It's fair to say this week has been rather quiet. John's daily visits have yielded very little, but on the 4th he did have a late Reed Warbler in the scrub south of the wood. Understandably, it was checked and double checked that it was definitely just a Reed Warbler. Otherwise the odd Blackcap through the week was the best on offer.
Yesterday morning, with easterly winds and rain, Colin, John and I were out and looking. It was a disappointing washout though with absolutely nothing of note seen at the reservoir. Although, after John and I had left Colin did go up to the Borrow Pit and found a male Stonechat and there was also 14 Tufted Ducks on the pool.
This morning I was up fairly early to try a bit of vis-mig (but not early enough to get up to Burton Dassett!). As anticipated I recorded my first Redwings of the Autumn with 17 going over through the morning, in flocks of four, eight and five. I also had a large thrush over that didn't call that I assume was Mistle Thrush but could have been a Fieldfare. A Snipe flew over, dipping slightly towards the reservoir but not really showing any true intention of stopping. Three Common Gulls drifted over and circled a few times but then departed to the south. There was a steady stream of Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and a few wagtails over too. It seemed like there was an increase in finches with odd birds and small flocks buzzing around all morning, including at least nine Siskins - six in with a Goldfinch flock and three over the car park.
A nice surprise was seeing a Willow Tit on the southern edge of the wood and, after hearing it calling, hearing another one calling from around 30 m away. It's the first time for quite a while there has been two around and I can't even remember the last time I personally had two here. There was also at least five Chiffchaffs around this morning.
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