Grey and dull again

Another grey, dull morning. My check of the garden MV came up with a decent moth, as the migrant tortrix, Cydia amplana (above), was sitting on one of the first egg boxes checked. This is the second garden record, and although a good inland record it was not surprising, as they have been recorded in good numbers down on the coast over the past few days.

I was at Canons Farm by 07.00hrs - bad mistake - it was birdless. I haven't known this site to be so poor in the twenty years that I have been running an ornithological ruler over it. Once upon a time I would have stuck at it, but instead I went over to Headley Heath, hoping to at least find a large tit flock in which I might be able to prize some migrants from. It worked, to a fashion. Within 10 minutes I was watching a mixed passerine flock of 120 birds, mostly Blue Tits, but, within it were four Willow Warblers and 12 Chiffchaffs. Over the next three hours the Chiffchaff count rose to 65, but migrants were largely absent. There were several stands of Ash clearly showing the effects Ash Dieback (below). 

I still await, with patience, some decent autumn birding...

Comments

Derek Faulkner said…
Very warm and sunny here on Sheppey today for a change. We were doing the monthly WEBS count this afternoon on the Swale NNR, but my section, the whole of the main marsh, was very quiet bird-wise as it always is at this time of the year as it gets dryer, Will normally stay that way into November. The guys on the beach at Shellness Point had very good numbers of waders/plovers as usual at the high tide roost there, including some passing Skuas.
23 August 2021 at 19:46
Steve Gale said…
It's funny here Derek, in that similar habitat, just a few miles apart, can hold widely varying numbers. The sun did come out for a while this afternoon, and it was beautifully warm.
23 August 2021 at 21:16
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