Autumn passage commences at Salford Priors GP

 Main Pit as Autumn approaches

 Little Egret

 Little Ringed Plover

 Kestrel

 Turtle Dove

 Garganey

 Little Stint

Little Stint

 Dunlin

 Reed Bunting

 Grey Heron

Hungry Fox

Autumn passage has started at Salford Priors with us finding some great birds passing through. Pophills and the main pit has seen the water level drop revealing plenty of mud and shingle islands. This blog will bring together findings from a number of visits in recent weeks.

I'd only seen a Little Egret fly over the pits so it was great to be there to see one come into land on the main pit before settling on the old works lagoon. The bird appeared to be fairly settled and has since been joined by a second bird for a few days.

Myself and Paul both headed down last Friday night in shocking weather hoping to find a goodie or two. After a good search we finally came up trumps when I located a Garganey on the far side of the main pit. We were both buzzing. It was difficult to sex the bird but when we refound the bird on Saturday on Pophills it looked like a Eclipse Drake.

During this visit I managed to get some great views of the Turtle Dove visiting the site. Other breeding birds which look to have done well are Sparrowhawks, Kestrel, Mute Swan, Cuckoo and Linnet. 

We met Mike as we were leaving who was off to find the Garganey however after getting home and just finishing a shower Mike text me to say there was a Little Stint on the main pit ! It was back in the car within seconds to meet Mike to see the great summer plumage bird. It was the best views I'd ever had of the species. Two great birds in two days. Both two pointers in the patchwork challenge !

Other wader movement has seen us record up to 10 Green Sandpiper, 6 Common Sandpiper and Redshank whilst there are big numbers  of Swifts and hirundines feeding low, including 120 Sand Martins on Sunday.