15 October 2011

Saturday 15th October

Yellow-browed Warbler
Today I covered the patch from 12:45pm and left at 2:40pm when I went to football, I must say it was pretty good within that time and just wondered even though I couldn't do it what I might of missed early on. I straight away on arrival had 7 Crossbills which headed north over the cemo, followed by 2 Common Buzzards heading east at 1pm, I then at 1:15pm had a Yellow-browed Warbler which was mixed in with the mobile tit flock. Also of note was 70 Siskins which was just short of a cemo record and it would of been interesting just to see how many passed through in the morning, most probably it would off been 3 figures. Other bits included 22 Fieldfares, 30 Redwings, 1 Brambling, 1 Redpoll, 4 Chiffchaffs, 4 Sparrowhawks, 4 Kestrels, 4 Goldcrests, 10 Chaffinches, and 7 Long-tailed Tits. Craig text me this afternoon to say he had a probable juvenile Rose-coloured Starling in a Starling flock near the cemetery, what a dream that would be as I've always wanted one here, I will certainly be keeping my eyes peeled.

Friday 14th October

Today was very hard work, Dave and I spent just under 7 hours thrashing out nearly every inch of the place which did produce 46 species but how I don't know with little vis-mig going on which was a slight surprise considering it was a light easterly, however we did find the first Woodcock of the autumn which we flushed from the crematorium. Other bits included a late Sand Martin, 1 Firecrest, 1 Ring Ouzel, 7 Wheatears, 7 Chiffchaffs, 7 Blackcaps, 6 Bramblings, 11 Fieldfares, 60 Redwings, 40 Chaffinches, 53 Siskins mainly heading west, 11 Redpolls west, 6 Sparrowhawks, 4 Kestrels, 1 Reed Bunting, 4 Green Woodpeckers, 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 6 Goldcrests, 8 Long-tailed Tits, 7 Goldfinches, 21 Pied Wagtails, 30 Linnets, 7 Meadow Pipits, 7 Skylarks, 4 Jackdaws 1500 Starlings, 4 Ring-necked Parakeets and 6 Jays.

Thursday 13th October

Today was super not only was there some lovely easterly winds but both Dave and I recorded 50 species for the day (not for the first time I must add). We started at 8am and finished at 2pm, and for the first 2 hours it was busy especially in overcast conditions, the first good bird to appear was a Short-eared Owl which headed west at 10am, followed by 22 Crossbills heading north, in fact it was pretty good altogether with some good vis-mig also going on. Other highlights included 2 Common Buzzards, 40 Bramblings, 200 Redwings, 30 Fieldfares, 16 Siskins, 1 Redpoll, 3000 Starlings, 1 Ring Ouzel, 4 Wheatears, 1 late Yellow Wagtail, 3 Blackcaps, 7 Chiffchaffs, 1 Reed Bunting, 5 Goldcrests, 7 Lapwings, 2 Cormorants west, 5 Sparrowhawks, 3 Green Woodpeckers, 30 Blackbirds and 1 Little Owl which headed over the paddocks late on.

Wednesday 12th October

Even if the wind was a slight westerly today was another good one, Dave and I once again watched the area from 8:30am - 2pm, with a couple of good cemetery records. First of all was 2 Little Egrets which headed south at 10:50am, followed by another Woodlark which we heard calling and then watched over the garden of rest whilst sitting on a bench drinking coffee (well its got to be done), the good birds didn't end there when a nice little flock of 20 Crossbills headed west which originally tried to land but got scared off by a passing car. Other sightings included 11 Redpolls west, 35 Siskins west, 1 Wheatear, 2 Swallows, 7 Blackcaps, 12 Chiffchaffs, 20 Redwings, 15 Goldcrests, 5 Chaffinches, 30 Pied Wagtails, 2 Sparrowhawks, 3 Kestrels, 3 Green Woodpeckers, 4 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 1 Grey Heron east, 15 Ring-necked Parakeets, 6 Jays, 200 Starlings, 30 Blackbirds and 9 Mistle Thrushes.

Monday 10th October

Dave and I watched the area from 8:30am - 2pm in a blustery westerly wind, but it didn't deter from another year tick when 2 Woodlarks were heard and then seen heading south over the paddocks, followed by 5 Tree Sparrows which briefly settled in trees by the garden of rest before heading east. At long last we had a small flock of 5 Crossbills, and the regular Redstart was present in the same location for its 10th day. Other highlights included 1 Firecrest, 1 Hobby, 1 Common Buzzard, 10 Blackcaps, 10 Chiffchaffs, 300 House Martins, 1 Fieldfare, 30 Redwings, 11 Siskins, 55 Golden Plovers east, 6 Goldcrests, 4 Chaffinches, 1 Sparrowhawk, 3 Green Woodpeckers, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 20 Pied Wagtails, 4 Goldfinches, 20 Greenfinches, 7 Linnets, 2 Kestrels, 7 Long-tailed Tits, 2 Jackdaws, 2 Meadow Pipits, 3 Ring-necked Parakeets and 30 Starlings.

Sunday 9th October

Dave spent most of today out with myself just being able to do the odd few minutes, records show it was pretty good with a Hooded Crow west at 10:30am, also 1 Ring Ouzel, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Redstarts, 1 Common Buzzard, 102 Redwings, 2 Fieldfares, 30 Golden Plovers, 3 Reed Buntings, 15 Blackcaps, 5 Chiffchaffs, 55 Chaffinches, 1 Grey Heron west, 2 Sparrowhawk, 7 Lapwings, 18 Pied Wagtails, 18 Jays, 67 Blackbirds, 32 Song Thrushes, 19 Blue Tits, 11 Great Tits, 16 Greenfinches and 16 Linnets.

Saturday 8th October

Today due to other commitments I had just a very poor 30 minutes from 7:30 - 8am, why I bothered I don't know purely because its so annoying when its going to be a good day and I'm not there, but hey what I did record was 1,600 Redwings, 1 Firecrest, 150 Goldfinches, 3 Chiffchaffs and 1 Cormorant west.

Friday 7th October

Well what a crazy day this was for one reason or another, when arriving on the patch it felt very very quiet and unlike Mr Milton at Pegwell Bay I had extremely little vis mig overhead, but that's what's its like on Thanet migration can certainly miss out other areas where some get can most, or all of it, Pegwell and Margate Cemetery is the same just look at the Common Buzzards Phil, Dave Gilbert and I had during the spring on our patches where at Forness they were literally non-existent one of my points taken. After a poor watch in one of my favourite areas I went into the cemetery where again it was pretty quiet, until 9.45am when I looked up and found a CATTLE EGRET heading in what looked like a south/westerly direction I straight away sent out a couple of text messages and rushed towards the paddocks hoping the bird would settle there, Dave and I then had a good look around nearby fields but without any luck, but something more strange was to happen shortly afterwards (even rarer than the egret), a visiting birder to the cemetery, wow I've had more Black Kites than these, anyway with a beaming smile on his face the birder now known as Neil Davies from Chatham rushed up to me saying he had just seen a CATTLE EGRET heading south over Manston at 10am, just 15 minutes after mine, I could of kissed him, we had a very long chat and he was more than impressed with my blog which was nice, along with the superb habitat Margate Cemetery has, he was such a nice down to earth man we will certainly meet again as this was the first time he had ever visited the place. This was also a new bird for the patch let it continue. The rest of the news included 1 Ring Ouzel, 1 Redstart, 1 Redwing, 7 Wheatears, 6 Chiffchaffs, 6 Blackcaps, 4 Siskins, 2 Fieldfares, 2 Chaffinches, 3 Green Woodpeckers, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 12 Pied Wagtails, 12 Long-tailed Tits, 10 Linnets, 52 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 3 Ring-necked Parakeets, 1 Sparrowhawk and 3 Kestrels.

Thursday 6th October

The weather was certainly a little on the cold side and with a blustery n/w wind it was going to be a litte more difficult especially around the bushes, even so it was pretty good with a Raven heading west at 9:30am, which I presume is the bird currently touring Thanet, also 2 Ring Ouzels, 1 Redstart (present for a few days now), 7 Wheatears, 26 Siskins, 1 late Whitethroat, 10 Blackcaps, 5 Chiffchaffs, 1 Redwing, 2 Bramblings, 5 House Martins, 3 Goldcrests, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 3 Green Woodpeckers, 3 Chaffinches, 3 Pied Wagtails, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Kestrel, 1 Jackdaw, 10 Linnets, 3 Ring-necked Parakeet, 1 Meadow Pipit, 10 Song Thrushes, 15 Blackbirds, 10 Blue Tits, 60 Starlings, 52 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 100+ Black-headed Gulls and 60 Starlings.

Wednesday 5th October

To Dave and myself this certainly felt like a proper autumn day, with a nice bit of cloud cover we was sure to get a few bits moving overhead, well did it happen, actually it wasn't that bad, we spent about 5 hours on the patch and recorded 46 species which included a male Ring Ouzel, 1 Redstart, 1 Firecrest, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 8 Blackcaps, 5 Chiffchaffs, 7 Wheatears, 34 Siskins west, 730 House Martins, 20 Swallows, 9 Redwings, 1 Peregrine north, 4 Sparrowhawks, 40 Linnets, 1 Goldfinch, 20 Greenfinches, 12 Chaffinches, 5 Goldcrests, 1 Grey Heron south, 37 Meadow Pipits, 2 Jackdaws, 13 Pied Wagtails, 1 Kestrel, 12 Jays, 12 Ring-necked Parakeets, 20 Blue Tits, 2 Long-tailed Tits, 5 Green Woodpeckers, 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers and 60 Starlings.

Tuesday 4th October

First of all Warren I must say what a cracking little website you have and I do like the photo's Hadlow College and the surrounding area is certainly a nice little patch and it brings back memories for me as I spent 3 years there between 1998-2001 doing my BSc (Hons) degree in Landscape Management, and especially when you mention the stream which I presume is the one near the car park of the college grounds, I have recorded Kingfisher there but no doubt it has great potential for other good migrants, keep up the good work mate. Down to Margate due to other commitments Dave beat me to the patch today and straight away recorded a male Ring Ouzel which showed extremely well feeding on berries, then when we both wandered around we recorded 1 Redstart, 11 Redwings - are we so far the only people this year recording these in Kent as I've only seen one other record mentioned at Reculver (Dave and I must be stringing them!!), also 10 Chiffchaffs, 10 Blackcaps, 9 Swallows, 7 Goldcrests, 44 Meadow Pipits, 2 Sparrowhawks, 3 Green Woodpeckers, 4 Pied Wagtails, 20 Linnets, 2 Goldfinches, 6 Jays, 20 Greenfinches and 60 Starlings.

Monday 3rd October

Today was another hard session but at least it actually felt like autumn, Dave and I watched the place for about 5 hours which produced 11 Redwings, 1 Redstart, 13 Swallows, 1 Siskin, 9 Chiffchaffs, 2 Blackcaps, 6 Goldcrests, 1 Sparrowhawk, 3 Kestrels, 10 Jays, 14 Chaffinches, 3 Green Woodpeckers, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 4 Jackdaws, 30 Starlings, 3 Ring-necked Parakeets, 2 Meadow Pipits, 20 Greenfinches, 20 Song Thrushes and 20 Blackbirds. Of note Phil Milton text me this morning to say he had a few Crossbills moving through Pegwell but I didn't have any luck here today.

Sunday 2nd October

Another busy footballing weekend resulted in me getting to the patch today at 3:30pm, I stayed till about 5:30pm which produced a few bits, best of all was a Raven which was getting mobbed by a few Crows over the cemetery before heading off west, also noted was 1 Brambling, 1 Redwing, 50 Chaffinches, 1 Siskin, 4 Chiffchaffs, 2 Blackcaps and 1 Goldfinch.

2 comments:

Warren Baker said...

Nice to see some Autumn visitors arriving Steve. Good luck with Oct. :-)

Warren Baker said...

Hi Steve, glad you enjoy my blog :-)

The Stream is the one by the car park, in fact it's not a stream at all , it's the river bourne! It's biggest claim to fame was a Water Rail :-)

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