Pittswood Birds

Early rain faded into drizzle as the morning went on, with a moderate breeze blowing from the SW. Early afternoon saw a few bright spells.

It was another poor patch visit for birding, with rain and drizzle making for a damp and dreary walk, when none of my target species were found, those being Skylark, Yellowhammer, and Mandarin Duck. There were a few semi-highlights though, such as the 3 MEADOW PIPITS that flew out of the sheep pasture at Migrant Alley, where 11 SWALLOWS also flew low over, accompanied by 2 SAND MARTINS. Another 5 Swallows were on one of the paddock fences, along with another Sand Martin, further along the same fence line 5 LINNETS were seen, the first for here 11 days.

I found just one BLACKCAP and 2 CHIFFCHAFFS, these being at the Greenhouse Grounds, where the female KESTREL was also seen again.

I visited the lakes and found nothing at all of note, while the adjacent Scrubby Woods had the likes of TREECREEPER, NUTHATCH, GOLDCREST, 2 SISKIN and a family of BULLFINCH that I watched feeding on ash keys, but it was much more quieter than of late there.

I had a couple of sky watches, one late morning and one mid afternoon, where I saw the other 2 regular raptor species of BUZZARD and SPARROWHAWK, plus a few HERRING GULLS, a group of 7 BLACK HEADED GULLS, as well as a couple more Siskin and Meadow Pipits calling as they went over. Not a very inspiring day then, especially for September, which generally produces some of the better patch visits.

The only things I photographed today were the relic war machines from WWII as they flew past in the distance.