18/10/2012 - 9-10am:

2 Common Snipes
1 Meadow Pipit
1 Stock Dove
4 alba Wagtails - over
2 Fieldfares - over SW
c30 Redwings
2 Mistle Thrush
larger numbers of Blackbirds and Song Thrushes than my last visit

A pleasant walk with the dog on Crowland Hill, Newall Green at 8.15am:

4 seperate skeins of Pink-footed Geese (25+ 8.27am, 40+ 8.30am, 100+ 8.50am , 50+ 8.52am) all heading East

Also over were:
4 Meadow Pipits
2 Siskins
1 Cormorant (tagging just behind one of the Pink-feet skeins)
2 Black headed Gulls
2 Coal Tits
2 Goldfinches
1 Chaffinch
6 Song Thrushes
6 Redwings
1 Rook
1 Jay

1 Sparrowhawk getting harrassed by the local Magpies.
1 Fox
2 Goldcrests (Greenbrow Road)

29/09/2012 - 7.30-10.00am on Crowland Hill and the Newall Green fields with Phil Owen, excellent viz-mig dominated sightings:

Viz-mig sightings -
1 Cormorant
2 Greylag Geese - flew west
3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
2 Black-headed Gulls
1 Common Gull
3 Collared Doves
80+ Woodpigeons
420+ Meadow Pipits - largely flew south and west, 350+ in the first hour alone, old patch record was 194
15 Swallows
1 Skylark
14 alba Wagtails
2 Grey Wagtails
2 Song Thrushes
6 Mistle Thrushes
24 Goldfinches
9 Greenfinches
1 Chaffinch
2 Siskins
2 Reed Buntings

Non viz-mig sightings -
1 Peregrine - same individual as 27/09, nearly caught a Stock Dove!
2 Buzzards
1 Kestrel
2 Sparrowhawks
1 Stock Dove - lucky bird
8+ Jays - very visible at the moment as they collect acorns
2 Chiffchaffs

-- Edited by Henry Cook on Saturday 29th of September 2012 10:51:05 AM

26/09/2012 - 11am-12pm in the Davenport Green sheep fields, temporarily renamed 'the Okovango's northern cousin':

2 Teals
18 Swallows - flew south, not as many as yesterday but it's been good to see such passage here
1 Grey Wagtail
1 Meadow Pipit
4 Blackcaps - 3 fems/juvs and 1 male in a roving flock

22/09/2012 - 8.00-11.30am, a lovely autumnal morning with decent viz-mig on offer, most stuff flying south:

90+ Meadow Pipits
40+ Swallows
12 Buzzards - record local count, a busy few minutes as they all flew south in a long line!
12 Greenfinches
5 Goldfinches
4 Skylarks
4 Grey Wagtails
3 Redpoll sp
3 Black-headed Gulls
2 Common Gulls
1 Linnet


Not on the move were:
1 Grey Heron
4 Buzzards
4 Stock Doves
12 Chiffchaffs

-- Edited by Henry Cook on Saturday 22nd of September 2012 11:44:45 AM

13/09/2012 - 1 RED KITE just flew south over my house, the first record for the area as far as I know.

08/09/2012 - 8-9am, the first decent morning of viz-mig this autumn here, most stuff flew south-east/south:

2 Buzzards - very high up, specks in the sky even with bins
5 Black-headed Gulls
1 Stock Dove
c40 Woodpigeons - pretty early for woodpigeons on the move
20+ Meadow Pipits
1 alba Wagtail
40+ Swallows
20+ House Martins
4 Goldfinches

Also around were:

4 Stock Doves
1 Blackcap

30/08/2012 - 12pm in the Davenport Green sheep fields:

1 Spotted Flycatcher
2 Goldcrests
1 Stock Dove

20/07/2012 - 7.45-8.45pm briefly covering Newall Green grasslands and Davenport Green sheep fields:

3 Kestrels - 2 juvs and fem very noisy tonight having left the nest tree
1 Stock Dove
1 Kingfisher - on long pond, presumed post-breeding dispersal
1 Common Whitethroat
6 Song Thrushes - plenty singing still
14 Mistle Thrushes

15/07/2012 - 11.10pm: 1 juvenile Tawny Owl calling along Shay Lane.

03/07/2012 - A steady flow of viz-mig Siskins the last few days, presumably heading away from breeding areas now.

25/06/2012 - 2 Stock Doves in my garden today briefly. This evening James Walsh had a reeling Grasshopper then we checked out the Tawny Owls on Shay Lane. 2+ youngsters were calling and then what looked like an adult flew over us. Lots of calling, on a perfect evening for owling.

20/06/2012 - 3 Tawny Owls out this evening along Shay Lane, 2 juveniles and an adult. The juvs were pretty noisy and showy around the mature oaks, begging for food in the last embers of daylight.

Henry Cook wrote:

---

19/06/2012 - A juv Tawny Owl was hit by a car along my road this evening as I was out on a walk. It was heavily concussed but nothing broken. After 15 mins in a box to recover it started trying to escape which was a good sign. Back along the road I gave it a helping hand into the night sky and it flew off strongly with both parents calling nearby.

---

Well done Henry

Yeah, you're right Tony. I don't know for sure, but it was the several Curlews i've had recently (all flyovers at non-breeding sites) that lends some weight to the suggestion. Not seen the Oycs at the airport for a few weeks now, hope all's well.
Cheers.

13/06/2012 - Return wader passage seemingly underway now, today an Oystercatcher flew S. Also a Raven present, getting grief off the other corvids.

09/06/2012 - 9.30pm with Phil Owen in the Newall Green fields:

1 Grasshopper Warbler - reeling

generally speaking these fields are much quieter than last year with only a peak of 2 reeling birds recently and no recent Lesser Whitethroats, yet the habitat has improved during that time. Just seems they've not come back from winter quarters in such good numbers.

26/05/2012 - Quiet but a few House Martins and Swifts about today amongst the usual Swallows. The House Martins were the first of the year here and the Swifts were mating on the wing, incredibly fast flight and a bit more noisy than usual as they whirled around in tandem.

A Whitethroat singing in the garden briefly was a first, and a just reward for not gardening and chopping all the bushes back for a number of years!

21/05/2012 - 9.30pm:

1 Grasshopper Warbler - Newall Green grasslands
1 Tawny Owl - showed well along Shay Lane
100's corvids to roost

11/05/2012 - 2pm: A female Redstart was in the Davenport Green sheep fields by 'Redstart corner', moving up and down the hedgerows but generally staying low in the high winds and heavy showers.

30/04/2012 - Very little on the move recently, this continued today:

4 Cormorants - over
1 Canada Goose
5 Swallows
4 Willow Warblers - small arrival
1 Lesser Whitethroat
1 Grasshopper Warbler
2 Reed Buntings

27/04/2012 - 1 Lesser Whitethroat and 1 Grasshopper Warbler still present.

24/04/2012 - 5-7.30am, cloudy, cold and calm. Thought it looked better for viz-mig this morning but was severely disappointed as nothing was on the move, couldn't even muster a mipit. Still, it was a good morning with 44 species seen including more returning migrants and a couple of late winter visitors:

1 Cormorant
2 Grey Herons
8 Canada Geese
1 Moorhen - been scarce this year so far
1 Redwing
1 Fieldfare
1 Wheatear - only the second of the spring here
1 Lesser Whitethroat - first of the spring
2 Grasshopper Warblers
2 Willow Warblers
12 Blackcaps
7 Chiffchaffs - including a mating pair, made a Linnet-like contact call which i've not heard before

-- Edited by Henry Cook on Tuesday 24th of April 2012 11:32:13 AM

22/04/2012 - 1 Grasshopper Warbler reeling this evening in the Newall Green fields. Chased off a male Reed Bunting from the same patch of bramble at one point.