Bumbling through October

The month started well enough yet, somehow, I lost my way and with it the enthusiasm to keep the blog regularly updated. I've been out with the rods for another, blank, Pike session but the bulk of my time has been spent doing the rounds of local birding spots. On Friday morning I had a fabulous time down at Grove Ferry/Stodmarsh NNR made even better as I bumped into Steve Ashton and we were able to spend a very pleasant half-hour, or so, chatting about this, that and the other! I was rather glad that the Grey Phalarope had gone missing, so I didn't have to compromise my "no twitching" rule for my, "self-found", year listing effort. I did manage to add Pintail to the tally, so a good substitute? The garden and Newlands Farm continue to feature prominently in my birding experiences with some nice vis-mig taking place without ever being on a large scale. Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Redwing, Chaffinch, Reed Bunting, Goldfinch, Starling and Wood Pigeon have all been recorded, over the garden, in varying numbers during this past week.

Chiffchaff numbers are noticeably lower than at the start of the month, although still seen daily. Two Goldcrests have been spotted, but both had no intention of posing for the camera, despite calling loudly from the "Christmas Tree" which is just 3m from my study door. Common Buzzards have been very obliging, by comparison, although it is difficult to know if they are genuine migrants or simply birds establishing territories for the coming winter?

The icing on the cake came this morning (still present at 16.15hrs) in the form of my first garden record of Stonechat. They are annual visitors to my Newlands Farm patch but, over the past twenty-two years, never been recorded from the garden. I do wonder how much this sighting is a direct consequence of retirement? With time now being my own, how many other Stonechats might have been viewable from the garden had I not needed to go to work?

The moth trap continues to produce results, although nothing particularly exceptional when seeing what fellow bloggers are reporting from various other locations around the UK. 

Red-green Carpet - very worn

Oak Rustic - almost pristine

The Delicate, Scarce Bordered Straw, Olive-tree Pearl, Pearly Underwing, Rusty-dot Pearl and Rush Veneer are almost constants whilst the temperatures remain in double figures. The most gutting (frustrating) record is that of a Convolvulus Hawk-moth on the night of 16/17th which fell foul of the Hedgehogs.