October 2018 at Gramborough (1 Viewer)

And I thought September was bad: most of the month featured only common birds !

How can this have been October ? ONE WARBLER ALL MONTH. Yellow-broweds all around, but The Hill shunned. No Redstarts (only one this year), no Pied Flies, no shrikes (4 years, now).

31: 02♪.
30: 02♪.
29: 2 Goldcrests, 2 Robins.
28: 02♪. (Later, reliable observer saw Goldcrest, Robin.)
27: Pom Skua ad. (with attached cutlery handles) over The Hill.
25: 2 Stonechats (ad. ♂♀).
24: 02♪.
23: 02♪.
22: FINALLY ! ***SibeChat*** makes a brief foray to The Hill, in the company of a pair (♂♀) of ‘ours’, before retreating to its Meadow Lane haunt.
21: 02♪.
20: 02♪.
19: Yellowhammer ↑W, Chaffinch ↑W, Grey Wagtail ↑W, Merlin. (The SibeChat came within 50m of where I could tick it as being on The Hill !)
17: 4 Goldcrests, 3+ Stonechats.
16: 5+ Goldcrests, ♀ Blackcap, Grey Wagtail ↑E, Robin (1st since April !), 2 Blackbirds, 2 Song Thrushes, 3 Wheatears, 3+ Stonechats.
14: 2 Blackbirds, 4 Stonechats (2 ad. ♂♂♀♀).
13: 2+ Blue Tits.
12: Redwing.
11: 5 Blackbirds (2+ Continental), 3 Song Thrushes, 2 Redwings, 3 Stonechats, 1 Lapland Bunting ↑W. (RBA reported 2 Shorelarks in/off & ↑S.)
10: 5 Greenfinches, 2 Blue Tits, 2 Wheatears.
9: 2♀♀ Stonechats.
8: Redwing, ♂ Stonechat.
7: 3 Stonechats (2 ad. ♂♂, 1♀), Fieldfare, 3 Lapland Buntings ↑W.
6: Wheatear.
5: 4 Stonechats (inc. 2 ad. ♂♂, 1W♂ - one with metal ring), Wheatear.
4: 4 Stonechats (inc. 2 ad. ♂♂), Wheatear. 2 Buzzards in/off 1154h, then ↑W. 4 Bearded Tits over reeds by Beach Rd. (midday+). Jack Snipe flushed late a’noon.
3: 02♪.
2: Dunnock.
1: 02♪.

There are none so blind as those who will not see (John Heywood 1546).

Can’t see the wood for the trees ?

It’s interesting how one’s memory works. Looking at last year’s October [https://www.birdforum.net/showpost.php?p=3639000&postcount=1], it’s hardly any less encouraging - or, is it more ?

John Heywood's 1546 glossary A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the englishe tongue* also has:

“An olde saied sawe, itche and ease, can no man please.
Plentie is no deyntie . ye see not your owne ease.
I see, ye can not see the wood for trees.”

Another poetical offering, this of much more dubious worth, runs:

“Some folks spend their lives as a banker;
Whilst others drive car, truck, or tanker.
But, Our Mr G
Is from all this quite free –
He’s the UK’s unrivalled top-ranker !”

Try as hard as I might, I was, for some reason, unable to insert my “r” where it should go. Please whack (à la Jamie Oliver) the correct letter into the welcoming space.

[* You might have thought some of the spelling on Twitter was bad ! However, this was written before we had a standardised orthography.]