14th Sep 2015

John had a really good lunchtime visit today. In a way very unfortunate that it was during an absolute deluge of heavy rain.. but very fortunate that the rain brought with it a mini fall of migrating birds!

There were 15-20 Chiffchaffs in the scrub around the western side of the reservoir. There was also a Whinchat and a Wheatear, perching on the fences. Three Siskins and around 20 House Martins went through south too.

Courtesy and copyright of John Friendship-Taylor

Courtesy and copyright of John Friendship-Taylor

This evening John and I visited to see what remained from the fall. The wind had picked up considerably and evidently a lot of birds from earlier had moved on or resettled into better cover. The Wheatear was still along the western bank but we couldn't find the Whinchat.

In the wood there was a large roaming feeding party and on closer inspection it held a Spotted Flycatcher, at least two Willow Warblers and numerous Chiffchaffs. We also saw Treecreeper and a couple of Goldcrests in the flock. A rather surprising sighting was a Kingfisher that flew right through the middle of the wood.

A group of gulls was gathering before we left and a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull and a juvenile Herring Gull was amongst them.