Salford Priors GP - October

Cattle Egret

Cattle Egret

Merlin

Pintail

Wigeon

Merlin

Kingfisher

Stonechat

Stonechat

Ruff on left side of island

October Sightings

2nd Cattle Egret, Ruff, 3 Stonechat, Kingfisher, Snipe, Pochard

4th Whooper Swan, Ruff, 2 Cattle Egret over, Snipe, 23 Whooper, Common Sandpiper

11th  Female Merlin, 2 Whinchat, 1 Clouded Yellow

14th - Whooper Swan found dead

16th 200 Meadow Pipit, Pochard, 4 Shoveler, 20 Wigeon, 5 Teal

18th Little Egret, Pintail, Merlin

19th 36 Fieldfare, 1 Redwing

20th Merlin, 12 Fieldfare

22nd Merlin, Pintail - now 6 dead Swans

Lesser Yellowlegs on route to Isles of Scilly

The end of October always sees me heading out to the Isles of Scilly for the traditional "Teachers' Week". I've seen some nice birds on the Friday before I fly over the years and this year proved to be no exception as I undertook birding around the Hayle Estuary before staying overnight.

My target bird was a Lesser Yellowlegs which showed fantastically in Copperhouse Creek. I then meandered around the estuary, which has a lovely selection of birds which included Greenshank, Ringed Plover, Wigeon, Teal, Dunlin, Little Egret and a Little Stint. The Little Stint appeared to show some webbing, causing a crazy five minutes, but it must have been the angle of the sun.

An excellent start to my week off work.

WRYNECK ! - Salford Priors GP (September)

Wryneck (F Peplow)

Wryneck

Wryneck

Peppers double at scene of the Wryneck

Whinchat

Common Buzzard

Weasal

Whinchat

Whinchat

Hobby

Common Redstart

Wigeon

Starling

An excellent September for us at Salford Priors. The clear highlight was Wryneck, which became our 208th species at the site. The Wryneck was found by Francis, who had a tremendous year of finding birds locally. Four of us managed to connect with the bird.

Francis was then on the main pit when a Whooper Swan flew in on 30th September. That was our 126th species of the year, now just six behind last year's total.

3/9 - West Midland All dayer 67 species

8/9 - Wryneck

9/9 - 4 Whinchat, 1 female Redstart

11/9 WeBS Count 28 Little Grebe, 24 Cormorant, 3 Grey Heron, 21 Mute Swan, 2 Greylag, 8 Canada Geese, 4 Wigeon, 14 Gadwall, 10 Teal, 270 Mallard, 1 Shoveler, 25 Tufted Duck, 50 Coot, 10 Lapwing, 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, 2 Herring Gull with 20 Lesser Black-back, Kingfisher, 50 Swallow, trickle of mipits, Grey Wagtail, 1 Whinchat on hedge at back of main pit, Cettis Warbler, 2 Reed Warbler,  4 Lesser Whitethroat, 10 Blackcap, 45 Chiffchaff, Jay, 2 Ravens and 45 Goldfinches at Marsh Farm.

13/9 - 4 Stonechat

18/9 - 22 Little grebe, 10 Cormorant, 2 Grey Heron, 21 Mute Swan, 62 Greylag, 30 Canada geese, 7 Wigeon, 14 Gadwall, 1 Pochard, 6 Teal, 250+ Mallard, 2 Shoveler, 23 Tufted Duck, 55 Coot, 4 Swallow, 80 House Martin, 13 Meadow Pipit, Cettis warbler, 4 Lesser Whitethroat, 8 Blackcap, 12 Chiffchaff, 1 Jay, 3 Raven, 2 Buzzard, Kestrel & Red Kite.

19/9 Golden Plover over

23/9 31 Mute Swan, 15 Wigeon, 12 Gadwall, 2 Cetti's Warbler, 2 Water Rail, 40 Meadow Pipit, 6 Swallow, 4 House Martin, 6 Sand Martin, Little Egret.

24/9 Little Egret, 2 Stonechat, 4 Swallow, 10 Wigeon

28/9 Clouded Yellow butterfly, 4 Stonechat

29/9 Whooper Swan, 80 Meadow Pipt, Common Sandpiper, 2 Stonechat, Ringed Plover, 2 Water Rail, 15 Wigeon

30/0 Whooper Swan, Common Sandpiper, Whinchat

COMMON NIGHTHAWK (MEGA !) in Wantage, Oxfordshire

Buzz, Buzz, my phone making me casually look right to the phone on my desk. I had to read the alert three times but there it was. Oh my days..............

This was a MEGA of epic proportions that needed an instant departure. Typically, the Squire had left his phone at home and was out at work. Fortunately, his son saved the day by running around the corner to tell him to get home quickly as I was en route. Most birds we twitch these days are three hours away, so to get something within ninety minutes was an absolute gift.

Wantage resident, Lee Farmer discovered the bird sitting on his  garden fence at 7am. He considered it might have been a Sparrowhawk, but thankfully informed a friend who considered it to be a Nightjar. They, in turn, contacted Ian Lewington the County Recorder, who went to investigate thinking it would be a Nightjar, a very good record for the county anyway. Following Lee's permission and volunteers were in place to manage the crowd, news was released.

Our journey was very smooth, following the parking instructions, but we were still very close to the birds' location. We duly paid our £10 donation each when the volunteers told us "it's on the fence behind the red audi". We were both expecting to view down a long garden with a queuing system, but no, there was the northern american rarity just sitting in the open in the cul-de-sac off Springfield Road. It was simply amazing.

There were around 40 birders present (including twitching buddy the Captain) which grew to double that during our amazing visit. The bird had a stunning cryptic plummage which no doubt gave the bird confidence it was in a safe location. Every fifteen minutes, the bird shuffled in half-circle motion, rocking from side to side. Speaking to another birder, it was identified as a female juvenile by a dull white patch on its primaries, lack of white on the tail and a barred throat patch.

You can only think the juvenile was blown off course in the recent hurricane over Canada, but in truth no one will actually know. What I can confirm is that over £4,000 was collected for two local charities, a hospital spinal unit & Little Foxes, a wildlife charity. There were over 400 very happy birders, that is for sure.

The bird took flight south at around 7pm and there was no sign the following morning, very much as predicted.

The Common Nighthawk is a very rare visitor with there being just 25 British records and three in Ireland.

YouTube Video from Oxon Birding