GEDSER - 12th October

Still windy, still overcast and still damp so an attempt at ringing first thing was doomed to be short lived but did include another beefy female Northern Bullfinch; we closed just in time to avoid the very heavy rain which lingered through the latter half of the morning.   It brightened up considerably by midday so the nets were reopened but closed again after an hour for more rain had moved in, this only lasted a short time though and by 14:00 the nets were once again catching birds but this time we lasted right through the pleasant, if still a bit breezy afternoon.

                This afternoon session produced a decent 123 new birds highlighted by a cracking first winter Great Grey Shrike and was largely made up of 67 Robins and 32 Goldcrests.   There were some good birds around through the afternoon including a single male PARROT CROSSBILL which circled the garden calling several times, a Serin which did likewise later on, 3 Hawfinches overhead and a few waders including 28 Grey Plover, 50 Golden Plover and a Curlew although these were probably feeding in nearby fields and not migrating.

                Visible migration was a bit slow today with a few Finches flocks heading east along with a few Thrushes including a couple of decent flocks of Mistle Thrushes and Fieldfares while small flocks of White-fronted Geese continued to head south.

 

Great Grey Shrike