1st and 2nd October

The wind dropped off overnight to leave a pleasant morning on the 1st - well for a few hours anyway as it picked up rapidly through the morning to reach force 7 by lunchtime!   A moulting drake Green-winged Teal was picked out on Gretchen (probably the returning bird from the last couple of winters) and was in the company of a late juvenile Garganey while lingering scarcities today just comprised an Olive-backed Pipit at Longar and the Red-breasted Flycatcher re-trapped in Holland.

                With the gap in the weather overnight and the first few hours of the morning it was no surprise that the numbers of grounded migrants were slightly reduced from the last few days but totals did include a Woodpigeon, a House Martin, 13 Swallows, 13 Robins, 26 Wheatears, 4 Fieldfares, 26 Song Thrushes, 3 Redwings, a Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Garden Warblers, 12 Blackcap, a Yellow-browed Warbler, 22 Chiffchaffs, 8 Willow Warblers, 2 Goldcrest, 3 Spotted Flycatchers, 16 Chaffinches, 3 Brambling, 10 Siskins, a Common Redpoll, 6 Lapland Buntings and the Yellowhammer again.

Heron

                A very windy morning on the 2nd gave way to an extremely windy afternoon with a blazing SW wind bringing frequent and vicious showers whipping across the island; needless to say, it made any time spent in the field very challenging but many people did brave the conditions and produced a variety of birds with the first notable passage of 559 Pink-footed Geese of special mention with the first Scaup of the year on Ancum, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, the juvenile Garganey still, 2 Red-throated Divers, a Great-northern Diver, 4 Little Stints and a Grey Plover.

                The selection of grounded migrants consisted of lingering birds with unsurprisingly no new arrivals detected but did include a Barred Warbler still around the Obs, a Woodpigeon, 4 Swallows, a Tree Pipit, a Dunnock, 6 Robins, 6 Redstarts, a Whinchat, 32 Wheatears, a Fieldfare, 32 Song Thrushes, 4 Redwings, 4 Blackcaps, a Yellow-browed Warbler, 12 Chiffchaffs, 3 Willow Warblers, 2 Goldcrests, a Spotted Flycatcher, 21 Chaffinches, 3 Bramblings, 3 Siskins, a Lapland Bunting, 6 Snow Buntings and the Yellowhammer again.
Chaffinch

photos Simon Davies



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