Paul Matson's Birding Blog: Monday 26th August

Monday, 26 August 2019

Monday 26th August - Blackdown bonanza

A settled period of hot dry weather has got the birds moving south, clear skies can result in the birds not hanging around and moving straight through, although it does appear difficult to predict when birds might clear through. So after another clear night I wasn't hugely optimistic when arriving on Blackdown early, but soon the amount of flies that had already tried to attack my ankles suggested there was a good food source today and the first 2 Spotted Flycatchers by the entrance track were an early positive sign which started an excellent haul of migrants.

I spent nearly 2 hours slowly working through the areas of scattered pines and small bushes accumulating good totals with at least 16 Spotted Flycatcher, 8 Tree Pipit, 3 Redstart, 1 Garden Warbler, 5 Common Whitethroat, c20 Willow Warbler, 15 Chiffchaff and perhaps most unusual for Blackdown a Lesser Whitethroat, there was enough to suggest there might be something more interesting around.

Whilst scanning through a group of Spotted Flycatchers the excitement increased when I had a brief view of a Pied Flycatcher. It frustratingly disappeared and I was left for 20 minutes scanning through a mixed flock of Spotted Flycatchers, Willow Warbler, Redstart and Whitethroat, before I later found it on the southern spur, where there was at least another 8 Spotted Flycatchers. I messaged Dave Burges , who had just arrived on site and we scanned the same area for around half an hour but seemingly with no luck. Other than the many Spotted Flycatchers, a passing Hobby, a Raven and 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were the only offering and just as I was thinking that Dave might miss the Pied Flycatcher, it appeared again in a birch tree and gave sufficient views before it melted back into the pine canopy.

We walked slowly back along the reservoir track and were discussing what other migrants may appear in the next few days when we were both stunned by a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker flew into a Rowan, spending a minute working quickly through the tree before flying on, an increasingly scarce bird in this part of Sussex, we guessed this must be a dispersing bird. Then Dave found a Whinchat close to the track, which is another migrant which rarely appears here. By the time I left around 11.30 it was hot and sunny and even though no raptors were up it had been a great morning. There was hardly thought to the resident birds such as Stonechats and Dartford Warbler, Bullfinch, Linnet and Siskin and both Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, making it a 3 Woodpecker day.