31 October 2013

Thursday 31st October

Very very quiet day with just 3 Siskins,1 Redwing, 3 Fieldfares and 2 Sparrowhawks.  

Wednesday 30th October

Dave found 2 Firecrests in the Garden of Rest  this morning, and there was also a notable movement of 10 Common Buzzards which took place this afternoon including 6 birds together, also 1 Mediterranean Gull and 2 Little Owls by the main entrance. Jay numbers continue to impress with 18 mainly around the cemo with others being 2 Jackdaws, 3 Fieldfares, 6 Mistle Thrushes, 5 Green Woodpeckers, 28 Chaffinches and 32 Linnets.

Tuesday 29th October

Today produced 2 Mediterranean Gulls near the main entrance, and once again a female Merlin which was hunting very quickly around nearby fields, there was also 2 Peregrines including the rather large female, 4 Kestrels, 3 Common Buzzards, 2 Sparrowhawks, 5 Green Woodpeckers, 88 Skylarks, 6 Meadow Pipits, 12 Jays, 3 Grey Partridges, 1 Common Gull, 17 Long-tailed Tits, 12 Pied Wagtails, 4 Redwings, 2 Chiffchaffs, 11 Robins, 10 Chaffinches, 1 Goldfinch and 73 Linnets.
 
Friday 25th October

Star of the day and only the 4th record for the site was a Snow Bunting which Dave found in stubble field behind the paddocks, other bits that he recorded was 1 Merlin, 1 Peregrine, 3 Sparrowhawks, 3 Kestrels, 46 Skylarks, 6 Meadow Pipits, 13 Pied Wagtails, 17 Jays, 5 Redwings, 6 Common Gulls, 32 Chaffinches and 4 Mistle Thrushes

Thursday 24th October

Today was a lot better with a nice  selection of birds including 2 Peregrines, 1 Common Buzzard, 3 Sparrowhawks, 1 Merlin, 1 Little Owl, 3 Chiffchaffs, 14 Redwings, 8 Bramblings, 1 Fieldfare, 8 Green Woodpeckers, 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 22 Meadow Pipits, 5 Goldcrests, 12 Jays, 22 Long-tailed Tits, 10 Linnets, 6 Skylarks and 11 Robins

Wednesday 23rd October

Very little around today at best was 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Grey Heron north/east, 1 Little Owl and 6 Redwings.

Tuesday 22nd October


Pretty poor today with just 1 Swallow, 1 Chiffchaff, 10 Redwings, 1 Fieldfare and 300+ Black-headed Gulls west.

Monday 21st October


Hard work today with 1 Firecrest, 10 Fieldfares, 30 Redwings, 2 Chiffchaffs, 1 Blackcap, 150 Golden Plovers, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Peregrine, 20 Siskins, 16 Mistle Thrushes, 25 Meadow Pipits, 25 Dunnocks and 8 Skylarks.

Sunday 20th October


Dave had most of the joy today with a ring-tail Hen Harrier, 2 Mediterranean Gulls, 220 Golden Plovers, with a Firecrest and 2 Siskins in the crematorium.

Saturday 19th October


Yellow-browed Warbler (Just)
Due to a lovely family day I didn't arrive on the patch until 3:15pm, and as soon as I arrived it looked as if there may have been a few birds around with Robins in pretty much every bush possible, Chaffinches and Redwings moving west, and a few Dunnocks around the Garden of Rest, but my main interest was near the chapels especially when I found a Pallas's Warbler briefly in a tall sycamore at 3:30pm, and then not again until 4:15pm, when another brief viewing was possible, but just around the corner was a Yellow-browed Warbler giving an elusive display for a couple of minutes, but as good as it was time was limited and  that was that for the day.   

Friday 18th October


Dave and I had a good look round for yesterday's shrike but without any joy, but the day didn't disappoint when I found 2 Yellow-browed Warblers calling and showing on and off in the cemo, there was also a Yellowhammer just my 5th record for the patch which headed west, and a Stonechat in the paddocks, a small movement of 120 Redwings took place with 11 Fieldfares and 8 Bramblings mixed with them. Raptors did pretty well with a female Merlin east, 1 male Peregrine, 2 Common Buzzards, 4 Sparrowhawks and 3 Kestrels. Other bits were 2 late Yellow Wagtails, 18 Golden Plovers, 5 Chiffchafffs, 25 Chaffinches, 2 Siskins, 150 Linnets, 1 Grey Wagtail west, 15 Meadow Pipits, 2 Reed Buntings, 3 Goldcrests, 12 Pied Wagtails and 3 Green Woodpeckers.

Thursday 17th October


A grey blob in the centre the only photo possible from this poor showing Great Grey Shrike
After yesterday's great show, what could possibly be lurking around today. Well the answer is the above picture, I started off in the cemo but it was very quiet, and it took a Ring Ouzel in the allotments to get the day going, but even after that I really didn't expect anything better, but I have watched this place for long enough, and found out through the years that this is not always the case. I ventured on towards the paddocks and I was just about to meet up with Dave when I saw a bird sitting on top of the hedgerow behind the paddocks at 11:30am, I quickly got my bins on to it and the rest is history Great Grey Shrike, I phoned Dave straight away, but this bird was very flighty and seemed unsettled, Dave then arrived and we proceeded on towards the hedge, but this bird was playing hard to get and went to the other side, we waited for a couple of minutes but no show, and then it came back where it briefly settled, a quick distant snap shot and then at 11:35am, the bird was gone, way gone now heading high south/east. A pity but a great bird in its very short stay, this is the 5th record for the patch, but probably the worst viewing but continues a superb autumn/year. Other bits around was 1 Little Owl, 2 Common Buzzards, 1 Brambling, 13 Chiffchaffs, 6 Blackcaps, 1 Grey Wagtail, 4 Swallows, 20 Meadow Pipits, 23 Mistle Thrushes, 2 Sparrowhawks, 1 Reed Bunting, 3 Goldcrests and 20 Pied Wagtails

Wednesday 16th October


Winter Thrushes once again on the move
When putting the bins out late last night there was a nice healthy sound of thrushes moving overhead, so along with the wind going round to a nice southerly direction I was hopeful that today was going to be another good one, indeed it was with another superb patch total of 58 species, straight away on entering the cemo at 9am, there was signs of a good vis mig day but with pretty much all the place heaving with birds it was hard to know where to start first, so cemo it was, well for the first half hour or so which in return was some what productive with a Yellow-browed Warbler following the tit flock and a Firecrest by the crematorium, but our senses for the next 4 or so hours tended to favour the skies and in return it produced 5,000 Redwings mainly heading west, 220 Fieldfares, 1,100 Chaffinches west, 12 Bramblings west, 1 Ring Ouzel east, 10 Pink-footed Geese east, 1 Short-eared Owl, 1 Mute Swan north (still a patch rarity), 10,000 Starlings, 6 Swallows, 1 House Martin, 1 Lesser Redpoll west, 5 Reed Buntings south/east, 120 Meadow Pipits, 7 Cormorants south/east, 185 Linnets and 76 Golden Plovers. Other bits were 2 Common Buzzards, 7 Sparrowhawks, 2 Kestrels, 50 Goldfinches, 1 Goldcrest, 3 Grey Herons, 15 Skylarks, 3 Green Woodpeckers and 1 Corn Bunting. With light southerly winds forecast tomorrow it will be interesting to see what else could be lurking. 

Tuesday 15th October


Rook
Bird of the day and only the 3rd record for the site was a Snow Bunting which headed west with a count of 150 Goldfinches, but apart from that it was pretty hard going but at least 4 Firecrests put on a fairly good show in the cemo, and was followed shortly after with 2 Little Egrets that headed west. Other bits around were 7 Bramblings, 40 Fieldfares, 60 Redwings, 7 Chiffchaffs, 76 Golden Plovers, 3 Common Buzzards, 3 Sparrowhawks, 1 Reed Bunting west, 7 Siskins, 100 Linnets, 1 Goldcrest, 32 Pied Wagtails, 10 Skylarks, and 3 Green Woodpeckers.

Monday 14th October

Jay
I arrived on site just after 9am, and straight away found 3 Firecrests which showed well near the main entrance, and soon after a Yellow-browed Warbler which was still present with the tit flock, and this was the trend for the rest of the day with Dave and I recording an excellent 54 species, I didn't get as many as yesterday but there was still 2 Ring Ouzels which headed east, and 6 Common Crossbills over the crematorium, There wasn't masses on the move but there was a constant flow of birds around the area with 2 Grey Wagtails, 20 Bramblings, 2 Little Owls, 1 Reed Bunting, 4 Swallows, 60 Fieldfares, 80 Redwings, 20 Siskins, 14 Chiffchaffs, 3 Blackcaps, 1 Wheatear, 1 late Yellow Wagtail, 5-6 Common Buzzards, 3 Sparrowhawks, 20 Meadow Pipits, 76 Golden Plovers, 2 Peregrines, 2 Kestrels, 10 Jackdaws, 15 Skylarks and 30 Linnets.   

Sunday 13th October


YET ANOTHER RECORD BROKEN. After a very frustrating morning of very heavy rain which delayed things some what it was down to a late afternoon session to see what had arrived, I eventually arrived at 3pm, and straight away heard a Yellow-browed Warbler which was present amongst the tit flock, but for me best of all was a new autumn record of 25 Ring Ouzels with 24 birds heading east and another in the cemo, this is the best autumn and spring count ever recorded here, but little did I know that just around the corner Dave Gilbert  had just found a Richard's Pipit which he saw in flight and heard calling over the paddocks at 3:45pm, another great autumn bird for the patch, there was also a few other bits including 1 Firecrest, 528 Fieldfares, 630 Redwings, 30 Song Thrushes, 5 Bramblings, 1 Peregrine, 8 Sparrowhawks, 76 Golden Plovers, 19 Lapwings, 3 Snipes, 10 Swallows, 10 Chiffchaffs, 1 Blackcap, 12 Jays, 52 Goldfinches, 10 Siskins, 55 Meadow Pipits, 31 Skylarks and 2 Goldcrests.    

Saturday 12th October



Yellow-browed Warbler (1 of 3 today)
Another decent spell of overnight rain and north easterly winds spelt another hopeful day on the patch, and so it was with 3 Yellow-browed Warblers showing all together calling on and off by the chapels. At long last these are the first birds this year that have showed well, with all the others being pretty poor, I found them at 8:30am and were still present when I had to leave at 11:00am. Other bits recorded were 3 Ring Ouzels, 5 Firecrests, 3 Wheatears, 35 Bramblings, 470 Redwings, 120 Fieldfares, 13 Jays, 65 Song Thrushes, 7 Chiffchaffs, 45 Blackbirds, 26 Robins, 3 Goldcrests, 22 Great Black-backed Gulls (2nd highest cemo record), 25 Chaffinches, 1 Common Buzzard and 7 Sparrowhawks

Friday 11th October


Redwing
I KNEW I WOULD GET BARRED FROM THIS PLACE ONE DAY. Wow what a day, on arrival at 9am, the place was heaving with birds with an obvious arrival of thrushes and lots of others, little did I know what was lurking an hour away, but strangely the first birds I recorded was 5 Knot which headed north over the main entrance, and then the arrival of Redwings with the end of day total being 5,000 or so, but at 09:57 the star arrived when I heard a small flock of 5 Common Crossbills but something a bit more quiet was calling amongst them, something that I have never heard before, luckily all the birds then dropped in a small sycamore by the War Graves, H---- ---- was my next words MALE TW0 BARRED CROSSBILL, I watched the bird for about 15 seconds before it headed off with the other Crossbills towards the Crematorium/Garden of Rest area, what a bird a new Kent tick and Lifer, I rung up Dave and then put the news out in the hope of seeing it again, but apart from the crematorium I don't have many pine trees elsewhere which is a shame, but hey it was certainly a quality bird for the little time I had it. I met up at 1pm, with Gerald Segelbacher who had just found a Yelllow-browed Warbler near the chapels so that to was an excellent added bonus. Other bits today included 3 Ring Ouzels, 25 Bramblings, 5 Fieldfares, 3 Firecrests, 1 Tree Pipit, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Jack Snipe, 1 Wheatear, 30 Chaffinches, 1 Curlew, 1 Golden Plover, 3 Kestrels, 70 Blackbirds, 125 Song Thrushes, 3 Sparrowhawks, 3 Green Woodpeckers and 7 Meadow Pipits.     

Thursday 10th October


Bird of the day was another Yellow-browed Warbler which once again was very elusive, there was also a good arrival of 3,000 Redwings, and 2 Firecrests which showed by the main entrance. Other bits included 42 Siskins, 5 Chiffchaffs, 1 Fieldfare, 1 Grey Wagtail and 40 Chaffinches.

Wednesday 9th October


Very little today with just 40 Redwings, 3 Common Buzzards, 2 Kestrels, 25 Chiffchaffs, 14 Chaffinches, 13 Jays, 17 Long-tailed Tits and 6 Jackdaws.

Tuesday 8th October


At long last my camera is back again from another frustrating repair, I was not out today so Dave covered the patch by himself and at best recorded 2 Ravens which were mixed in with 10 Common Buzzards over the cement works.

Monday 7th October


Star of the day was another frustrating Yellow-browed  Warbler which was calling in the crematorium for 2 minutes between 10:23-25am, but apart from that Dave and I had a very good autumn count of 23 Common Buzzards which headed mainly west during the afternoon including 12 birds together, there was also a  nice Mediterranean Gull with 300+ Black-headed Gulls, and a Brambling that headed east. Warblers included 41 Chiffchaffs and 16 Blackcaps and there was another 2 Grey Wagtails heading south. Others were 2 Goldcrests, 200 Meadow Pipits, 70 Chaffinches mainly heading west, 20 Song  Thrushes, 8 Redwings, 2 Peregrines, 6 Kestrels, 3 Sparrrowhawks, 3 Siskins east and 7 Goldfinches

Sunday 6th October


Another hard slog today but it did produce a  Ring Ouzel by the cement works, and a Little Owl near the Garden of Rest, at least 2 Firecrests remained by the main entrance and there was another small arrival of 55 Redwings. Other bits were 2 Grey Wagtails west, 2 Bramblings south, 3 Common Buzzards, 6 Green Woodpeckers, 8 Chiffchaffs, 7 Blackcaps, 11 Jays, 10 Linnets and 3 Skylarks.

Saturday 5th October


A very quiet day to say the least with just 1 Grey Heron west, 11 Chiffchaffs, 2 Swallows, 10 Mistle Thrushes, 20 Meadow Pipits, 18 Long-tailed Tits, 2 Peregrines, 2 Sparrowhawks, 3 Green and 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

Friday 4th October


Dave and I were out from 7:30am - 4:30pm, and to be honest up until midday we was having quite a hard time, but it only takes one good bird to change the day, well on this occasion two. First of all was a Red Kite that headed south/west over the paddocks after staying around for a good 10 minutes, and slightly better was an Osprey the 3rd this year which headed in the same direction at 12:30pm, and to the annoyance of the local gulls, well that certainly did change the day, we then ventured on and had a late movement of 1000+ Swallows and 3-400 House Martins mainly heading north/west. Others around were 3 Firecrests, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrels, 11 Chiffchaffs, 2 Siskins, 2 Goldcrests, 5 Redwings, 30 Meadow Pipits, 10 Grey Partridges, 1 Chaffinch, 8 Long-tailed Tits and 4 Green Woodpeckers.

Thursday 3rd October


Another few hours on the patch was rewarded with 4 Firecrests near the main cemetery entrance, and 3 Wheatears in fields by the paddocks, there was still a few hirundines moving with a count of 150 Swallows, but only a single House Martin. A slight movement of 6 Grey Herons took place with 4 together at midday, and there was also a nice flock of 30 Siskins in the Garden of Rest. Other bits were 7  Kestrels, 2 Common Buzzards, 1 Sparrowhawk, 56 Meadow Pipits, 12 Swallows, 5 Chiffchaffs, 1 Blackcap, 26 Long-tailed Tits, 25 Song Thrushes, 4 Jays and 3 Great Black-backed Gulls.

Wednesday 2nd October


The Yellow-browed Warbler did its usual performance by the cement works and called very briefly, but probably the most frustrating was a probable Red-breasted Flycatcher which was seen all to brief in the same area, I found it at 9:59am, very briefly in a tall sycamore tree cocking its tail up and down a couple of times, showing the typical white patch and doing the typical flycatcher action but the little S-- disappeared and was never seen again even after a long 4 hour search, so unfortunately one that on this occasion got away, but today was good with a few nice birds around, including a female Merlin near the cement works, and a Firecrest which showed by the crematorium, there was also 1 Tree Pipit east, 415 Swallows, 500 House Martins north/east, 10 Chiffchaffs, 2 Blackcaps, 116 Redwings, 6 Goldcrests, 5 Common Buzzards, 1 Peregrine, 57 Song Thrushes, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrels, 42 Meadow Pipits, 4 Green Woodpeckers, 3 Jackdaws, 14 Mistle Thrushes, 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers and 4 Linnets

Tuesday 1st October


Bird of the day was a rather elusive Yellow-browed Warbler which spent most of its time winding us up, but at least a nearby Firecrest put in a better performance, and a rather smart Brambling that was seen by the cement works. Today also produced another patch scarcity when a Little Egret headed east, other bits were 4 Sparrowhawks, 3 Kestrels, 1 Common Buzzard, 5 Green Woodpeckers, 65 Swallows, 1 Sand Martin, 2 Grey Wagtails, 59 Meadow Pipits, 7 Chiffchaffs, 1 Blackcap, 28 Redwings, 21 Song Thrushes and 16 Chaffinches

2 comments:

Alan Pavey said...

Looks like you are having a good autumn Steve, great stuff

Steve Tomlinson said...

Thanks Alan, It's been superb this year and hopefully there may be another good 3 weeks left, just 3 short of the 200 mark for the patch, fingers crossed.

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