The whole of my walk was a much quieter affair all round, with a total of 46 species being found, well down on recent days, and a full 16 less than the last two visits combined! However it is a more realistic daylist for August. At least I found a COMMON WHITETHROAT and BLACKCAP today, and a pair of TURTLE DOVES, non of which were seen yesterday. The Turtle Doves seen today are the second latest recorded, Sept 1st is the latest date which occurred in 2007, the mean departure date for the previous 7 years is 22 Aug.
Later in the day I took a trip up Ashes Lane, ( the western end) where an adjacent field was being ploughed, I noticed some Gulls dropping onto it, but when I arrived I was stunned to see over 300 HERRING GULL a few BLACK HEADED, and a few LESSER BLACK BACKS! I gave the flock a good scan - if I could have found a Common Gull among them, it would have given me the one new species for the month that would have beaten the August record, but it wasn't to be. After the gull fest, I took a trip round the paddocks at Migrant Alley again, and was in luck, as I found a migrant WHEATEAR, thats 3 in 3 days now! I also saw a KESTREL which took the daylist to 48.
Above and below todays Wheatear - great little birds, a real treat for me on my patch.
Below is the Kestrel, would have been a better photo if it wasn't for that branch!
Below is a NUTHATCH I saw this morning.
Below is a few of the Gulls on the plough. They were of mixed ages a proved a good opportunity to try and get the different plumages - not my strong point!
Lastly more GREENFINCH'S from the garden feeders. This lot couldn't get on to the 12 port feeder above them, and the 6 port feeder nearby was full as well, more were bathing in the pond!
8 comments:
Warren ,
Just had time for a quick look at the farm lake before going out this morning , absolutely nothing !
You're doing well with the Wheatear .
Hi Warren,
I will always be amazed by the number of species on your patch! I'd like to have one like this around! Still 46 species! Well done on the weather pictures, they are great. Are you getting more into autumn weather now?
September tomorrow chris - and the autumnal weather is set to kick in later this week, strong winds and rain. :-(
Hi Warren - got anymore gull picks couldn't find you a y/l or caspian amongst the throng you posted. Congrats on getting joint record though.
Hre's to crackin September's record.
Cheers
Davo
The Wheatear really is an elegant looking little bird. Lovely to see the Nuthatch too.
Our weather has been grey and unpleasant the last three days. Not what we were promised at all :(
Warren: Those are some great bird photos from your area of the world.
I just love your wheatear, great pics of one! Into every bird snapper's life, wayward branches must fall...the kestrel is such a pretty bird, tho. I saw one last winter, hope to see more. Looks like another nice birding day.
Oops, by the way, I do own a butterfly ID book, and use a really nice website as well...but like with the skippers, so many look the same to me.
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