First time this autumn the car had frost on this morning. Went out early to cissbury, to try for Ring Ouzels again. It was very misty driving over there, but on arrival the hill was clear and it was bright and crisp.
I did a clockwise walk around the ring, taking the car park at the northerly point as 12 O'clock. (not to get confused by the real time which was just before 8am). Several
Goldcrests and flyover
Skylark were the first birds seen with a large flock of c60
Goldfinches, and as I walked down towards the old rifle ranges in the SE corner (or 5pm). I heard several
Blackbirds and then the deeper slightly more metallic clacking of a
Ring Ouzel. I saw 3 birds that flew directly South and away down the valley, and another bird was sitting obscured in a tree, eventually just disolving into a bush. Much of the vegetation had been cleared from this area but it was amazing how a small stand alone Blackthorn held a dozen or more Blackbirds without any of them being visible.
I carried on walking round to about 7 O'clock, seeing several more Goldcrest a couple of
Chiffchaff and a
Blackcap, with
Yellowhammer, Meadow Pipits, Siskin and
Swallow overhead.
Another area of scrub had a few Blackbirds and then a handful of
Redwing. It was only when I reached c 9 O'clock on the circuit and the vicinity of a fruiting Yew tree that I heard the familiar 'chacking' again. I spent the next hour around this tree, where there was a least
6 Ring Ouzels, which at one point were together in flight in a loose flock, but spent most of the time frustratingly invisible inside the Yew. It was a favoured tree for thrushes, Blackbird,
Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, , Redwing and Ring Ouzel all seen together (just missing Fiedlfare).
Redpoll, Bullfinch, Sparrowhawk and
House Martin were also seen whilst watching the thrushes.
Back home around lunchtime for clearing up the mess I'd made with the Bamboo last week. 3
Sparrowhawks were circling at one time with
2 Buzzards, and a few
Meadow Pipits were passing over with 1
Crossbill, 2 Redpoll and
29 Redwings, so a very autumnal feel.
 |
| Firstly a silhoueted Ring Ouzel |
 |
| Then hiding |
 |
| ..and blurry in flight. |
 |
| Mistle Thrush |
 |
| Sparrowhawk hunting finches. |
 |
| View North East from Cissbury over 'No Mans Land' |
No comments:
Post a Comment