Saturday 31st October - Halloween wash-out.

 It's Raining.

A comment which has applied pretty much every day for the last 2 weeks, accompanied by mild temperatures, grey skies and lots of wind. 

As a result very little on the birding front and time has been spent concentrating on winding-up on the work front. Brief early morning walks on Blackdown on the 22nd and 26th had some interest. Both Stonechats and Dartford Warblers were still showing in good numbers and notably the Darties were in full song, which was a bit surprising, suggesting they were expecting to hang-on over Winter, if the weather is particularly cold over Winter they often vacate the area completely, so not sure if this early activity is a sign they know that we're in for another mild one. A couple of Woodlark were seen flying South and a small number of Meadow Pipits were lingering, Crossbills numbered around 12 birds and other finches were limited in number with a few Linnet, Lesser Redpoll, Siskin and Chaffinch, I heard a brief Brambling call, just as I arrived back at the car on Chase Lane, this limited record again a tiny comparison to previous years where decent flocks of Brambling had arrived by the end of October for an early feed on the Beech mast. Surprisingly for the time of year only 2 Mistle Thrushes made up the thrush population as the Redwings and Fieldfare have not really been on Blackdown due to the lack of berries. I have had a handful of Redwings at home going for the now ripe Holly berries, but numbers are nothing like previous autumns.

This date in previous years has often seen a Woodpigeon spectacle, with thousands arriving to feast in the trees before the final leaf drop. A small arrival happened on the 26th but in the hundreds rather than thousands, it just hasn't been cold enough to spark any significant bird movements yet.

We are about to enter another national lock-down for at least a month from Thursday 5th. The previous National Lockdown in March, coincided with a miraculous change to amazing weather for 3 months. During which time I remained frantically busy with work, and managed some very local birds but didn't update the blog or take any photos. This time I will be almost free of work and will need to come up with a plan to make the most of the time, although the weather and daylight in November may well be rather hazardous.

Roe Deer on the Blackdown ridge

Dartford Warbler in a moment of sun.

Bullfinch at home.. through the grubby kitchen window.