Hawling

30 October - A late afternoon visit to Hawling and good views of the Short-eared Owl from 4.40pm, hunting and soaring, mobbed by corvids - light rather dim for photography, but record shots x5. Also seen - a Red Kite, c30 Golden Plovers flying east, c15 Yellowhammers, 60+ Fieldfares and 3 Redwings.

Kites and Crossbills

28 October - A walk in the Black Mountains, South Wales, in perfect weather - a few birds seen - 3 Red Kites in the area, 4 Buzzards, at least 8 Ravens enjoying the thermals, and 2 Crossbills which flew off calling.

Pied Wheatear at Oldbury-on-Severn

26 October - Very conveniently, no meeting at work this afternoon, so excellent views instead of the female Pied Wheatear at Oldbury Sailing club. Overall dark tones to plumage, with scaling on back and wing coverts and buff breast and flanks. Photogenic and confiding in the late autumn sunshine. Photos JM.

The Otmoor SE Owl

24 October - This record shot of the Short-eared owl at Otmoor Pill was taken by Peter Barker (Otmoor blog), I saw it really well at dusk on 22nd, flying then perched up on a hawthorn glaring around, but it was too dark for any photos, as it didn't appear til 6.10pm.

Shorncote

23 October - An evening walk at Shorncote in rather windy though mild conditions. 45 Teal present on the pools with 10 Gadwall (2) and 2 drake Wigeon. 4 Buzzards in the air silhouetted against the autumnal evening sky (3), and 3 Fieldfare flew over. Photos JM.

White-rumped Sandpiper at Rutland Water

22 October - an afternoon visit to Rutland Water, and excellent views of the adult White-rumped Sandpiper from Lapwing Hide (photos, 1, Rutland blog - 2,3 JM) with a group of c15 Dunlin. Smaller, with shorter legs and bill - greyer tones - and white rump seen in flight. Also seen - 2 Grey Plover, 26 Golden Plover, 4 Ringed Plover, 7 Ruff, 3 Snipe and 4 Little Egrets. A distant drake American Wigeon was with the large numbers of Wigeon.
En route home, a late afternoon stop at Otmoor (7) gave good views of one of the Short-eared Owls present, hunting over the pill at 6.10pm, then perched up on a hawthorn in fading light. A large flock of at least 300 Fieldfare (6) were feeding in the rough pasture.
A total of 9 Red Kites (4,5) seen en route to and from Rutland, and a further 3 over Otmoor itself. A Little Egret was seen in flight over the A43 at Towcester. Photos 2-7 JM.

ps. I've seen 7 species of North American wader in the UK this year - in chronological order - Lesser Yellowlegs, Baird's Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper (2), Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher and White-rumped Sandpiper.

CWP.....not Shetland

21 October - A Little Egret feeding at the outlet on pit 74 late afternoon. Unfortunately, this male Siberian Rubythroat is on Shetland at present, so too far away.....I have seen several before in Asia, but the males are always stunning - photo, copyright Jim Nicolson.

CWP

16 October - back to usual fare today on a sunny autumn afternoon. 10 Fieldfares in an Ash tree at pit 95 were the first of the autumn. At Shorncote, 12 Teal back, also a fem Shoveler and 8 Pochard - 10 Yellowhammers flew over, also a Meadow Pipit, 2 Linnets and 2 Reed Buntings in the area. Raptors consisted of 2 Buzzards and a Kestrel.

Isabelline Wheatear.....

15 October - I filled a real gap on my UK list today, when I saw an Isabelline Wheatear late afternoon at Crowlink near Lewes on the Sussex Downs. Slightly larger and stouter/longer billed than an accompanying Northern Wheatear, with a more upright stance, noticably fairly uniform pale sandy brown colouration, brown primaries, black alula, brown (not black) covert centres, white supercilium in front of the eye, and extensive black on the tail (photo 7). A bird I've missed, or not had the opportunity to see in the UK, for years! Photos are 1-7 from Sussex bird blogs, photos 8-9 my very poor record shots (JM) - note how the bird appeared darker and more contrasting as the light decreased towards dusk. Watched from 5.20pm til dark.

More American Waders

7 October -A trip to Devon and Somerset did not produce the hoped-for Semi-palmated Sandpiper at Davidstow Airfield, but instead a smart juvenile Long-billed Dowitcher (1-4), with Golden Plover, Snow Bunting (5-6) and Wheatears as supporting cast. Other photos - Lesser Black-backed Gull (7) and Rook (8). En route home, I saw the Spotted Sandpiper at Chew Valley Lake (complete with spots) at the second attempt. All photos JM.

Pallid Harrier photos

2 October - The fantastic photos of the Pallid Harrier above were taken by, copyright, James Packer (1 - click to enlarge) and, copyright, Peter Moore (2-4).

Buzzards and Kestrels

2 October - Midsummer weather in October, and some photos of common birds on a quick walk at CWP - 9 Buzzards (1-2) together over pit 95, and a couple of Kestrels (3-4) hunting. No Hobbies seen, probably all left for the winter.

Pallid Harrier and Pectoral Sandpiper in Somerset

1 October - Firstly, good views (on a record-breaking hot October afternoon, 29.9 deg C in Kent) of the juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper (5) at Chew Valley Lake, from Herriott's Bridge - Ruff, 4 Snipe and a Little Egret also present, together with a singing Cettis's Warbler. The Pec showed the typical small-headed profile of this species, with well-demarcated breast band. Late afternoon, after a wait, the juvenile Pallid Harrier gave good views at Black Down near the trig point - perched on a fence post, showing the characteristic face mask and collar, and also seen in flight with its gingery underparts and Monty's like profile. Photos 1,2 - JM - photos 3,4, copyright Allan Chard.