8th October

The first Redwings were back in the village today just a day earlier than last year.

Yesterday evening there were around ten Chiffchaffs in the Magic Garden, all in the same small patch of willow and willowherb. They weren’t there the day before so I assume must be migrants. Surely there’s got to be a stray Yellow-browed Warbler in there somewhere after record numbers on the Yorkshire coast?!

A Jay was back in the Magic Garden, the first I’ve seen since April. I don’t think I’ve missed birds through the summer so it would be interesting to know where these wintering birds come from. Similarly there have been a couple of Nuthatches in the Garden in the last couple of days, are these local movements from elsewhere in the parish or from further afield?

Last weekend’s highlight was a fine skein of around 60 Pinkfooted Geese which came in over the village and flew due south over the Bottom Fields.

Pinkfeet are probably annual migrants over the parish but actually spotting them depends on wind direction (they often pass to the west of the parish) and, critically, being in the right place at the right time. Another new bird for the year and pushes the list up to 112, already equalling the number of species seen in 2015.