Oh bugger! A long time since the last post again, just way too much going on. So, in summary, briefly:

On Sunday 11th a failed bid at Ring Ouzel at Latchmoor Bottom in the morning, but a male Hen Harrier and my first Redwings of the autumn (103 in all). Then watched my son get a bronze in a fencing comp before a very satisfying first match of the indoor cricket season, which saw me captain the third team to victory against the second team (smug doesn’t come close). All of which left me with no energy and little time (and little inclination I’m ashamed to say) to go for the Long-billed Dowitcher which showed up at Blashford in the afternoon. Not a county tick, seen hundreds before and I’ve sort of abandoned the year list, so it was lazy time.

Tanners Lane on 14th October produced an Osprey, a Merlin and a singing Woodlark.

And then a dismal vis mig at Barton on 16th was followed by a much better one on 17th, with pride of place going to 821 Goldfinches east, with smaller numbers including 86 Pied Wagtails, 55 Meadow Pipits, 23 Siskins, 47 Jackdaws, 33 Greenfinches and 6 Lesser Redpolls. Later than day singles of Hobby and Merlin and 2 Crossbills were seen over Sway (the later species has featured a few times in recent days).

Which is pretty much up to date, and now my focus is very much on Kenya, for which I depart in 2 days time. It’s very hard to concentrate on much else knowing that I’ll be watching White-browed Sparrow-Weaver, White-crowned Shrike and the like by the weekend.

As Steve P said yesterday my main priority at the moment is getting in heaps of work pre-Kenya, but they do say every man has his price and it seems mine is a cloudy day with a force 3 easterly!

And boy was I glad I dumped the work in favour of what turned out to be probably the best vis mig session Barton has produced for me. I rather think Steve was pleased he went for it again, I may just have sown a vis mig seed.

Top rarity billing went to 2 Tree Sparrows that headed east at 0809: after only having seen two in the county before I’ve now had six in Hants this autumn. I rather suspect that it may be overlooked at this time of year. Had today’s two been 50 yards or more further away they probably would have slipped by unnoticed amongst the hordes of finches. Star finches in terms of rarity were the 17 Crossbills that went east in a single flock, but the undoubted stars of the day were Linnet and Goldfinch with awesome counts of 2383 and 1673 going east (everything was today) respectively. The latter is my second highest count (just 46 short of the record) and I think about the fifth highest in Hants, but the Linnet count was about three times my previous best and, I strongly suspect, by far the highest count ever in the county. The supporting vismig cast were as follows: 1700 House Martins ( a very good October count), 670 Swallows, 198 Meadow Pipits, 121 Siskins, 77 Chaffinches, 74 Greenfinches, 46 Pied Wagtails and 9 Reed Buntings.

Two Wheatears, 5 Stonechats, 7 Mistle Thrushes and 2 Grey Wagtails were on the ground, and a Shag and a Gannet were offshore, but I didn’t cover a great deal of ground to look for grounded birds and my attention wasn’t really on the sea.

The forecast is for a return to westerlies, so I can thankfully get back to earning some much needed readies, but this morning’s session is not one I’ll forget in a hurry!

After a quiet few days (did manage one more very uneventful Barton session since the last entry) this morning saw me down at Milford Shelter with a few others with strong southwesterlies having been forecast. After a couple of hours of mostly quiet seawatching in less-strong-than-hoped-for winds, having seen little more than a Kittiwake and 5 Shags decided my time would be better spent sorting out some pre-Kenya essentials.

I had barely got to the bank however when I got a message informing me of a Sooty Shearwater that had been seen landing on the see off Milford. So I drove straight back down there of course. Needless to say it wasn’t seen again. Spent another couple of hours there though, and was rewarded with 2 Arctic Skuas, 1 Bonxie, 2 Red-throated Divers, heaps of very close Gannets, a Guillemot and several Common Scoters, so I was more than satisfied when the lure of lunch proved too great.

It’s probably best not to repeat what I said when I discovered that less than an hour after I’d left for the second time I’d missed close fly-pasts by a Long-tailed Skua and a Balearic Shearwater, as well as Manxies and much more. So that’s two year ticks I’ve managed to miss today, and with only myself to blame I suppose.

The afternoon was spent buying some currency and an International Driving Permit, so I’m now pretty much ready to roll with departure due in just 17 days’ time. It will be very nice to get back to Africa.

Anyone who wants to pay me to go there 3 or 4 times a year shouldn’t feel shy about asking. I really won’t mind  

Two and a quarter hours this morning in cloudy conditions with barely a puff of wind and quite possibly the most boring session I’ve ever had on the patch.

Embarrassingly low counts of moving birds thus: 60 Meadow Pipits; 32 alba Wagtails; 26 Linnets; 18 Goldfinches; 13 House Martins; 5 Chaffinches; 3 Swallows; 2 Greenfinches; 1-2 Grey Wagtails.

And equally shameful on the deck: 5 Stonechats; 10 Chiffchaffs; 3 Reed Buntings; 62 Goldfinches.

And a Sandwich tern heard offshore whilst it was still only half light.

The is apparently a weak front passing over from the north at around dawn, and I’m crossing fingers that maybe, just maybe, it’ll drop something in. A Ring Ouzel would do. Actually, after this morning, a Wheatear would be good!

Bring on the cold weather!!

A really rather boring vis mig session this morning, especially as it should be really hotting up. I’m assuming the shortage of birds, and the lack of any sense of direction by those that there were, is down to a virtually non-existent wind and continuing unseasonally mild weather. Thursday is threatened as cold following a front moving south, so let’s hope that perks thins up.

Just boring numbers today as a pint or three beckons!

On the move: 240 House Martins; 108 Meadow Pipits; 65 Linnets; 60 Swallows; 60 alba Wagtails; 31 Starlings (probably not really moving); 4 Yellow Wagtails; 2 Siskins; 2 Greenfinches; 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls; 1 Grey Wagtail.

On the deck: 5 Chiffchaffs; 3 Stonechats; 1 Wheatear (and missed one); 1 Goldcrest; 3 Song Thrushes; 1 Kingfisher.

Only vaguely out-of-the-ordinary record was of a Redshank on the rocks (shaken not stirred Miss Moneypenny), a species I’ve only had on the patch a couple of times previously.

A bit colder this morning and, at first, with a fresher northerly wind, a touch of mist and Hey Presto! a few more birds on the move including some real quality.

First treat came at 0710 when I found a RICHARD’S PIPIT lurking at the edge of one of the fairways on the golf course! Watched through bins for a couple of minutes I then made the mistake of starting to set up my ‘scope, at which point it, and 18 Meadow Pipits flew up and headed off westwards after swirling around for a bit teasing me into thinking they might land again. The Dickspip called loads, as they are prone to do. My fourth record for Barton, by far the earliest; the third consecutive year in which I’ve seen one there. That said they are probably annual at pretty well any coastal location given the coverage and a bit of luck.

Then, at 0732, two calling Tree Sparrows flew low east. Only my second record of the species for the patch . Presumably they used to be regular, but this species is now something of a rarity in Hampshire, mostly in the autumn.

Rarest record in patch terms however came at 0806 when a flock of 8 Pochards flew east, flagged up by a text from dave T at Hengistbury. As far as I can tell (it’s not always easy to know) that’s the first Barton record.

Also of interest was a Red-throated Diver in the same spot as yesterday’s. Definitely a different bird though, as whilst that was a summer adult this was a first year bird.

Numbers of other birds on the move, in no set direction (which is often the case with a northerly wind) were: 150 Meadow Pipits, 99 alba Wagtails, 33 Linnets, 19 Goldfinches, 4 Grey Wagtails, 3 Reed Buntings, 1 Siskin, 1 Chaffinch. 500 House Martins, 80 Swallows and 2 Sand Martins didn’t seem to be going anywhere in particular; 5 Wheatears, 2 Chiffchaffs, 7 Stonechats and 3 Goldcrests were on the ground; and 2 Sandwich Terns, 2 Med Gulls and 9 Gannets were offshore.

A strange day which, in northeast winds and with fine weather, should have been spot on for vis mig, but there really was very little going on at all. "Bird of the day" went to a stunning summer plumage Red-throated Diver sat close in on a flat-calm sea, with second prize going to House Martin, of which c1200 were swirling around the golf course, especially the western end, perching up on rooftops in the sun and generally attracting the attention of passers-by, but decidedly not going anywhere. Maybe they heed a frosty night to give them a shove? (Although Hengistbury had five-figues on the move). In amongst them were about 200 Swallows. Numbers of both a VERY rough estimates.

The majority of what movement there was was again westwards: 33 (?!?) Meadow Pipits, 22 alba Wagtails, 9 Yellow Wagtails and 6 Tree Pipits, with 12 Linnets, 12 Goldfinches and 4 Reed Buntings east.

Birds on the ground included a fairly late Whitethroat, 2 Dartford Warblers, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Kinfisher, 8+ Chiffchaffs, 7 Wheatears and 3 Stonechats.

Ah well, try again tomorrow . . .

OK, so I didn’t get yesterday done yesterday, but this’ll do!

Almost by accident yesterday had a couple of hours around Keyhaven and Pennington Marshes in the morning. Hadn’t set out with that intention, but it was such a nice day and who wants to go to work anyway . . .

Highlight of the walk, despite some good waders, came as soon as I got out of the car: there were a lot of noisy Bearded Tits VERY close to the car park, and spent the next 15 minutes or so getting incredibly close views. At one point a male approached within about ten feet, perched in the open in a roadside bush. At one point a group of twelve flew up high and eventually disappeared from sight; another group of eleven also took off a while later, but after buzzing about over the harbour for a while dropped back into the reeds. With birds flying about all over the place it was hard to get an accurate count, but 31 was an absolute minimum. By far my highest ever count and best views of the species. Later a single was seen flying into a tiny patch of reeds by the Lower Balancing Pond.

Rarest bird of the walk was easily the juvenile PECTORAL SANDPIPER, lurking on Butts Lagoon, and often out of view. It was seen yesterday morning, but not in the afternoon, and it hadn’t occurred to me it would still be present. Two Little Stints and a Curlew Sandpiper were also seen, with migrant passerines including a rather late Sedge Warbler, a Whinchat and 4 Wheatears. Five butterfly species included 2 Wall.

This morning finally got back into vismigging mode at Barton, not that there was much mig to vis. Most movement was westerly, which is unusual with a northerly wind, and a lot of the hirundines weren’t really moving that far it would seem, but, apart from a reasonably tally of 1700 House Martins, numbers were low: 219 Swallows, 102 Meadow Pipits, 47 Linnets, 25 alba Wagtails, 5 Grey Wagtails, 2 Tree Pipits, 2 Reed Buntings, 2 Yellow Wagtails. Passerines on the ground included 5 Chiffchaffs, 5 Stonechats, 1 Blackcap, 2 yellow Wagtails and 3 Wheatears. One (or possibly two) Kingfisher was on the rocks and groynes by the sea, 2 Sandwich terns were offshore, and a male Sparrowhawk gave cracking views. All pretty mediocre to be honest, but it seems the good stuff often turns up when things are quiet so I must stick at it for a couple of weeks at least!

Yes, I haven’t been keeping up lately, way too much going on, not least a heavy workload as I try and raise all the cash needed for the forthcoming Kenya trip.

Unfortunately I haven’t had the time to give Barton the vis mig effort I had hoped, but plan to change this as soon as possible. Just three efforts so far in September, with House Martin being the main feature (two 4-figure counts). Like I say, I will get out more from now on.

The year list has moved on to 225 thanks to 2 Tree Sparrows at Titchfield Haven (a big surprise: this is a raity in Hants these days) and Little Stint (less of a surprise).

Anyway, more later on a bit of birding this morning, and a promise I will try and keep up with things from now on!

Strong winds yesterday prompted an early start and a drive down to Milford for a seawatch that might possibly be my last chance at Balearic Shearwater this year. This is a species which has been recorded off there with increased frequency in recent years (almost to the point where the local seawatchers can predict its occurrence), but seawatching opportunities have been few for me despite bird-day counts totalling a perhaps a few dozen this year. Arrived at 0645, with the wind southwesterly although not as strong as hoped, and wasn’t disappointed. A single Balearic Shearwater headed west at mid(ish)-distance at 0747, giving as good view and one can expect in the circumstances. A rare (for me) opportunity to compare jizz with its commoner cousin, as a single then a flock of five Manx Shearwaters also headed west, albeit more distantly. Other counts before my 0855 departure included: 1 (pale) Arctic Skua east (and a probable west), 1 first-winter Kittiwake west, 30 commic and 2 Sandwich terns west (and 6 of the former east) and c75 Gannets and c25 Shags milling about offshore.

Back to Monday and UK400 is reporting the Blue-winged Teal as an adult female rather than a juvenile, but I’m not one to argue. Grotty brown duck with blue wings that had rarity value at least but was quite possibly an escape is all I can say! And the orange patch seen on the Grey Phalarope when it flew was seemingly oil rather than retained summer plumage, and if reports of the birds health yesterday are anythin to go by its non-presence today may not be due to it having flown off.

Anyway, year list now 223, all very pleasing, and I’m now waiting for some northerly or easterly winds so I can start vis migging. Not going to be able to afford the time off work for blanket coverage as last year (especially with a Kenya trip still to save for), but hope to put the early mornings in when the weather is most conducive to movement.