Oh yes, things just happen, sometimes
The first thing to do this morning was to check the area where Nick had a Corncrake yesterday. No joy in the open grass or huge bramble area. However the wind had died down and there were already many Woodpigeons heading south through the red sky, so it was looking interesting. A Reed Bunting was calling from the brooms, and a fly over Siskin. Then a chuck, chuck from a bush sounded just right for an Ouzel and sure enough as a runner went dashing past the bush, out flew a male Ouzel. The year tick I had been waiting for. There was a similar noise from another bush as Nick came up. Maybe two?
I went up to where I thought the Ouzel had flown and then it flew up from the ground before it disappeared into another bush. I could only see the leaves moving as it remained resolutely and astonishingly complete hidden in the thin cover. Then it flew again and I grabbed a few record shots in the pre-dawn gloom.
There were by this time many groups of Redwing and a couple of groups of Fieldfare flying with the hundreds of Woodpigeon. All good, and these were the first groups of Fieldfare this autumn. Redpoll and siskin fly overs.
Coming back from the Greggs coffee run I hear a few clear, rather odd calls somewhere between a seep and a sup which heralds two fat finches flying low overhead. The large white underwing bars where clear - Yay Hawfinch! Patch tick, and much anticipated given the numbers being seen this year. Surprisingly easy to nail after all. High five with Nick, for whom they were at least a patch year tick.
The passage was beginning to quieten down over the next half-hour when Nick calls Goosander and sure enough there were two birds flying rapidly over Long Wood going West. A difficult bird for reservoir free Wanstead and my first for 19 years, so another year tick then. Having mis-called mergansers recently they were reassuringly Common not RB.
At least two of everything this morning? Maybe there is something about the 23rd Oct?
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