Autumnal Birding

 A drab old day with sunshine very much at a premium though thankfully it did remain dry for the most part. If the weather was dreary the birding was thankfully not as I walked from Weldon to Deene and then back again via Priors Hall. With the conditions being so dull most of the photos fall into the record shot category but I was just grateful to have anything to photograph in the first place!

Robin and Golden Plovers.

My day began on a positive note with a sighting of a Raven over the Old Village as I waited for my bus. Bears Lane was fairly interesting and I saw my first Golden Plovers of the season overhead as a minimum of sixty five  passed over. It was difficult to tell whether the sightings were of one flock that passed over several times or if several different flocks were involved. Also on the mover were Fieldfares, the ones at Bears Lane were the first of many passing westwards today. Several Redpolls were also noted as the good run for this species continued.

Brambling and Pied Wagtail.

The fields between Harry's Park and the A427 were fairly quiet until I had nearly reached the road when I heard a Brambling calling from a small group of hawthorns. I managed to get a fairly ropey record shot of what was my first of the Autumn. Nearby Deenethorpe Airfield had many Redwings feeding on haws, I thought I heard a Ring Ouzel but only managed a brief and unsatisfactory view of the possible candidate. Another species showing here in good numbers was Skylark and a sizeable flock of Meadow Pipits were present too.

Redwing and Green Sandpiper.

Deene Lake inflow had at least four Green Sandpipers feeding on the exposed mud as well as a decent sized flock of Lapwings. The main lake was a little quiet though I did see a pair of Egyptian Geese, a birder that I chatted to at the inflow had seen four. Last week I noted an otter here but this week it was all about the skunk as a young couple were smoking what appeared to be an impressive looking spliff while sitting at the dam. That may well explain why this area was so quiet! A Migrant Hawker was ignoring the conditions at the farm ponds as it hunted around the margins of one.

Egyptian Geese and Red Kite

Kirby Lane is often rather boring but today it delivered a flock of Crossbills near to the entrance of Kirby Hall as they flew south over the lane towards Priors Hall. At he birches the Redpoll flock was still there with at least fifty being present. Other birds seen here included Siskins while the quarry held a single adult Yellow-legged Gull hanging out with the other loafing larids. Another Migrant Hawker was the only other wildlife of note seen here today.

Migrant Hawker and Yellow-legged Gull