In the much better conditions I carried out a full patch walk, which yielded a slightly better than average tally of 45 species, some notable omissions were had today though, like Songthrush and Pheasant, as well as to a lesser extent Coal Tit and Mistlethrush.
It was good to see the flock of mixed hirundines at the Greenhouses early on, with at least 75 SWALLOWS, 20 HOUSE MARTINS and a SAND MARTIN all sitting on the Greenhouses, they had a wary eye on the KESTREL that was on one end of the building and the SPARROWHAWK that was on the other! Inside, around 30 PIED WAGTAILS flew about excitedly, waiting for the automatic windows to release them. There were at least 3 SISKINS and 3 CHIFFCHAFFS in the grounds, but no other summer species were seen there.
House Martin on one of the Greenhouses
Kestrel, watching me and the Martins ;-)
There were at least 18 MEADOW PIPITS out on the sheep pasture at Migrant Alley, where I saw 2 BUZZARDS up soaring as well as three small groups of BLACK HEADED GULLS and 4 single HERRING GULLS flying over. The 'impressive to watch' mixed skeins of GREYLAG and CANADA GEESE flew low over, at least 130 were counted, but I reckon I missed a few! The SKYLARKS continue to fly through, with 4 calling as they flew NW.
There was a nice surprise awaiting me on the main lake when I arrived, 4 TEAL (71) had come to visit! Only the second record of this species for any September, the other record was back in 2003. They dabbled around and between the 93 Canada geese and two Greylag Geese that were also there, the drake MANDARIN DUCK put in an appearance again, plus on the ornamental lake there were 2 GREY HERONS.
Teal, an unusual visitor to the lakes
Most duck species are unusual on the lakes though!
A BLACKCAP was seen at the Scrubby Woods, as were most of the regulars, although I did have to wait quite some time to find a GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER today!
6 comments:
A nice session with some good birds seen. Like the Martin shots but like the angle on the Kestrel, good stuff matey.
Cheers Marc,
The light in the early morning, at this time of year, is ideal for photography, that is when the the sun is out :-)
You are still finding plenty of birds and some nice photos.
Excellent, the Teal seen as unusual on the lakes Warren. Also excellent, the Kestrel shot.
The sunlight is spectacular in your photos! I especially like the effect of the 4 teals on the green reflective water, like an impressionistic painting.
Wilma,
Autumn sunshine always gives superb light for photo's, just wish the sun would appear more often! Thanks for visiting again :-)
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