Another month disappears!

Of course I knew it was a new month today because it is my lovely grandson’s birthday, happy birthday Daniel!  

 

So that can only mean that October has come to an end and it is time for a monthly review. It has been a mixed month with some manic times then more relaxed days, this past week being the more relaxed variety!

What October has been brilliant for was bird life ticks, I have had five and I am pretty chuffed with that. Add to that some cracking birds that I have seen for only the second time and I reckon October has been excellent.

First new bird was an Eastern-crowned warbler which we journeyed up to Bempton for, a place always worth a visit and thankfully we both saw this very active little bird. No picture of the bird but a few from the site!

I saw my first Dusky warbler at Cromer, followed by another a couple of weeks later at Titchwell!  We narrowly missed seeing two on one day as there had been one at Cley where we popped for lunch. Happily whilst there word came of a Barred warbler that was down Beach road in and out of a bush (along with many other little birds) so we were off.

It wasn’t long after our return from Yorkshire that we were headed back again! This time for a bird that was a first for mainland Britain, mind you it started a trend as several others have been since!!! We found a lovely place to stay and drove up so we would be there in Easington for first light and hopefully the bird, a Siberian accentor would have stayed overnight too! Happily it was in no rush to leave so we joined what I call the ‘queue for a view’ for a good though very brief sight before being moved along to allow others a view too. We returned later that day and what a difference a few hours had made!

This time we got to see it much better and get some fairly decent pictures too!   Not the most exotic looking bird perhaps but one I was delighted to see!

Rather pleased to see this Redstart too just along from the star bird, it showed off quite well so as not to go unoticed!

Between our two visits to the accentor we went to Sammy’s point and it is so hard to explain quite how smashing it was. There were birds everywhere! Flying in from the sea, sitting in bushes, feeding in the mud or in the fields it was just ‘Magical’! I was chuffed to find some Ring ouzels and to get some shots which was not so easy earlier in the year.  We saw hundreds of Goldcrests  and probably hundreds of Robins too. There were Chiffchaffs, Wheatears, Reed buntings and to our delight we saw, for the first time, Woodcock in flight.

We couldn’t be so close to Spurn and not go there so off we went. This obliging Shorelark was another bird that we had seen early in the year but not been able to photograph.

Back to Sammy’s point for another lovely walk amongst the many birds we saw this flycatcher. First though was of course that it is a Pied flycatcher but there has been some discussion as it has some hints of a Collared flycatcher. I think the answer is we will never know, but it was a sweet bird whichever it is!!!

We stayed on an extra night and on the way home went to Donna Nook another place I had often heard of but never visited. Here I saw another bird that I had only seen once before, a few years previously and what a little beauty, a Red-flanked bluetail.

Red-flanked blue-tail

Jumping to later in the month now and Alice and Matilda joined us for a brilliant birding day beginning at Burnham Overy Dunes. Ian and I had been on the Sunday to see the Isabelline Wheatear and we returned the next day with the girls to try to see it again and also a Desert wheatear. On the Sunday we ploughed through the mud but were rewards with views of my very first Isabelline wheatear.

The following day, with the girls we took a different, less muddy and much more pleasant route to the dunes! The bird had moved so the walk was longer but not once did either of the girls complain, they were brilliant! A very brief flight view was all some of us got of that bird but thankfully we all saw the Desert wheatear, not for long but clearly.

On our way back along the dunes, we timed it perfectly, a Radde’s warbler had just been spotted, first sighting for a few hours! We joined the group and again all saw it, another life tick for me and the girls! Next stop Titchwell for lunch and if we had any energy left a stroll. This was where we saw our second Dusky warbler before walking down to the sea.

Golden plovers on the fresh marsh, Sanderlings on the shore plenty of other waders on the way. It really was a lovely day out, it couldn’t fail really, life ticks and grandchildren along to enjoy it!

Well we had a lazy week following that although November has thrown us an unexpected treat, hopefully there will be things to report next time I blog!

Still butterflies visiting the garden and a several Red admirals have been feeding on the dahlias this week  (note to self, plant some more of them!) 

I have decided to only print out the bird list this month as it has definitely been the main highlight of the month. I will give the number of the other things first:

Moths (macro and micro) … 310

Insects                                       …85

Dragon/damselflies              … 17

Butterflies                                …24

Mamals                                      …25

Reptile/amphibians                …5 (could do better!!!)

Birds                                           …253   (*26* Life ticks)

So far my total of winged and otherwise creatures for the year is 719 I have bypassed all but three of the guesses made before the year began, who will be closest? Could still be thelast one that I have passed or one I havent yet reached.

Bird List end October

1. Mute Swan
2. Bewick Swan
3. Whooper Swan
4. Pink-footed Goose
5. White-fronted Goose
6. Greylag Goose
7. Canada Goose
8. Barnacle Goose
9. Brent Goose
10. Egyptian Goose
11. Common Shelduck
12. Muscovy duck
13. Mandarin Duck
14. Eurasian Wigeon
15. Gadwall
16. Eurasian Teal
17. Mallard
18. Pintail
19. Garganey
20. Shoveler
21. Red-crested Pochard
22. Common Pochard
23. Ferruginous Duck *
24. Tufted duck
25. Greater Scaup
26. Common Eider
27. Long-tailed Duck
28. Common Scoter
29. Velvet Scoter
30. Goldeneye
31. Smew
32. Hooded merganser *
33. Red-breasted Merganser
34. Red Grouse
35. Black Grouse
36. Goosander
37. Red-legged Partridge
38. Grey Partridge
39. Common Pheasant
40. Golden Pheasant
41. Little Grebe
42. Great Crested Grebe
43. Red-necked Grebe *
44. Slavonian Grebe
45. Black-necked Grebe
46. Fulmar
47. Manx Shearwater
48. Gannet
49. Cormorant
50. Shag
51. Bittern
52. Cattle Egret
53. Little Egret
54. Great Egret
55. Grey Heron
56. White Stork
57. Glossy Ibis
58. Spoonbill
59. Red Kite
60. White-tailed Eagle
61. Marsh Harrier
62. Hen Harrier
63. Pallid Harrier *
64. Goshawk *
65. Eurasian Sparrowhawk
66. Common Buzzard
67. Rough-legged Buzzard
68. Golden Eagle
69. Osprey
70. Kestrel
71. Merlin
72. Hobby
73. Peregrine Falcon
74. Water Rail
75. Corn Crake
76. Moorhen
77. Western purple swamphen*
78. Coot
79. Common Crane
80. Great bustard *
81. Oystercatcher
82. Black-winged Stilt
83. Pied Avocet
84. Stone-curlew
85. Little ringed Plover
86. Ringed Plover
87. Dotterel
88. European Golden Plover
89. Grey Plover
90. Lapwing
91. Great Knot*
92. Knot
93. Sanderling
94. Little Stint
95. Temminck’s Stint
96. Pectoral Sandpiper
97. Curlew Sandpiper
98. Purple Sandpiper
99. Dunlin
100. Broad-billed Sandpiper *
101. Ruff
102. Jack Snipe
103. Common Snipe
104. Long-billed Dowitcher *
105. Woodcock
106. Black-tailed Godwit
107. Bar-tailed Godwit
108. Whimbrel
109. Curlew
110. Spotted Redshank
111. Common Redshank
112. Common Greenshank
113. Lesser Yellowlegs
114. Green Sandpiper
115. Wood Sandpiper
116. Common Sandpiper
117. Ruddy Turnstone
118. Grey Phalarope
119. Arctic Skua
120. Mediterranean Gull
121. Little Gull
122. Black-headed Gull
123. Common Gull
124. Lesser Black-backed Gull
125. Herring Gull
126. Iceland Gull
127. Glaucous Gull *
128. Great Black-backed Gull
129. Kittiwake
130. Caspian Tern *
131. Sandwich Tern
132. Common Tern
133. Arctic Tern
134. Common Guillemot
135. Razorbill
136. Black Guillemot
137. Puffin
138. Rock Pigeon
139. Stock Pigeon
140. Wood Pigeon
141. Collared Dove
142. Turtle Dove
143. Rose-ringed Parakeet *
144. Cuckoo
145. Barn Owl
146. Tawny Owl
147. Short-eared Owl
148. Common Swift
149. Common Kingfisher
150. European Bee-eater *
151. Hoopoe
152. Wryneck
153. Green Woodpecker
154. Great Spotted Woodpecker
155. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
156. Wood Lark
157. Sky Lark
158. Shorelark (horned lark)
159. Sand Martin
160. Swallow
161. Red-rumped Swallow *
162. House Martin
163. Tree Pipit
164. Meadow Pipit
165. Rock Pipit
166. Water Pipit
167. Yellow Wagtail (Grey-headed)
168. Grey Wagtail
169. Pied Wagtail
170. Dipper
171. Wren
172. Dunnock
173. Siberian Accentor*
174. Robin
175. Common Nightingale *
176. Bluethroat*
177. Red-flanked Bluetail
178. Black Redstart
179. Common Redstart
180. Whinchat
181. Stonechat
182. Isabelline Wheatear*
183. Desert Wheatear
184. Wheatear
185. Ring Ouzel
186. Blackbird
187. Fieldfare
188. Song Thrush
189. Redwing
190. Mistle Thrush
191. Cetti’s Warbler
192. Grasshopper Warbler
193. Sedge Warbler
194. Eurasian Reed Warbler
195. Great Reed Warbler*
196. Dartford Warbler
197. Barred Warbler
198. Lesser Whitethroat
199. Whitethroat
200. Blackcap
201. Yellow-browed Warbler
202. Eastern Crowned Warbler *
203. Radde’s Warbler*
204. Dusky Warbler*
205. Wood Warbler
206. Common Chiffchaff
207. Willow Warbler
208. Goldcrest
209. Firecrest
210. Spotted Flycatcher
211. Red-breasted Flycatcher
212. Pied Flycatcher
213. Bearded Tit
214. Long-tailed Tit
215. Marsh Tit
216. Willow Tit
217. Crested Tit *
218. Coal Tit
219. Blue Tit
220. Great Tit
221. Nuthatch
222. Treecreeper
223. Penduline tit *
224. Red-backed Shrike
225. Great Grey Shrike
226. Jay
227. Magpie
228. Jackdaw
229. Rook
230. Crow
231. Hooded Crow
232. Common Raven
233. Starling
234. House Sparrow
235. Tree Sparrow
236. Chaffinch
237. Brambling
238. Serin *
239. Greenfinch
240. Goldfinch
241. Siskin
242. Linnet
243. Twite
244. Lesser Redpoll
245. Mealy Redpoll
246. Bullfinch
247. Hawfinch
248. Lapland Longspur
249. Snow Bunting
250. Yellowhammer
251. Cirl Bunting
252. Reed Bunting
253. Corn Bunting

Only two months left of our big year and still no Little owl!!! We have had them in the garden in the past and they are always in our village but this year they are hiding from me!!!