Yes, the day ended up at Twickenham and oh what a shame about the result but he match was incredible and atmosphere electric.. so back to the birds.
I went for an early walk to Blackdown, arriving this time at 6.50am which was just after sunrise. This is potentially a good time of year for Ring Ouzels, but I have found in the past that very first thing is good for them as they can become more scattered and elusive later in the day .. if they are around at all. The very clear night skies did not bode well for migrants, but at least it was an amazingly clear morning and surprisingly without any mist.
The normal walk started of very quietly indeed, although 5 or 6
Goldcrests on the first part of the ridge to start with suggested an increase in the numbers had occurred since last week.
Stonechats were also in good force with at least 10 birds in total and a couple of
Dartford Warblers.
A
Wheatear on the main path felt like a bit of a bonus as they are quite rare around here and a
Woodlark was in full voice songflighting from the top of one of the pines. A few
Meadow Pipits were moving I counted 16 in total, and
10 Swallows and
18 House Martins were early movers.in the day.
7 Crossbills, including 2 males, flew into one of the pines fed for around 15 minutes then appeared to fly South. There were lots of
Mistle Thrushes, I estimated 15 birds, although constantly moving and occasionally dipping into a Rowan to feed, amongst these I saw a
Ring Ouzel, initially stationary in a birch, before dropping quickly into a Rowan that was obscured in scrub before melting into the trees. It was a scruffy individual and probably a first year bird, but nice to hear the familiar 'chacking'. If the Rowan berries survive then the next couple of weeks should see more of these birds with the right weather.
2 more
Woodlarks were seen on a path before flying off in a southerly direction so wasn't sure whether this was 2 different birds to the one seen earlier.
The views were glorious in bright sunshine, just wished the sporting result would have ended differently !.
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| View at dawn |
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| Very little water is on the site, a couple of damp areas such as above never holds birds - maybe a drop in Snipe at the right time of year. |
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| Scattered tall pines that all birds seem to love here |
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| Views this morning were incredible |
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| Woodlark in flight |
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| Another Woodlark |
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| Wheatear |
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| A rather scruffy Ring Ouzel |
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| They sit motionless for long periods |
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| Twickenham before the excitement began !! |
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