| Eakring Bird news | ||
| September 2010 | ||
| Featuring news and sightings from Eakring | ||
September
8th
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| Two Common Buzzards were over Eakring Flash mid-afternoon and at least 12 Yellow Wagtails were in the pastures area. | |||
September
16th
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| A surprise find was the Long-eared Owl flushed from the old hedge at Eakring Flash this morning. Overhead, some visible migration despite the blustery wind, with counts of 160 Meadow Pipit south-east, 76 House Martin south-west (including a flock of 70 through low and 42 Swallow south-west. Two Grey Wagtails (singles) went high south and three Turtle Doves through. Seven Common Buzzards were over Hare Hill Wood and nine Cormorant high east over Eakring Flash was an unusual record. | |||
September
18th
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| Some limited visible migration this morning, which had more or less tailed off by 11:00h. Best of the counts were 182 Swallow south and 69 Meadow Pipit south-east. Seven Pink-footed Geese flew high south-east at 09:25h and an immature female Peregrine was in the Park Farm area. At least 10 Common Buzzards noted today, of which four drifted high west. | |||
September
19th
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| Despite the intermittent rain, there were still a few migrants moving through. Best of the morning's counts were 43 Swallow west and south-west, 44 Sky Lark south-west, five Reed Bunting south-west and 12 Chaffinch south and south-west. A single Yellow Wagtail flew south and the only warblers found included two Whitethroat, two Chiffchaff and a single Blackcap at Eakring Flash. Numbers of Linnet in the area are being augmented by good numbers of arriving passage birds, with a flock in the Leyfields area totalling 248 and small numbers continuing to arrive from the north-west. A single flock of 16 Common Snipe flew west and a seemingly early taste of Winter with the first Herring Gull (six) and Great Black-backed Gulls (three) moving south-west. | |||
September
25th
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| An adult Yellow-legged Gull with around 70 Lesser Black-backed Gulls was in fields at Church Hill this morning. At Eakring Flash, 38 Pink-footed Geese flew very high south-east at 07:55h. Visible migration was poor this morning due to the strong northerly wind. Best of the mornings counts were 42 Sky Lark south-west, 30 Meadow Pipits south-east, 24 Chaffinch and 23 Swallow south and south-west. Warblers included Chiffchaffs at Eakring Flash and Red Hill, with two Blackcap at Eakring Meadows and one at Eakring Flash. A Nuthatch was heard calling from Lound Wood. | |||
September
26th
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| Similar weather conditions to yesterday, again resulted in low numbers of migrants. Totals included 36 Meadow Pipit south-east, 48 Linnet south and east and 24 Chaffinch through south-west. Sky Lark numbers are larger than normal for this time of year, with flocks of 21 in stubble fields at Eakring Flash and 62 at Leyfields. Just eight flew south-west. 17 Swallow included some birds moving north after a group went west early morning and a very late Sand Martin also flew north. Reed Bunting and Yellowhammer also continue to move through, with Yellowhammer numbers in the area also seemingly slightly up on traditional late September counts here. 20 Herring Gull flew south-west. | |||
September
30th
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| An excellent
morning and afternoon for visible migration, although the
clear skies did'nt help with the counting during both
site visits. It was all about finches from first light,
with small parties of Chaffinches going through west and
south-east and Linnets going east. Swallows started to
move through from around mid-morning, but Sky Larks were
flighty from the word go today and there are still large
numbers in stubble fields across the recording area,
despite many moving off during the morning. Best of the counts were 97 Chaffinch west and south-east, 103 Meadow Pipit and 133 Sky Lark south-east, 82 Linnet east and south-west, 11 Pied Wagtail south and 386 Swallow south-east. A Sand Martin south-east with a party of Swallows finally broke the long-standing (2001) latest ever record here, but the bird of the morning was an unseen Grey Plover, which called twice as it flew very high south-west over Eakring Flash at 09:25h. Other birds noted today included 16 Siskin, two Lesser Redpoll and three Tree Sparrow south. Reed Buntings continue to move through with 11 west today, but just three Yellowhammer went south. There was a slight influx of Song Thrush at Eakring Flash, four Chiffchaff and a single Blackcap were the only warblers today, six Goldcrest were at three sites and a Redstart and Coal Tit briefly appeared at Red Hill during the afternoon. A Bullfinch flew west, 17 Starling west were the first definite migrants of the Autumn and three Brambling (all singles) flew south. Overall, today showed that a wide range of birds were on the move. Even species never thought of as genuine migrant/dispersal species, such as Blue Tit and Magpie went through, with counts of eight west and five north-west respectively, although Magpies have been noted seemingly moving here before and almost all have gone west or north-west. |
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