!

Radford's Flame Shoulder

I had drafted another post out to be my next, titled 'Beware of Hackers' (many of you am sure will be able to guess the content of this one!) but something far more exciting has come up...

I put the moth trap out late last night, it was well past sunset when I realised despite the drizzle the conditions were actually pretty moth-friendly with little wind and reasonably mild temperatures. This proved a good move as I was rewarded this morning with a new species for the garden and for me; Radford's Flame Shoulder!  

Described as a rare immigrant to the south coast, it's one I have been keeping my eye out for for years.  Any late Flame Shoulder is worth looking closely at as Radford's Flame Shoulder is generally found in the UK after the flight period for Flame Shoulder is over - although am sure some are overlooked during (or at least towards the end of) the Flame Shoulder flight period.  Anyway, when I saw a Flame Shoulder resting at the bottom of my trap this morning I potted it immediately.  After I'd gone through the rest of the trap I came back to it for a closer look, and it was ticking many of the boxes for Radford's.  As it is quite a tricky species to ID I asked for confirmation from the fantastic @MothIDUK on Twitter, and am pleased to say this was rapidly given :-)

The key ID features I noted were;

• Black streaks extending beyond kidney mark (almost producing a 'shear')
• Kidney and oval marks smaller than in FS 
• Dull brown ground colour 
• Sharp contrast between purple thorax and white patagia
• Clear white hindwing.

I have to be honest and say it didn't look that long-winged to me, but then again I've not seen a Flame Shoulder for maybe three weeks now so a direct comparison may well have given me a different conclusion.

Am ashamed to say the reason why the photos are so poor is because whilst trying to get a photo of its hindwing, I completely fluffed re-potting it and much to my despair it flew off high to a nearby tree! I would have taken far more photos were it not for this :-(

The full catch total ended up at 83 macro moths of 20 species - not at all bad for October.  A single Delicate and L-album Wainscot were the macro sub-highlights, along with fairly late individuals of Cypress Pug, Willow Beauty and Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing.  Lunar Underwings made up the bulk of the catch, with 25 in all.

Seeing as I've not done a moth post for a while, despite the fact I have done quite a bit of mothing, here's a few other moth pics that I've taken over the last few weeks.  I've not caught any other goodies but there are some really smart moths on the wing at this time of year, and here's three of the most vibrant;

Sallow

Centre-barred Sallow

Barred Sallows

I still haven't caught the two big immigrant moths that I'm after (The big Hawk and the one with blue underwings!) but have been getting a steady trickle of Silver Y's along with two Delicates.  Although I mostly steer clear of micros, I have noted plenty of Rusty-dot Pearls and a few Rush Veneers in recent weeks.

Delicate

This autumn there have been unusually high numbers of L-album Wainscots on the wing.  This is a species I catch every year but normally only in very small numbers.  One morning last week there were six in the trap, and I know several other sites are reporting much higher than usual counts...

L-album Wainscot - a real favourite of mine

And another - such a beautifully marked moth, especially considering it's a Wainscot!

I'll end this post with some (real) bird news. Clive did well to turn up a Spotted Crake on Black Hole Marsh late this afternoon, although sadly I couldn't react to the news.  Our fifth in recent years I believe, but seeing as there aren't many in the country this year it's extra good value.  I've not been here for most of today, but did have a nice little surprise whilst filling up with fuel at the Tower Services this morning. It didn't take me long to pin down a sharp sounding crest in the bushes on the edge of the neighbouring chalet park - and as I thought it was my first Firecrest of the autumn. Always a delight.

Firecrest Fun

The beautiful blue sky this morning tempted me over to Branscombe, so I could catch up with the Firecrest that's been wintering around the Water Treatment Works. It took about three seconds to find, and I enjoyed it for the best part of half an hour, showing exceptionally well at times...

After about twenty minutes, suddenly there were two male Firecrests in front of me! They had a brief stand off and chase around, then split up, with the second bird feeding around the entrance gate to the WTW. Often ON the entrance gate in fact...

Also around the WTW, 10+ Goldcrest, two Chiffchaff and this Treecreeper (never an easy species to photograph)...

No visit to Branscombe is complete without a sea scan. There were quite a few auks out there this morning, along with a lone Great Northern Diver, three Red-throated Divers and rather unusually, five Teal.

A couple of visits to some woodland near Colyton over the past week has shown Woodcock on both occasions, four and three. I also had at least three Crossbill here the other day, which is more than notable.  Nice to see and hear male Siskin song-flighting too.

And lastly, yesterday as I was driving along the A3052 between Seaton and Beer, a flock of 18-20 Golden Plover flew past going the opposite way. They seemed to land near Stafford Cross where Ian Mc had 15 today. Heaps of Lapwing around there too.

My Top Five Wildlife Moments of 2017

Happy New Year everyone! I really hope 2018 is a great one for you, and I wish nothing but good health, plenty of happiness and lots of successful wildlife watching for you all.

Just before 2017 is out, I thought I'd share my top five birding/wildlife moments of the year, but first there was one last treat for me in the year.  A Boxing Day family stroll in Branscombe gave me absolutely knock out views of a male Firecrest. I watched it for about fifteen minutes feeding at eye-level along the ground and perimeter fence of the Water Treatment Works. I simply could not leave it, to the extent that it took me ten minutes to catch back up with Jess, Harry and Honey! What a Boxing Day bonus.

And now to my top five wildlife highlights of the year...

5. Red Kite influx on 24th May 2017. This was two days before Harry was born, and I missed a better passage on the 25th when even more were seen over Seaton. But it was amazing to watch 18 Red Kite fly west over the patch in the space of a couple of hours mid to late afternoon, and out of the blue too! Many of them passed really low overhead.

Red Kite

4. Slapton Humback Whale. The only off-patch entry to the list, but it just couldn't be ignored. What a privilege to see such an incredible animal off the coast of Devon, and so close too. We made the journey down on 4th May and were treated to some amazing views of this monster from the deep.

3. 30th April 2017.  This was my best day of the spring, and was just what I needed after a very uneventful (and mostly sunny) month. My full account of the day can be found here, but in brief it included a superb morning sea watch with sea birds, wildfowl and waders passing through, a Marsh Harrier over Colyford Marsh and on the Estuary some stunning waders in absolute stunning plumage - next stop the Arctic! Migration is just so SO exciting to witness, and it really makes you marvel at the journeys these birds have to make. 

Bar-tailed Godwit

2. Hawfinch influx. Although the patch has seen only the very smallest of slices of the incredible nationwide Hawfinch influx this winter, just having the feeling of the very real prospect of seeing Hawfinch any time I've stepped outside has been really exciting. An influx on this scale is possibly a once in a lifetime event, so I urge everyone to make the most of it while you can. I have managed to find three on patch, all in Colyton, and off patch five in Exeter and a single in Axminster (whilst delivering Christmas cards!). I don't think anyone would argue that they are such super impressive birds.

Hawfinch

1. That Pomarine Skua flock. As they flew out of view, I knew right there and then they simply could not be topped. And I honestly think they would take the top spot in an all-time version of this list (and I've seen some cracking birds here over the years!). I was delighted to share the amazing and close flock of nine Pomarine Skuas with Richard at the Spot On Kiosk, and numerous other sea watchers as the flock was tracked all away along the south coast to Sussex! It was the morning of 12th May, and was the cherry on top for my best spring Skua tally for many years here which included 12 Poms, 5 Arctics and two Greats. I will finish this post with the best birding video I have ever taken, enjoy...

That's More Like It!

Well Ophelia has come and gone, but in birding terms delivered nothing. She didn't bring any American land birds or waders, and didn't even drag up that many sea birds on her journey - bit or an ornithological flop really. But since then things have picked up...

The last week has seen an exceptional arrival of Firecrest across south Devon and Dorset, well some parts of south Devon and Dorset! Portland recorded an unprecedented 150+ on Sunday, with probably just as many around Prawle/Start/Soar. But other places (Dawlish Warren, Exmouth, here) recorded none on the very same day!  Pleasingly they have started trickling through here now, I had my first at Spring Head, Axmouth on Monday afternoon, with another on Tuesday up by Axe Cliff Golf Course car park. Dad had six at Beer Head also on Tuesday, and Bun another in Beer village. Such smart birds.

A quick look along the beach to see what Ophelia had left us revealed just six Ringed Plover, a Little Stint (presumably the lingering bird) and a whole load more Man o' War.

Looking east along Seaton Beach on Tuesday morning

Wednesday gave us a nice double, although sadly one of which I missed.  Our Reserves Officer James Chubb saw a Great White Egret on Colyford Common (which had previously been at Abbotsbury Swannery), but it soon took flight and headed off south west. So proving to be as brief a visitor as the other two recorded here this year. Drat.  What followed cheered me up though...

Yellow-browed Warblers have proved much scarcer this autumn than recent years, presumably solely because we've not had the easterly winds of the previous few autumns. So, stepping out my front door early afternoon, I was really surprised to hear one call from trees just up the road - my third from the garden! I didn't have great views of it, but Tim White clearly did an hour or so later as he managed THIS fab picture of it - always such smart birds and always great to see/hear.

The drizzle and completely still conditions of last night saw (well heard!) an excellent nocturnal passage of Redwing and Song Thrush overhead, which gave me high hopes for this morning.  But those hopes have not really been lived up too (as usual!), although it did feel really good out there. There was one lovely highlight though...

As I drove over the lower Axe bridge into Seaton, I was amazed to see a flock of six Avocet fly across in front of the car! A really mega-sized flock by Axe standards.  I watched them fly upriver, they then circled around a bit before seeming to drop down on Black Hole Marsh. So I went around for another gander...

And that brings me and this blog up to date! So good to feel proper autumn excitement - we are a go...

Firecrest

Phil text me just at the right time late this afternoon with news of a Firecrest at Seaton Hole, which is within my PWC patch. In the previous two winters Firecrests have wintered here, but this winter one has only been seen sporadically, and this was the first sighting of it in 2017.

Gladly it was still showing well when I arrived just after 4pm and I enjoyed some lovely views of it. I was enjoying myself so much that I couldn't help but photograph some twigs...

I particularly like that dark bramble branch running up the left side of the frame, I think this darkness is exactly what this otherwise pale photo needs.

I just LOVE the Ivy cover along the botton 1/5 of this photo, almost acts as a natural base to the photo. Also note that lovely 'V' of brambles just off centre. Nice.

Other birding today involved a sea watch from 08:15 for about 45 minutes. It's highly likely that Phil and I let a perfectly good Black-throated Diver fly past unclinched, it just remained far too distant but I have to say it did look the part. We were however perfectly capable to ID the four Red-throated Divers that also flew through (well one flew in actually). No wildfowl at all this morning, but still a few Razorbill, Gannet, a Kittiwake and three Great Crested Grebes out there.

In other rather gripping news, tonight Tim Wright had one of the Dippers from my PWC patch. Up to today they have only been seen up near Colyton but at 16:20 Tim had one from the A3052 at Colyford. It looks like I'm going to have to put even more time in here, I have been checking from the bridge by the White Hart daily but only for a few minutes at a time.

Patch Pochard

It was nice to see the first frost of the autumn this morning, the windscreen needed a good scrape first thing. And this unprecedented scene on the Borrow Pit (Seaton Marshes) not long after 9am complimented the weather conditions perfectly...

Patch gold!

As I've said before on this blog, any diving duck here is notable. Tufted Duck are annual on patch with 1-5 records a year. Pochard however has gone from being almost as regular as Tufties to a real patch rarity, and we have no idea why as the habitat hasn't changed (probably actually got better!).  The last Pochard here was three years ago, when I had a female flying around over the Estuary on 31st October 2013. Before that you've got to go back another two years for the previous record.

Drake Pochard (left), drake Tufted Duck (right).

Prior to this excitement the day was already a good one as I had seen a gorgeous Firecrest at Lower Bruckland Ponds. Although this site is an excellent one for warblers all year, and good for Goldcrests too, this was amazingly my first record of Firecrest here.  Firecrest numbers have been increasing annually on the south coast for quite a few years now, but this autumn has been a really poor one. This was my first of the autumn, and I don't think anyone else has seen one on patch.

The only thing I need to mention about yesterday was the first wave of Wood Pigeon passage, the clear skies and chill in the air meant it was almost inevitable. From where I was (Beer Head) I didn't see any flocks bigger than 600 birds, with most being of 100-300, so it wasn't a massive passage but good to see nonetheless.  I also had singles of Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer west, but surprisingly little else.

Let's hope the prediction from the Met Office of a cold winter comes good. The Waxwings continue to arrive on the east coast with a load more reported today, so all we need now is a nice bit of snow and ice to ensure they venture down here.

Beer Head

Beer Head yesterday morning wasn't heaving with birds, not by a long way, but there was a nice late March selection. All in nice weather too which is always a bonus!

Best of all was a smart male Firecrest in the Sheepwalk, with a back up cast of a female Black Redstart, a female Wheatear, a sub-singing Willow Warbler, two Goldcrest, five Chiffchaff and seven Stonechat.

I often find the first arriving Wheatears don't allow close approach - bring on the showy Greenland hulks!

I was so pleased with the haul that this morning I took my mist nets up there for the first time this year.  Sadly though everything was the opposite to yesterday, especially the birds (none!) and the weather (bloody cold!).  Nice views though as ever, here's my main net ride half way through setting the net...

I am so lucky to have these spectacular views at this ringing site.

A Cracking November Day Plus Another Yellow-browed

The first part of this post's title does not refer to the weather, it's been pretty grotty for most of the day, but at least the wind has remained light/non-existent. Birding wise though I have had a thoroughly enjoyable day with some real nice highlights, and that's despite spending more than four hours of the day sat in front of this laptop! (Probably five by the time I've finished writing this post!).

Had to take the dog for a walk this morning, so soon after breakfast we headed up to Beer Head for a wander (thankfully Honey is used to frequent pauses during her walks!).  The bushes were in general very quiet, with just a Chiff and two Goldcrest noted. There were clearly a few thrushes about though with 15+ Blackbird, 15 Redwing, six Song Thrush and a Mistle Thrush noted.  Overhead passage was also quiet (probably due to the occasional drizzle) with just small numbers of Skylark, Meadow Pipit and Chaffinch, two Redpoll and singles of Siskin and Reed Bunting.

It was a very worthwhile walk though as there was one major (and overdue this autumn) highlight, a beautiful Short-eared Owl. It came up from the base of some bushes just a few feet in front of me, and treated me to an amazing close fly by. But within what seemed like a few seconds it was distant, beyond the cliff edge. Oddly though it then remained on view for forty minutes as it didn't seem to know what it was doing or where it was going, drifting off north, then back south, flying off to the east then back west. It finally seemed to be heading off as I was getting back in my car, I could see it distantly flying east across Seaton Bay.  

Just about identifiable.

A rather dramatic photo I think, or just crap...

 

Despite all the time I spend up Beer Head during the spring and autumn, this was amazingly my first Short-eared for the site! There has been a couple in the past but I have just never jammed in to one here, which is surprising because I've seen half a dozen at Axe Cliff, a few less in the river valley, one over the sea front and two in the Beer Cemetery Fields (just inland from Beer Head).

On the way home I pulled in at Seaton Hole where at least one of the Firecrest was still showing, there's been at least two here for a week now...

It was a male, not that you can tell that from this pic!

I was home by mid morning and got my head down.  Lunch time was soon upon me and I realised there wasn't much food in the house, so en route to the shops I stopped off at Axmouth Yacht Club. I've been here a few times in the last week but haven't seen any more Black Redstarts since the two last Tuesday, so was surprised to see three today including a stunning adult male.  None of them were very co-operative though and remained skittish...

Male Black Red

And again

One of the female-types

Back home, and after a bite to eat and another couple of hours of laptop work, it was time to take Honey out for her second walk of the day.  I drove along the Estuary on way, where small numbers of gulls included my first Med Gull (an adult) for almost a month...

Second from the right

The biggest surprise though was when I pulled over to have a scan over Colyford Marsh, and I picked up ring-tail Harrier being chased by a Crow over the reed bed. Flipping heck!!  I scrambled for the scope, and thankfully after a nervous couple of minutes of no sign, it reappeared and showed itself to be a gorgeous juvenile Hen Harrier.  Pity it wasn't the rarer species of Harrier, but Hen is rare enough here - only my third ever on patch.  I just managed to grab a couple of dreadfully poor record shots before it dropped down out of view behind a hedge, I'm not sure whether it carried on flying north or landed.

Can just about make out a white rump and I'd say a broad wing tip (if you squint!)

Yes an even worse photo!!

So all in all an excellent day.  I do like early November, it can be a great time of year on the south coast, although a bit of cold weather wouldn't go a miss.  

Yesterday I had even less time out, in fact much to Honey's dismay she only got one walk (tut tut bad me!). Late morning we had a wander up Axmouth village, although didn't walk as far as usual as it sounded like World War Two with the amount gun fire around the Spring Head area!  Anyway, turns out we didn't have to walk that far at all, as half way through the wander I thought I half heard a Yellow-browed call once from dense cover behind a couple of noisy Coal Tits. I got the mp3 out and played Yellow-browed call, and about twenty seconds later a small bird flew from behind me and landed in the tree right by the road, Yellow-browed Warbler.  It remained in this tree and in view for about a minute, but then melted away in to the trees behind and I didn't see it again during the next hour (Gav joined me but sadly dipped).   I thought I took a couple of pics of it but on downloading the photos all I took is photos of leaves!!

Bird Ringing

Here it is, the final catch up post...

During September and so far this October it feels like we've had more than our fair share of wind, which has seriously hampered mist netting efforts. Even more so because my prime autumn bird ringing location, Beer Head, is so exposed. Still, this autumn I have managed six sessions up there, the 2nd, 18th and 25th of September, and 3rd, 8th and 14th of October.  All sessions were over by about 11am, and I never had more than two 60 foot nets up, in fact on two dates I just had one 60 foot net open. Thanks must go to Peter B who has helped and accompanied me on four of the dates, his help has proved invaluable.   

During these six sessions 226 birds of 23 species were trapped and ringed, and they were:

5 Swallow
4 Meadow Pipit
8 Wren 
7 Dunnock 
2 Robin
2 Redstart (both ringed on 2/9)
2 Stonechat (both ringed on 8/10)
3 Blackbird
1 Lesser Whitethroat (ringed on 2/9)
2 Whitethroat (singles ringed on 18/9 and 25/9)
52 Blackcap
75 Chiffchaff (incl. one grey bird ringed on 14/10)
4 Willow Warbler (all on 2/9)
25 Goldcrest
2 Firecrest (singles ringed on 8/10 and 14/10)
1 Spotted Flycatcher (ringed on 18/9)
8 Long-tailed Tit
3 Coal Tit
7 Blue Tit
8 Great Tit
2 Chaffinch
1 Goldfinch
2 Bullfinch (ringed on 18/9)

What a superb ringing site Beer Head is turning out to be.  It continues to amaze me just how many birds move through the two hedgerows I net, and how quickly they pass.  So few birds are re-trapped here, just the odd resident Dunnock and tit, on release all the migrants just motor on with their migration.  And it's always worth remembering I only net a tiny part of Beer Head, so the true number of birds that move through the whole place is probably quite significant.  Anyway that's enough text, here's some pics...

Lesser Whitethroat.

Head shot of Lesser Whitethroat showing that gorgeous steely grey iris.

Male Redstart.

It's fitting that I've caught three Coal Tits as they are everywhere this autumn, I've not seen a Continental ater bird yet though.

Gorgeous male Stonechat.

A lady Stonechat.

Firecrest number one, a male.

The second male Firecrest, from above to show off that lovely head pattern.

The grey(ish) Chiffchaff from 14/10 - colour wise it reminded me of a Garden Warbler.

At the rear with a standard collybita bird, it was far from a tristis but still very striking and nothing like the other 74 Chiffs I've ringed here this year.

And it's not only all these birds Beer Head can offer. There really are worse places to spend the morning...

Looking east towards Seaton and Axe Cliff.

The Birds

It's time to review what the birding has been like on the Axe over the last month or so, and what I've seen...

I'll start back when I first became laptop-less, in late August.  The Baird's Sand proved a one day wonder on Black Hole Marsh, but the Wood Sands lingered.  Although big numbers were only present for a couple of days, there were between five and 14 for the next few weeks - still amazing numbers when talking about Wood Sands!  What proved as amazing as the numbers were the views they were offering...

Personally I think there's not many places better for seeing wading birds up close in the UK than Black Hole Marsh.  Just look at that Wood Sand in the photo above, it couldn't be closer to the Island Hide!

We had quite a few juv Little Stints over the course of August/September, never more than two at a time, but we probably had about seven or so over the course of the autumn.  Curlew Sands though have proved scarce this autumn, and all we managed were a couple of juveniles on 24th Aug...

A front view and a back view! Both are Curlew Sands I promise

Otherwise we had good numbers of Ruff (up to double figures) and the odd single Knot, Turnstone, etc...

Knot

Black Hole Marsh really came good on 30th/31st Aug. Late on 30th a patch first and Devon mega appeared in front of Tim Wright, a Citrine Wagtail! (the grim details and a photo here).  Sadly after barely a minute it flew off and was never seen again. Gutting.  The following morning birders searching for the rare waggy turned up a cracking Spotted Crake and a Wryneck - on fire!!!  I didn't see any of the three rarities, but so happy for the chaps that did and very pleased for the patch. A Bittern was seen on Colyford Marsh by many on 8th Sept, but since then Black Hole and Colyford Marsh have remained rarity-free zones. 

Over on the Estuary  it's been fairly quiet.  The small wader flock from Black Hole Marsh could often be seen here at low tide, and good numbers of gulls on 21st Sept included 180+ Great Black-backed Gulls and a lovely first-winter Yellow-legged Gull.  I saw my first Wigeon of the autumn on 24th Aug (it was actually on the sea), but from mid Sept numbers have been building, there are probably about 80-100 present now.  A nice surprise this morning were two Pintail on Colyford Marsh scrape, my first ones this year. Unusually a Razorbill has been present for a good few weeks on the Estuary, often on the river as far north as the Tower Hide. Bit of an odd sight.

Back to the sea, and an evening walk along Branscombe Beach with Jess and Honey on 29th Aug showed there were large numbers of Gannets offshore (despite no wind at all), and thousands of whitebait washed up on the beach.  

I was interviewed by BBC Radio Devon about this, not quite the 'freak phenomenon' they were hoping for though!

Because of this, the next morning I spent a few hours at Spot On Kiosk, and was rewarded with lots and lots of birds. Most of these were feeding gulls and Gannets, but I did see c35 Manxies and at least six Balearic Shearwaters, a couple of which were lingering and feeding offshore.  A Greenshank in-off was a bonus too, and vis mig over the beach included three species of wagtail for the first time this autumn (Pied, Grey and Yellow).

A bird ringing update will be in another post (once I have IMPR up and running again), but I have spent a fair bit of time at Beer Head, and have had some good mornings there without really seeing anything that special. You don't always need rare birds to have a good day.

The 1st Sept was a pretty good morning up there, in two hours I logged 25 Yellow Wags, one Grey Wag, two Tree Pipit, eight Wheatear, two Redstart, three Spot Flies and a late Swift.

The best day for me though was 17th Sept. Up to the day before I'd seen just a handful of migrant Meadow Pipits, but it was bursting with them!  I left the head 3.5 hours after arriving, and had counted at least 750 Mipits, some flying straight through, but most landing among the long grass in large flocks briefly before continuing on west.  It felt so so good for a rare pipit, but sadly it never happened.  The bushes were just as busy as the fields, with good numbers of Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps, what will probably prove to be my last Willow Warbler and Redstart of the year and a single Spot Fly.

A beautifully well marked juv Spotted Flycatcher

More recently, the 30th Sept was a windy morning, but hirundines were streaming through in their thousands at Beer Head, all going east. In with them plenty of Meadow Pipits, a few finches and on the land a Wheatear and a Spot Fly.

The best day for vis mig variety was even more recently, on 3rd Oct. I was up there ringing and it was fairly foggy, but birds were piling through north.  Several large flocks of Linnets, Goldfinches and Siskins, almost continual Chaffinches and Meadow Pipits, numerous Pied and Grey Wags, the biggest movement of Skylark of the autumn so far (35+), a couple of Redpolls, singles of Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer, and best of all at least two Crossbill. If only the bushes were as busy!  I did see a Firecrest, but sadly didn't catch it...

The only notable birds I've seen since the 3rd were this morning's Pintail that I've already mentioned, and a Firecrest in the middle of Colyton during a dog walk on Sunday morning.

It feels good to be up to date, so from now on as I see I will post, yes regular blog posts will resume.  And I look forward to compiling the bird ringing post too, that will probably come early next week.