And again ...........

31 Oct - A beautiful late autumn morning with a bit of frost early on, a pre-work walk - 3 flighty Great White Egrets around the area, not settling for long, also calling Water Rails, dabbling duck including Wigeon and a few Shoveler, a total of 6 Snipe, Gren Sandpiper, and the usual passerines including a Grey Wagtail, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks moving over, singing Cetti's Warblers, several Chiffchaffs and a few Fieldfare and Redwing flying over. Also a Fox and 3 Roe Deer early on in the frosty fields. Nothing exceptional, but very enjoyable.

Seasonal Shorncote

28 Oct - An afternoon visit, dusk being at 5pm due to the changing of the clocks to GMT. Cold and windy but bright. Highlights included a Great White Egret (the second of the day!), Snipe, Green Sandpiper and most unexpectedly a very late Greenshank. A flock of more than 50 Fieldfares flew west at dusk, together with a few Redwings. Water Rails and Cetti's Warblers called from the reeds as did a Kingfisher on flyby. Worth a short vigil was the emergence of a Barn Owl from the old willows just prior to dusk - it looked around from its perch then flew off silently towards the reedbed. Three Roe Deer were feeding close by but never knew I was watching them, due to the wind direction. A nice autumnal evening. At lunchtime, 3 Egret species within 30 minutes - Great White and Little Egrets from the gate at pit 74, and the 2 Cattle Egrets still faithful to Waterhay. Oh, and a flyby Grey Heron for good measure.

Baird's Sandpiper

26 Oct - A morning foray to Goldcliff, just on the "foreign" side of the Severn. Great views of a flock of Curlew in the morning sun, the waders generally quite jumpy due to the presence of a Peregrine sat on the island. After checking the lagoons, a last look produced the Baird's, short-legged and long-winged, well camouflaged as it fed on the muddy shoreline. My 3rd nearctic shorebird of the autumn. En route home, no joy with the Jack Snipe at Slimbridge but great views of Lapwings in the sparkling sunlight, together with the dabbling duck now coming into smart winter plumage.

Summer embers at Shorncote

23 Oct - A sunny warm morning at Shorncote, surely one of the last of the year? as usual several highlights - a flock of 12 Shoveler, Water Rails calling, a Snipe and a Green Sandpiper in flight and 21 Lapwings. 2 Green Woodpeckers seen several times in flight, and briefly feeding on the ground. Male and female Sparrowhawk both hunting, Meadow Pipits on the move, 3 Stonechats and my first Shorncote winter Thrushes of the season in the form of several small Fieldfare/ Redwing flocks. Little Egrets at Shorncote, Cattle Egrets at Waterhay and a Great White Egret at Eysey made it a 3-Egret day.

Scottish foray

21 Oct - A showery very windy day in Glen Spean, few birds seen on the Easains but a nice fly-by view of 2 Ptarmigan, their strikingly white wings contrasting with their grey plumage, still predominantly in summer garb. A couple of Ravens the only other sighting.

Autumnal Blakehill

20 Oct - A misty autumnal Blakehill morning, and my first Fieldfares of the season flew west calling, 11 birds in total. Also a fem Stonechat, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks, a pair of Reed Buntings and a sizeable flock of Linnets.

A few waders.........

19 Oct - A look at the Dorset coast en route to a meeting. Avocets winter here in good numbers now, and a couple of fairly large flocks seen. A single immature Spoonbill also feeding distantly, 60-70 of these birds now winter in nearby Poole Harbour. 2 elegant Greenshanks also present, but I couldn't find any Spotted Redshanks. Black-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher, Dunlin, Curlew and Redshank also on view, and Grey Plover and Water Rail calling, along with a large female Peregrine perched up and eyeing its next meal. Beautiful autumn colours on the trees, and the sun surprisingly warm on this Indian Summer day.

Autumn!

17 Oct - One of the highlights of autumn this morning - the first 2 Redwings of the season flew over calling at first light as I headed off to work. Always exciting when the winter thrushes start to arrive. This year, I was also privileged to hear the fluty song of the Redwing during the breeding season in Scandinavia, back in May in Sweden, where they are common but secretive forest breeders.

Blakehill evening

14 Oct - A late afternoon leg stretch at Blakehill after a wet weekend, and as expected a Barn Owl was taking advantage of the drier conditions by emerging to hunt in good light before sunset. A real bonus was a male Merlin that was perched on a post on the plateau, then seen in rapid hunting flight, an elegant streamlined small falcon that is always very distinctive. 3 Stonechats were feeding along the fenceline in typical fashion.

The CWP Cattle Egret

13 Oct - The recent Clattinger bird has been relocated, and seen distantly this afternoon from the road near Waterhay. Currently 5 Heron species on the Water Park ............

Slimbridge Jack-pot

11 Oct - An early morning visit to Slimbridge and amazing reflections, especially from Robbie Garnett hide, with excellent light on the Black-tailed Godwits and Lapwings. A Peregrine sat on a post on the Dumbles, where a flock of Dunlin and Golden Plover shimmered in the light, against an approaching shower further down the estuary. Good but fairly distant views of the wader flocks from the Zeiss hide, including Ruff and a Snipe and a flock of Curlews over the estuary. The real highlight however was seen on calling in to Martin Smith hide before leaving - a Jack Snipe was feeding out on the mown area in front of the hide. Fantastic views of this normally very elusive bird over the next hour or so, its smaller size , distinctive stripes and shorter bill obvious. The bird bobbed continually, even doing this slightly when sleeping, and it was amazing to watch this bird's behaviour at close quarters, being one of the most elusive birds in the UK.

Shorncote

10 Oct - Another day of perfect weather, and a late morning visit to Shorncote was surprisingly productive. 2 Great White Egrets were flighty around the area, but gave good views ( with 2 Littles for comparison). At least 5 Cetti's Warblers calling, a singing Chiffchaff, and good views of a Green Woodpecker feeding on the ground. No less than 8 Stonechatd, a Grey Wagtail, and Goldfinches on thistles. An "Indian summer" day.

The Levels

9 Oct - A perfect autumn day, and an early start to be at Westhay for a stunning dawn, the sunlight filtering through the trees and the reedbed coming alive to the sounds of Water Rails and Cetti's Warblers, while Herons and Egrets flew over to commence feeding. After a few minutes waiting on the boardwalk a "pinging" in the reeds presaged the appearance of a pair of Bearded Tits to collect grit - the birds were fairly obliging and perched up in the early morning light. A group flew over calling a few minutes later but didn't land to continue the performance. Next stop Ham Wall, where several Great White Egrets were conspicuous. A vigil in Avalon hide produced a couple of hunting Marsh Harriers but no Bittern flights, however on my return a bit of scanning from the first platform resulted in probably my best ever views of a feeding Bittern - amazing views of the cryptic bird as it moved stealthily and slowly through the reeds, at times very hard to pick out with its camouflage - until it finally emerged and posed briefly in the open. 4 Cattle Egrets at Catcott made it a 5-Heron day, with the expected Grey Herons and Little Egrets also much in evidence. A successful day in stunning weather.

Great White Egrets

7 Oct - An early morning check at pits 119 and 119a in CWP east, near Lechlade, and the early start well worthwhile as the reported Great White Egrets, 3 birds, were feeding and preening on the pits, in the company of Little Egrets and Grey Herons. The birds flew off after an hour or so, presumably to commence their feeding for the day. There are probably about 6 GWE in the Water Park at the moment, a reflection of the steady increase in their numbers in the UK.