Saturday 17th August 2013
Overcast, dry at first then showers from 07:40. Light Southerlies, increasing.
Vis-mig from top of Barleyfield, then quick tour of Compton to Newbridge.
On Thursday I had seen 10 Swift, briefly join 12+ House Martin over Compton Park Wetlands, before continuing South and this convinced me to start Autumn "Visible Migration" watches from the top of the Barleyfield.
Today was quite a productive start:
26 Black-headed Gulls SW with another 72 resting at the entrance to The Academy
20 Lesser Black-backed Gulls SW
3 Stock Doves NE/East
181 Woodpigeon SW to feeding grounds
17 Swift South with 6 lingering around the Western Border
3 Swallow South
19 House Martin (7 South with apparently 12+ from the Hordern Road area, hawking over Compton Park Wetlands)
1 Yellow Wagtail - calling as it flew with a House Martin as an odd travelling companion
16 Starling SW to feeding areas
19 Greenfinch South - there has to be a roost at the North end somewhere?
Other highlights of the morning were:
female Sparrowhawk West over Barleyfield
Kingfisher on the Brook by Prefab Weir
2 Green Woodpecker at The Barleyfield and East of The Tennis Club
3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers a male and female in the SW corner of The Barleyfield and another on the Eastern Border
Male Pied Wagtail at the Academy entrance
Coal Tit at Newbridge
Nuthatch - not often we hear them calling from The Eastern Border
The Academy family of 5 Carrion Crow along the Western Border
No Goldfinch!!! (only 2 over the top of the field).
Red Foxes - adults at Waterdale and near St. Edmunds School
Also Nick Constable, a local resident and fisherman gained bragging rights as he showed me a shot of a 1 pound Rudd that he recently pulled out the canal. It was great to receive his report of two recent Water Vole sightings between Meccano Bridge and Compton Lock, close to where Ian Phillips had a sighting earlier in the year.
Total Bird species: 39
No comments:
Post a Comment