Friday evening saw the first big numbers of Fieldfares
arriving with 200 birds around the entrance to Langlands farm. Always a
fantastic sight and sound. This morning there were another 100 plus birds in
the Magic Garden. Very jumpy, and obviously new in, many were drinking from the
field ditch or even roadside puddles but within ten minutes had moved on…
The torrential rain has led to some flooding in the Bottom
Fields...
and along with the usual Mallard and flock of Black-headed
Gulls there was a Grey Wagtail, Little Egret, a single Teal and a distant pair
of Gadwall, only my second sighting of the year…
A mobile flock of around 65 Curlew was also present. I
caught up with them briefly in the evening gloom but they all flew except this
long-billed individual…
Other sightings included a flock of 40 Lapwing over the
village and a covey of 21 Grey Partridge, the largest flock for many years.
This may not be unrelated to the fact that there have been no releases of
Red-legged Partridge this year.
