A Sign of No Birds

This morning's trip to the Mill Lakes produced six or more Gadwall, at least eight Teal, and a pair of Shoveler, with the male in eclipse plumage. Whilst scanning the ducks, I got onto a Kingfisher flying low over the middle part of lake, and the Siskin flock were in the trees on the Peninsula. Not much else to say really, so here's a rubbish photo of the park's sign:

Less Drinking, More Birding

Generally quite a quiet morning, but I was out and about late, so it's my own fault for drinking too much wine the night before. Little has changed since my previous visits. About twenty Siskin were at the western edge of the Pit Tip Plantation and down to the Cow Gates, with another fifty or so feeding in a group near the Willow Carr at the Mill Lakes. At least six Teal were by Mud Island.

A Scenic Route to the Playground

This morning - late morning - I took my two-year-old to the Adventure Playground whilst his sister was at her dance class. We took the scenic route, via the Pit Top to see if anything was knocking around - just a birder friend, who'd seen nothing of interest (but had heard a Water Rail on the Reedbed earlier in the week!). A couple of Skylark were on the Pit Tip Top with the greatly-diminished Meadow Pipit flock. A party of six or more Barn Swallow were feeding over the eastern edge, whilst a party of eleven House Martin were high over the western edge by the Pit Tip Plantation. At the Adventure Playground a Pied Wagtail flew over from the horse field, and I met Steve as he was walking past. We had a catch-up before heading off when the playground got busier. On the way back there was a Nuthatch tapping on the large dead tree at the Three Ponds and a single Coal Tit in the trees that border Warren Hill.

A Quiet Lunch

I worked from home today and had a very quick twenty-minute walk around the Pit Tip at lunchtime. Several Meadow Pipit were around and the odd Skylark too. A group of six or so Barn Swallow were hunting high and low over the grassland, and about ten or so House Martin were hunting high above the Plantation.

Siskins Return

This morning I had a quick check of the Pit Tip Top for any further sign of the Whinchat after hearing that Steve had seen two the previous morning. Despite an hour and a half of searching in the morning sunlight, I couldn't relocate them. There were still a few Skylark and Meadow Pipit around, and I heard a Green Woodpecker calling a few times. Other than that, there wasn't much about. The best I could find was a single Grey Heron heading ENE high above the fog and calling, two Chiffchaff calling and showing at the edge of the main Plantation, and two small flocks of Siskin along the western edge.

Whinchats Return

I was out looking for migrants again this morning as another Northern Wheatear was seen on the Pit Tip two days ago. Initially, all was quiet, with just a handful of the usual Meadow Pipit and Skylark around, and several ones and twos of Lesser Black-backed Gull heading over.
As I headed around the path towards the western end of the Plantation, two Mistle Thrush flew through to the west, and a wagtail species also flew over high in the same direction - the tail length, clinched its ID as a Grey Wagtail.

There was no sign of the Wheatear, but coming back over the Pit Tip Top I glimpsed a bird perched on top of one of the seed heads. It looked like a Whinchat... and it was. In fact there were two of them, and I got some good scope views, and half-decent phonescoped photos. Just before heading back I counted a decent number of Meadow Pipit as the flock was flushed by a dog walker - 22 birds! A great morning with migration now in swing.

Not Much to See

I had a quick walk around the Pit Tip Top this morning before the rain came in. There was very little to see, just a few Meadow Pipit on the main ride and the other usual suspects.

A Late Cluster of Warblers

This morning I went out to look for the two (or any!) Northern Wheatear that were seen on Friday afternoon on the Pit Tip. I didn't count on finding them, and I didn't find them. They've almost certainly moved on. Oh well- that's how it goes.

At the back of the Pit Tip Plantation a Red Fox was trotting across the path and down through the cow field, completely unphased by my presence. Heading down to Dawson's Corner three Grey Partridge were together in the cow field to the north. Dawson's Corner itself was pretty active with warblers. Chiffchaff were calling and one was singing, a male Blackcap was feeding on elder berries, and a Common Whitethroat was hanging about too. Along the hedgerow of the horse field, a low babble-like song caught my attention, and I got onto the Lesser Whitethroat that was singing it - a bit late in the year, eh?

At the Mill Lakes two juvenile Cormorant were on Tern Island showing off their white/pale breasts. In the middle part of the lake a single eclipse male Shoveler was being typically shy and swimming off after seeing me, and a female Ruddy Duck was knocking about there too. At least two pairs of Gadwall were present at the north end of the lake, and there were two female or eclipse male Teal around Mud Island. Heading back along the Sustrans path there was at least one juvenile Common Whitethroat moving through the trees near to the footbrdige, and whilst watching it a juvenile Goldcrest appeared.

Back at Dawson's Corner the warblers were still active, and a juvenile Chiffchaff was tagging on to a mixed Tit flock that also contained a single Coal Tit. Up on the Pit Tip Top a Sparrowhawk was sat in the trees of the conservation area along Front Line, and a dog walker flushed a group of eleven Meadow Pipit for me to count. Before heading home, I had a quick walk up Lamin's Lane in the hope of picking up the odd migrant, but it was all rather quiet. Three Mistle Thrush flew over heading for the woodland, a couple of Yellowhammer were on the wires, and a male Kestrel was hunting over Lamin's Plantation. Almost fifty species recorded, so I can't complain.

Quietly Content

Two Spotted Flaycatcher were reported on the Friends Forum, near to the Hatton Close entrance to the park. Almost certainly passing through, but there was a chance they were still around, after all, the Pied Flaycatcher was around for a few days. Anyway, I headed out at first light, and there wasn't much to see or hear along the path behind Warren Hill, so I headed out onto the Pit Tip, where it was also quiet. I did meet Carl (the guy who'd seen the Spotted Flycatchers) though, and he gave me all the details - they'd moved on. The only notable sightings on the Pit Tip were a pair of Lesser Black-backed Gull flying over, and a singing male Chiffchaff at Dawson's Corner and a further bird heard calling at the Sidings.

I didn't have too long before heading off to work, so I put in a quick visit to Bestwood Quarry. At the entrance a Great Spotted Woodpecker flushed into a nearby tree and remained out of view as a Sparrowhawk flew over. Heading down to my usual scoping spot, in front of the hillside, a scruffy looking Common Buzzard was being mobbed by two crows as it flew over from behind the hill towards Warrenhill Plantation. From the brief views, it looked to be a pale-phase juvenile.

I was about to head back when I heard alarm calls coming from further along the valley, and looked up to see a raptor in an odd flight manoeuvre. It was a small- to medium-sized bird, and seemed to be making a short vertical lifting flight whilst calling, up from one of the trees, or possibly from behind it. All I could make out was the underside - pale and streaked or barred, with an orange or rusty colour around the legs. I made my way up the path, nearer to the bird's location, hoping it might have been a Hobby. A Red Fox darted across the path from the approximate location of the tree that the bird had been near to. This, I assumed, was the cause of alarm. Reaching the level of the tree's top, there was no sign of the bird around the tree, but a Sparrowhawk was gliding lower down through the valley, and so I assumed that it was the same bird.

From the higher vantage point, I scanned the opposite hillside as the sun began to warm everything up. I located a single Common Whitethroat, and heard some more Chiffchaff calling. A small party of larger gulls flew over to the east, containing five Lesser Black-backed Gull and two Herring Gull, and a Common Buzzard was calling in the distance, but remained out of sight. A relatively quiet morning, but enjoyable nonetheless.