With frost on the car I went early to Blackdown. Sunrise was only due at 7.40am although with a clear sky , shreds of light were coming through by 7.15am There was a cold bite to a rather strong northerly wind which made my eyes water as soon as I started looking through the bins,
There were plenty of birds around and the theme was a reasonably large movement of thrushes, finches and Woodpigeons, in particular flocks of Fieldfare. I counted 170 in the couple of hours I was there although this was surely an underestimate. 15+ Meadow Pipits came off the heather and headed South. Lesser Redpoll, Chaffinch, Brambling and Linnet were all seen before a large flock of 100+ finches flying over Borden Door Bottom, with several breaking off and continuing West. I think the majority of these were Chaffinches but contained several Brambling.
Woodpigeons started to move through in small groups, those that I counted numbered 370, no doubt many more moved through. A raptor was up over the north end, I was expecting Buzzard but as soon as I saw it through the bins it was great to see a Goshawk, it spent a couple of minutes soaring over the West ridge, no doubt enjoying the pigeon spectacle, the bird looked like an adult male with a strong black mask visible. The Fieldfares were very restless and moving around the site, stripping the remaining berries from the Whitebeams. The usual Stonechat and Dartford Warbler were present and 2 Red Kite and 4 Raven flew over, but the number of other birds was impressive for here.
On Sunday morning the clocks went back and Gary and Jenny and their boys had stayed overnight, I was quite slow , but there seemed to be a repeat of yesterday with large numbers of thrushes moving NW.
The Fieldfare count was even higher approaching 300+ , again a smaller number of Redwing, oddly for here a few gulls, Black-headed and Herring Gulls, and unusual for here a small flock of 10 Lapwings. Once a rain belt had moved through there seemed to be an increased movement of Chaffinches and Starlings which I didn't really count but would have been in the 'oos, and what looked to be a flock of c 20 Skylark. A single Brambling was identifiable when it flew close to the house and a local flock of 50+ Goldfinch / Siskin were frequenting the tops of the Alder. The Holly by the house had a Firecrest and nearby a late Chiffchaff, with 1 Mistle Thrush, 3 Bullfinch and a Marsh Tit the remainder.
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| Some of the early Fieldfares. |
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| Brambling |
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| Goshawk |
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| Adult male Goshawk |
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| more Fieldfare |
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| Red Kite |
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