Today (17th October) it was time to put the shorts back in the bottom drawer and get the gloves, scarf and woolly hat out, as we got our first reminder that summer doesn't last forever. I had my first fully free morning for a few days and decided to go for 50 birds - I am just a lister at heart really. I have to confess that I didn't much fancy my chances and knew that with the strong winds there might not be many second chances if I didn't get onto birds quickly enough.
Initial disappointments - as neither the Med gull nor the Ring-billed gull were around, and worse, no sign of any Shoveler, Gadwall, Wigeon or the Ruddy duck. It was tempting to have a brief discussion with the guy who had parked in the disabled spot (with no sticker), left his engine running (why?) and was merrily creating havoc amongst *MY* gulls and ducks by throwing bread at them - but I decided better of it - as I heard a nearby Chiff-chaff shouting 'wait, wait'.
There were a lot of Woodpigeon flying around, which should have alerted me, but somehow I seemed oblivious to the signs. I quickly made a mental note of lakes tally, Coot, Moorhen, Mute Swan, 2 grebes, 3 ducks, Canadas, 3 gulls, Cormorant - 15 down and 35 to go. A sweet tinkle call from the teasel, and with those in the adjacent bush, gold, green and chaff, 3 finches were quickly added, and two wagtail. Then it was bonus time as a single hawthorn held a feeding party, adding 4 tits and a goldcrest (shame there was no 'pitchooo' - I haven't seen Marsh all year - and I haven't seen a Willow for 10 years). Lots of movement overhead and along the bottom of the hedgerow as 4 thrushes were added (but there was to be no Mistle today) - 5 if we count the Robin. The distinctive calls of Skylark and Meadow Pipit added two more - but I decided that the 'Phisst' of the Rock Pipit was just not good enough as whilst it was a common bird half a mile away it would have been a first for the park for me. The 'soowee' of the Yellow wagtail has to be an illusion this late surely - so that one was consigned to the 'nonsense' list. A cluster of scolding wrens took me took the tally after 20 minutes and 200 yards, to 33. A soft low call and a flash of red added another finch and took me to my new found gate, to lean on - and the panoramic views across the valley.
The Woodpigeon were still very agitated and I soon found out why as a Peregrine towered above the wood, did a half stoop, changed his mind and glided powerfully towards me, veering away 50 yards in front of me, and with two or three powerful wingbeats flashed away to my right. A very bright male Kestrel, and a big brown and little blue/grey Sparrowhawk hunted amongst the Pipits in tandem. The raptor quartet was soon completed by a couple of Buzzards hanging in the wind. Rooks were nowhere to be seen, but the corvid quartet became a quintet when the distinctive 'Bok, Bok, Bok' alerted me to a couple of Ravens gliding overhead. An hour passed very quickly and on 42 I began to wonder where the other eight would come from.
The woodland was disappointing and added neither Treecreeper nor Nuthatch, but the distinctive call of a Green woodpecker was good. As I circled round to look over the lake a late flock of hirundines flashed hurriedly by, all Swallows but with the Grey Heron doing a circuit of the lake and the 10 Teal coming out of hiding I was now running out of time and still only on 46. A small flock of finches which I expected to be the Goldies surprised me by being mainly Linnet, but I missed a larger bird in there (must have been another Greenfinch) - and I quickly mopped up Starling, House Sparrow and Collared dove - to leave me on 50 and no time to search for a Dunnock before the first race at Newmarket. A good mornings work.
