Another early start at Chambers Wall, arriving at 6:30 this morning. Late summer is quiet here, and today was no exception. The change in birds seen from day to day seems to take forever. Gone, though, are the swifts and many of the breeding warblers seem to be departed. The flock of Golden Plover in the stubble field is up to 61 birds now. There was a single Turtle Dove at the railway crossing, and a nice selection of warblers as I walked up to Cold Harbour, then back to the embankment and up to the Green Wall.
Willow Warblers seem to favour the vegetation south of Cold Harbour in autumn, and today I spent some time with Marc Heath trying to get a decent photo of one of around 8 birds present in the scrub and bushes there.
My totals for wandering the area this morning were: 12 Willow Warblers, 35 Whitethroats, 2 Lesser Whitethroats, 2 Blackcaps, 4 Reed Warblers and 14 Sedge Warblers. I also saw or heard about 15 Yellow Wagtails, plus a Hobby was hunting around the car park briefly on my return, and a Sparrowhawk flew over.
I had a short walk over at Shuart before heading home, seeing Lareg and Small Whites, Speckled Wood, Holly Blue, Meadow Brown and Gatekeepers. There were also Common Blue and Blue-tailed Damselflies, Migrant Hawkers and Common Darters.
This afternoon I could see a lot of small birds flitting about in the trees in the bottom garden, so i sat with the camera and tried to take a few photos. The light was against me for most shots in the bushes, but a young Robin did pose nearby for a while. Other birds were mostly tits and Goldcrests.
Any day now Derek it will all happen hopefully, preferably next weekend when I'm back, nice shots from today.
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