Sunday 7th October - Bamboozled.

.. Have spent the afternoon cutting into the bamboo forest in the garden. Why the previous owners planted so much of the stuff ? - Fastest growing plant on the planet, with wildlife potential virtually zero,  at least in this country where wild Panda's are something of a rarity.

A lot of rain this week and again the exciting bird news was in the far flung corners of the land (if you count Ireland as being part of the same territory). After being particular drained from work and still nursing a sore back it wasn't without a little lethargy that I surfaced on Saturday and like a trooper (or so I thought) grabbed the optics and went out of the door fairly early no doubt to mop up on the significant overnight influx of migrant birds.... mmm.  . With heavy overnight rain and a stiff northerly wind I decided to stay inland and headed to Cissbury Ring in the faint hope of an early Ring Ouzel. This ancient mound, just on the tip of the downs overlooking Worthing, is for some reason favoured by autumn migrant Ring Ouzels, though typically after a couple of days of Easterly winds and generally mid-October rather than the beginning of the month.

A good number of Blackbirds were in the bushes with a couple of Song Thrush, but no sign of any Ouzels, plenty of Chiffchaff,  Goldcrest and a constant stream of Swallows, and around 20 Meadow Pipits passed through with Siskins and 2 Redpoll and a tree full Jays, but no surprises were on offer, so I headed to Pulbrough Brooks. There had been a Pectoral Sandpiper during the week, but the rain, especially overnight had reduced anywhere with muddy margin potential to swimming only. No sign of the Pec Sand, around 10 Snipe and small groups of Lapwing were the only waders on offer. Wildfowl numbers had obviously started to increase with Wigeon  and Teal plentiful and smaller numbers of Pintail and Shoveler. c100+ Swallows and House Martins were hawking over the brooks and 2 Stonechats were visible and a single Yellow Wagtail with a group of Pied's. The local flock of Canada and Greylag Geese were harbouring a Bar-headed Goose, no doubt of more domestic origins.

After a bacon baguette in the cafe I sauntered home.

Sunday morning weather was quite pleasant - a little misty but it cleared quite well. I'd been out in my Pyjamas chasing a Fox out of the filed and before I started garden chores I had a coffee with bins in hand and saw a female Redstart ! it was near the top of a Horse Chestnut then moved to an Alder. Having watched for a couple of minutes I legged it inside for the camera but couldn't relocate the bird when I came back - Another new bird for the house list and one I hadn't seen at Greyhound. Over the course of the morning I also saw Siskin, Redpoll, Pied Wagtail, Treecreeper, Mistle Thrush, Great Spotted Wookpecker, Goldcrest, Bullfinch, 2 distant Sparrowhawks, and 2 Buzzards. A commotion at the end of the field was worth investigating and I finally found a hidden Tawny Owl in a Hazel. In total 24 Meadow Pipits flew over calling and later in the afternoon my first autumn Redwings, a group of 7. Over the course of the day I saw 35 species at home , but the Redstart was especially pleasing.





Big Mushroom - fluffy with chocolate sprinkles ? 

Area where I saw the Redstart !

Tawny Owl was hiding !

Roe Deer in the field.