October - Hawfinches return

My plans were thrown into disarray on September 30th - I had hoped to stay on at Dungeness Bird Observatory well into mid-October, but a staff member fell ill with a nasty bout of Covid, so I thought it best to return home. As much as it was disappointing to miss out on more 'shingle time' it at least gave me the chance to do a bit of Uber-patch vis-migging, something that I am quite partial to.

So, Colley Hill beckoned on October 3rd which happily coincided with a flock of seven Ring Ouzels that were inadvertently flushed from scarp-top scrub, with one female/imm staying behind to allow close, if partially hidden, observation. The nearby farm fields at Mogador were full of brassica, enticing at least 110 Skylark to linger within the crop. I returned to Colley Hill the following day (4th) which was blessed with a mad 30-minute spell which saw two Great White Egret fly north, a Woodlark alight on the open sward before heading west and a single Hawfinch fly right past my head - the call almost deafening - then alighting in nearby treetops before heading south. There was also my first appreciable show of Redwing (61W).

6th and 7th provided the garden MV moth trap with individual Palpita vitrealis, once a great migrant rarity here in Banstead but now almost expected during the right weather conditions. And, with the mention of weather conditions, the night of the 10th was graced with an unprecedented showing of the Northern Lights for us 'edge of London' dwellers. It was so good that the naked eye was all that was needed to take in the pinky-magenta gossamer curtain that had draped itself across the clear skies. I would show you an image, but I'm still having an issue with uploading photographs onto this platform...

Garden vis-mig here in Banstead on 12th produced 1,074 Redwing and 5 Fieldfare, just the warm-up act, precursors to much larger movements I was hoping - the subsequent act has yet to arrive, although two further counts of the former of 550 on 15th and 1,461 on 16th are not to be sniffed at. I hadn't embarked on a long walk for a while, the 17th being chosen for a 14.8k circuit of Colley Hill, Mogador and Buckland. Although generally quiet, there were highlights - an immature Goshawk, 40 Skylark, 300 Redwing, 5 Raven and a set-aside field that held Egyptian Clover, a new species for me.

Now, any regular visitor to this blog will know that I have a soft spot for Hawfinches, maybe an obsession might be more accurate. It was becoming increasingly obvious that something was afoot with them - higher than usual counts from vis-mig watchpoints across the south of England - so, hoping that a repeat of the 2017-18 irruption might be about to happen, I headed to Headley Heath on 22nd, a site where birds had gathered seven autumns ago. Just the two were present, but with increasing numbers being picked up I returned on 25th. Positioned at a new viewpoint (better sight-lines along the western ridge and valley) at least 40 Hawfinches were recorded, most of them moving through southwards although a dozen did seem to be lingering. I returned the following afternoon (26th) and was joined by my good friend Gordon Hay, which was just as well as we certainly needed two pairs of eyes to keep track of all the Hawfinch action. A minimum of 105 were present, many coming into roost on the ridge, something that I had not seen here before. Most arrived after 16.00hrs, largest flock sizes of 20 and 14. More notable (on a local level) was the female Merlin that flew along the valley and over our heads.

When there are Hawfinches on offer it is hard not to be out there looking, so dawn on 27th found me back on Colley Hill, where I bumped into Tony Blake. We vis-migged until 10.45hrs, our prize target being met as 12 Hawfinches were logged, a group of four spending some time on top of a dead ash tree. Almost 3,000 Woodpigeons headed south, with 603 Redwings west. The back garden was not neglected, with a Firecrest (29th) and 7 Hawfinch west (30th). The latter date saw me back at Headley Heath for another afternoon session, where I had the pleasure of chatting to Peter and Dave (out for their lengthy walk) and John Gill, who joined me for the Hawfinch extravaganza - we had a minimum of 60 birds, but unlike my last visit they did not appear to come in and roost on the ridge, birds instead scattering to all points of the compass - they are enigmatic birds these finches! One standout moment was when a Goshawk was picked up flying alongside the woodland of the ridge and dived into the canopy, putting up a panicking cloud of 25 Hawfinches!

I'll end with a tale that comprises a moth high and low. On the early morning of 25th I went out to inspect the garden MV when I spied a pristine Spolodea recurvalis resting on the wall above the trap. Now, this is a pukka rarity, maybe not as rare as it used to be nationally but as far as Surrey records go possibly just the second or third occurrence. It is a striking micro, not to be mistaken for anything else. With slightly trembling hands I secured it in a tube, then went to put the lid on. How it escaped I do not know...