Serendipity! One of my favourite words, and definitely appropriate at the moment. At the big end of the scale is the boring, dull summer I’ve endured, from which surely no good would come. Wrong! If it wasn’t for my injury I wouldn’t be enjoying a fabulous run of birding. On the small scale today’s birding started late because I just could not find my notebook, and with vis migging to be done I’d be almost as lost without it as if it were my bins. In the end I found it in my bag, packed ready. It’s surprising how organised one can be after a pub visit (another quiz win, three in a row, five in six), and how little one remembers of it. Anyway had I not arrived at Barton late, at 0650, I would not have seen the Jack Snipe that shot in off the sea and dive bombed into the vegetation around the golf course pools at 0700, never to be seen again! A highly unexpected new bird for the patch. But not as highly unexpected as the next!! At 0754 (not 0854 as I told everyone, including Birdguides) a small group of Meadow Pipits heading east included one that gave five drawn-out, breathy "skeeeez" calls, a call I haven’t heard for a few years, but one that anyone who has spent two whole migration seasons in Israel would know immediately. RED-THROATED PIPIT!!!!! I have to confess I never did ascertain which of the pipits was the good one, they all looked the same against the background of the sky. If accepted (and I have to concede it could be a considerable "if" given the lack of details) it will be only the second record for Hampshire (please don’t ask me where or when the first was)!

Vis mig was, on the whole, very disappointing with the wind just to the west of north, but good birds seem to turn up on poor days here. Other than a rather strange record of a Rock Pipit heading inland rather high up, totals were: 134 Goldfinches, 94 Meadow Pipits, 91 alba Wagtails, 90 Linnets, 24 Siskins, 6 House Martins (with 30 Swallows over the golf course the only other hirundines on a dire morning for them) 5 Grey Wagtails, 3 Chaffinches, 2 Reed Buntings, 1 Raven, 1 Lesser Redpoll and 1 Tree Pipit. 3 Wheatears, 3 Stonechats, 3 Goldcrests and 2 Sandwich Terns were also noted. After finishing on the clifftop at 0900 gave the Grove Road trees a grilling (good phyllosc and R-b Fly habitat I reckon) and found nothing. Then it was the shock of some w*rk, but I made sure I stayed in Barton until noon to keep the counts going. Not there was much to count.

A good day for this section of the coast today: Hengistbury turned up Penduline Tit, Richard’s Pipit and 2-3 Yellow-browed Warblers!!

A bit foggy again this morning, but less so than yesterday, and it didn’t seem to inhibit passage. In fact it all rather dried up once the fog had cleared, but a busy hour gave some ood totals.

Eastbound were: 1310 House Martins, 457 Goldfinches, 325 Swallows, 253 Linnets, 193 Meadow Pipits, 193 alba Wagtails, 53 Siskins, 15 Chaffinches, 7 Reed Buntings, 6 Greenfinches, 3 Lesser Redpolls, 2 House Sparrows (not a species I would expect on vis mig, but two singles flew east as part of mixed finch flocks), 1 Yellow Wagtail and 1 Tree Pipit (getting late enough now that all records are worthy of bold, even in this record-breaking autumn).

Also seen were: 2 Snipe (one flushed by me on the clifftop at dawn and another over the golf course later), 2 Stonechats, 2 Goldcrests, 1 Chiffchaff, 3 Wheatears, 1 Sandwich Tern, 2 Song Thrushes, 3 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Black-tailed Godwits, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Buzzard, 1 Sparrowhawk and 1 Teal (in with a flock of the golf course’s resident Mallards).

In the afternoon, after watching my son Dominic score in a 4-1 cup win, popped down to Pennington Marshes for excellent protracted views of the juvenile RED-BACKED SHRIKE, there for its second day. My first juvenile for quite some time, my second in Hants, and my first anywhere since a male in western Kenya in October 2004. Cetti’s Warbler, Water Rail and Bearded Tit were all heard whilst watching it.

Weather is turning westerly from tomorrow so vis mig will probably ease off or stop for a while, but I’ll give it a go anyway, at least as long as it’s not raining.

Oh, and one last thing. Check out the following fantastic photos, not tsken by me I hasten to add:

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http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/331/img2232aj0.jpg

Much quieter this morning, but I knew it would be for two reasons: firstly, I was to be joined by Simon "180" Ingram, and things are always worse when expectations are high; and then when I stepped outside I could hear The Needles’ foghorn (on still days it’s clearly audible even though it’s 8 miles away), and one thing I do know about vis mig at Barton is that fog is bad.

Probably would have been a good day to go migrant-hunting rather than vis-migging, as evidenced by a Reed Warbler (not seen that many here) in Becton Bunny, and the discovery of a Red-backed Shrike just down the road at Pennington (that I never quite found the time to go and see), but I seem to be getting addicted to the vis migging!

Best bird was another Swift, picked up by Simon feeding to the west of my watchpoint, but it never did pass east with the other migrants. Today’s eastbound counts were: 730 Swallows (plus 26 south), 290 House Martins, 205 House Martins, 153 Goldfinches, 72 alba Wagtails, 63 Linnets, 51 Siskins, 11 Greenfinches, 7 Song Thrushes, 4 Sand Martins, 3 Reed Buntings, 2 Grey Wagtails, 2 G S Woodpeckers, 1 Lesser Redpoll and 1 Chaffinch. So not a complete dead loss at all. In fact, looking at the numbers actually quite good.

On the ground 8 Yellow Wagtails, 5+ Wheatears, 1 Goldcrest and 1 Stonechat, and offshore 3-4 adult Mediterranean Gulls.

The wind is set to turn to the west after tomorrow, which will probably knock the passage pretty much on the head for the time being; we shall see.

Great excitement this morning with a visit from what is probably the patch’s rarest ever visitor (in Hampshire terms, with only about ten previous records). Just over an hour into another very good vis mig session, at 0745, I had a wader fly past close that I was sure was a BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER, but given my inexperience of the species (the litany of ineptitude will be spelt out after all the boring bird numbers!) I really couldn’t be 100% sure on what amounted to a fifteen second flight view as it flew east. Unbelievably, ten minutes later it was back flying the other way, giving much longer views as it headed off west, and hopefully I should have noted all I need to get it through. Phoned the guys at Hengistbury after the second sighting, but it evidently go their way, and Nigel Jones, visiting after I’d left, couldn’t locate it on the golf course. It’s a species that has long been anticipated for Barton, but it still comes as a very pleasant surprise when these things happen.

Second best bird was another funny House Martin. Following on from Tuesday’s albino, today there was a leucistic bird knocking around for a bit, creamy-buff with a few brownish feathers above.

The eastbound totals today (0640-0845) were: 1000 House Martins (1200 more lingering over the golf course, no doubt due to the fine, still weather), 413 Goldfinches, 324 Meadow Pipits, 120 Swallows, 114 alba Wagtails, 83 Siskins, 74 Linnets, 12 Chaffinches, 4 Song Thrushes, 4 Greenfinches, 3 Tree Pipits, 3 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Crossbills and 1 Common Gull.

On the ground were 1 Kingfisher (flew up from the undercliff and off towards the golf course pools), 2 Wheatears, 2 Chiffchaffs, 2 Stonechats, 2 Chaffinches, 1 Grey and 3 Yellow Wagtails.

So, what of me and Buff-breasted Sand? My first experience of the species was back in about 1988 when I saw one on the deck and in flight on Holkham Freshmarsh in Norfolk. But to be honest, it was bloody miles off, through some ridiculous heat-haze, and had I not known it was there I wouldn’t have had a clue. It went on my list, but was unceremoniously dumped during a purge a few years later that also saw Great Shearwater, Ross’s Gull and Leach’s Storm-Petrel go by the wayside (the last one has made it back since, although it took an embarrassingly long time to do so, and the first one probably would have done had my Cape Town pelagic not been cancelled). Then in about 1991 or 2, not sure which although someone will probably put me straight, I went down to Pennington Marshes for a spot of birding, but made the mistake of turning left at the seawall. After a while I met another birder and gave him the "much about?" staple line. "Do you know about the Buff-breasted Sandpiper?" No I didn’t, but I was soon legging it towards Keyhaven. Next birder along: "Is the BBS still there?". "Well it was until about five minutes ago when a Sparrowhawk took it!" Ah. Bugger. And those are the only times, before today, that I have come close to one in Britain, which is woeful considering I was actively twitching back when they used to be reasonably common.

The species did finally make it onto my list, however, but only courtesy of a slightly oiled and not-especially-happy-looking individual at Ecuasal Lagoons, Salinas, in Ecuador, on 1st March 1996. So today’s, as well as being a patch, county AND British tick, is the only one I have seen that I can say with 100% certainty was capable of flight.

What a fabulous morning!! The perfect vis mig day, with some decent scarcities and good numbers of the common stuff to keep me amused and on my toes. Was on the coast 0645-1005, then up until 1105 was visiting a few customers to let them know of my impending return to work, but still within the "recording area", so still counting.

It would appear from today’s evidence that a cloudy day with a light northeasterly is really quite good for vis mig! Star bird was probably the Water Pipit that went east, calling, at 0837. Not only is it a new bird for Barton (and therefore another patch tick for me) but it is, by one day, the earliest autumn record in Hants! Two minutes earlier a Swift had gone east, my latest racord for Barton and second latest for Hants. Earlier, at 0742, the resident corvids to the north of the golf course had all gone up in panic, alerting me to the presence of a ringtail Hen Harrier, that flew around tormenting them for a couple of minutes before drifting away north.

Counts of the rest of the eastbound migrants were: 2600 House Martins, 1122 Meadow Pipits (finally got that four-figure count), 535 Swallows, 137 Linnets, 115 Goldfinches, 97 alba Wagtails, 91 Siskins, 7 Greenfinches, 4 Yellow Wagtails, 3 Grey Wagtails, 3 Sand Martins, 3 Song Thrushes and 1 Tree Pipit.

On the ground were 2 Wheatears, 3 Yellow Wagtails, 1 Tree Pipit, 2 Chiffchaffs, 1 Stonechat, 1 Goldcrest and 3 Chaffinches, and 2 Common Scoter were offshore. Also, 2 Ravens went east.

Strangest of all was the bloke who I was chatting to for a couple of minutes (quite how much sense I was making whilst keeping running totals of mipits, martins and swallows in my head I’m not sure) who I suddenly realised had nothing on his feet! Takes all sorts I suppose, but way too many thistles and dog cr*p up there to think about going barefoot I would have thought.

Rather hoping tomorrow morning will be quieter. It would have been hell had I had to leave at 0850 this morning. I’m just glad I’m not the mad twitchy type. There must be some serious travel bills being run up at the moment with everything that’s turning up in the Northern Isles. I’d settle for a Bluethroat, nothing too greedy.

Not exactly the hoped-for fall, with the weather not quite right. The forecast early rain amounted to about seven drops and whilst it was clear when I left the pub last night I suspect it clouded over quite early. Rather foolishly hiked as far east as the trig point hoping for something grounded but it was all to little avail and I’ve suffered ever since.

Vis migging was actually not too bad in a force 4-5 northeasterly, on site 0645-1000, with House Martins again giving a good show. 3825 went east, with 550 more around the golf course. Much more manageable numbers, allowing me to search properly for Crag Martin. Bob Chapman had a couple of thousand on the cliffs very early yesterday morning, presumably roosting there, and presumably a temporary thing because my early birds usually (but not yesterday and today) come from somewhere off in the distance to the north of Christchurch. Other stuff heading east was: 303 Meadow Pipits, 107 Swallows, 72 alba Wagtails, 29 Goldfinches, 28 Linnets, 6 Siskins (only), 4 Tree Pipits, 3 Grey Wagtails, 3 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Crossbills and 1 Sand Martin. Offshore 1 Lesser Black-backed and 4 Common Gulls went west, and a first-winter Med Gull went the other way. A Teal headed south out to sea, but not quite as frenetically as Monday’s bird. On the deck were 9 Wheatears, 5 Chiffchaffs, 4 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Stonechats and 1 Goldcrest. No Ravens today, although Hengistbury had another five today.

I’m predicting Friday to be the best day this week, purely because I have to leave by 0850 at the latest.

WOW!!!

Patchy cloud and a northerly made for what was actually a poor vis mig (0630-0930), with little variety and lower-than-of-late numbers for most stuff, but with one notable exception: between about 0715 and 0830 the vast majority of a final total of 14200 House Martins flew east! Add on the estimated 1500 that were feeding all over the golf course and along the cliffs towards Dorset and that gives the highest one-day total I’ve ever had of any single species at Barton. The previous record was of 15000 Swallows east on 21/9/02 (a morning that also yielded a county record 2080 Meadow Pipits and a Lapland Bunting!). Absolutely the best of it was the total albino individual which gave stonking close range views for a few minutes. A gorgeous little thing, without doubt the best bird I’ve seen this year. If I can work out how to do it I will one day upload the picture I took with my mobile, in the hope of a wildcard entry into the "World’s Worst Bird Photograph" competition. Incredibly this total by far eclipsed anything recorded in Dorset as far as I’m aware, and has even earned a mention on the CHOG sightings page under my apparent new pseudonym, BOG (Barton Ornithological Group). New members welcome. Subscription cheques (any substantial amount at your discretion) to "S. Keen" please. No newsletter, but I might copy you into some random emails.

Nine more Ravens went east today (6 at 0734, 3 at 0836). I’m assuming they find their way back west later in the day when no one is looking as it seems inconcievable that my 13 and Hengistbury’s 25 in the last two days (potentially all different judging by flock sizes, hope to confirm times with David Taylor, venerable sightings compiler at CHOG, later) were all actually migrating. A Razorbill feeding about a couple of yards from the shore (but seemingly healthy enough) was an unusual record, and a flock of 15 Common Scoter flying around offshore was welcome. Other birds heading east were as follows: 129 Meadow Pipits, 94 Goldfinches, 67 alba Wagtails (still no alba), 56 Swallows (astonishingly few, and with 120 over the golf course), 35 Siskins, 24 Linnets, 5 Grey Wagtails, 3 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Tree Pipits (back again), 1 Reed Bunting and 1 Sand Martin (it’s quite likely there were more of them but when House Martins are passing by at an average of 200 a minute I reckon I can be forgiven for not grilling them all). On the ground were 55 Meadow Pipits, 20 Pied Wagtails, 5 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Wheatears, 2 Chiffchaffs, 1 Goldcrest and 1 Stonechat. A raptor seen very briefly at some distance through bins only didn’t look quite right for Buzzard, but that hardly narrows it down, so no ideas really.

Tomorrow morning’s forecast is for a band of light rain to pass through at/just after dawn after a fairly clear night. At Portland (and probably Hengistbury) this would mean Yellow-browed Warbler, Ring Ouzels galore and multiple Pied Flycatchers. I suspect that all I’ll get is a slight increase in Chiffchaffs, but tomorrow morning might be the time to bash some bushes.

Reasonably surprised to wake up (another successful quiz night last night, with typical alcoholic accoutrement) I was greeted by a mostly cloudy morning with a light northerly and because of one or other or both factors there were not huge numbers on the move. A few oddities today, starting with a Swallow which was flushed from the sallows by the bridge in Becton Bunny that had clearly been roosting there. And then there was the Teal, something of a Barton scarcity, that arrived from the north and headed straight out to sea like it was being chased by a giant invisible Sparrowhawk. It was two minutes to eight, and I’m assuming by the speed it was travelling it had a very important meeting in Cherbourg at eight o’clock! Also four Black-tailed Godwits flew landed by the pools near the clubhouse (that I can’t get to see, despite having asked a few times for access to the non-public parts of the golf course, even offering to sign a disclaimer) for a while, before flying off west. It’s not that unusual to have them fly over, but I think that landing is a new trick.

Easterly vis mig was as follows: 354 House Martins, 172 Meadow Pipits, 148 alba Wagtails (Hengistbury recorded several alba amongst theirs today but all the ones I got a good look at were definitely yarrellii), 105 Siskins, 71 Goldfinches, 22 Linnets, 11 Grey Wagtails, 6 Yellow Wagtails, 6 Greenfinches, 2 Song Thrushes, 2 Snipe, and 1 Crossbill. Four Ravens arrived from the east at 0823, but one turned back while the others carried on east. Seventeen minutes later he’d obviously decided he was lonely as he was heading east too. Notable by its absence today was Tree Pipit, which is especially notable for being notable by its absence. Any other year any Tripit sighting would be heralded in excited bold type, but they’ve gone a bit mad this autumn, with 52 having gone over in the previous ten days.

Other stuff included a Whinchat near the car park, 2 Wheatears, 3 Chiffchaffs and a Sparrowhawk that put the fear of God into all the Pied, sorry alba, Wags that were taking a breather on the golf course on the way to Spain or wherever it is they are heading.

Another clear morning, other than a band of dirty grey mist that encircled the horizon for the first couple of hours, with the northeasterly wind up a notch from yesterday. A much more late-autumnal feel to the vis mig, with Lesser Redpoll, Greenfinch and Mistle Thrush putting in their seasonal debuts, but with star billing going to a new site record count of Siskin.

Totals of birds headed generally east: 376 Siskins, 220 House Martins, 162 Meadow Pipits (plus 5 south straight out to sea), 106 Swallows, 95 alba Wagtails, 66 Goldfinches, 16 Linnets, 12 Greenfinches, 10 Yellow Wagtails, 5 Tree Pipits, 4 Grey Wagtails, 3 Lesser Redpolls, 2 Reed Buntings, 2 Chaffinches, 1 Hobby and 1 Mistle Thrush. Also a Snipe west, and 2-3 Mediterranean Gulls offshore. About 500 House Martins fed over/rested on the golf course, and stuff on the ground included 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Dunlin (not seen that often there other than on spring seawatches), 3 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Grey Wagtails (a pair with the male in song!), 2 Chiffchaffs and 1 Wheatear.

Well, slightly more answers today I think (although after last night’s chicken dhansak it was more a case of Johnny Cash than Johnny Nash this morning). Other than a bit of fog it was completely clear today, with a very light northeasterly, and the vis migging wasn’t nearly as good as yesterday. Once again hirundines were best represented, but the fine and warm weather persuaded many of them to go no further than the golf course and working out how many moved anywhere was very confusing. About 700 House Martins and 130 Swallows were feeding when I left, and 21 Yellow Wagtails were also on the fairways (quite likely many more in those areas not visible from the paths). The shortage of movement meant I walked up to Taddiford Gap, but there were virtually no grounded migrants anywhere.

Oddest record was definitely of the single Common Tern which headed rather high north (ie: inland), otherwise the following went east (0635-0925): c1200 House Martins, 233 Meadow Pipits, c170 Swallows, 77 Siskins, 69 Goldfinches, 40 alba Wagtails (I bow to general opinion by calling them alba, rather than Pied, but all those I’ve ever seen grounded at this time of the year here have been yarrellii), 18 Linnets, 5 Grey Wagtails, 5 Chaffinches, 3 Tree Pipits, 1 Sand Martin, 1 GS Woodpecker, 1 Brent Goose. Other grounded birds included 4 Wheatears, 6 Stonechats, 2 Chiffchaffs and 1 Goldcrest.

Similar forecast for tomorrow, remains to be seen whether it is a similar session’s birding.