Generally speaking its been a much quieter period both locally and at Brandon Marsh over the last week or so. The tree line is starting to show early signs of colour change and with the weather now taking on a much more autumnal feel about it, with north-westerlies taking control, the coast is the place to be right now. There have also been the first reports coming through of Lapland Buntings in the north.
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| Water Rail at big hide! |
With the east marsh Islands and banks having had there annual trim at Brandon last week, the chances of spotting anything of interest have been greatly improved.
Water Rail are now a regular feature moving across the water line in front of big hide.
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| Solitary Pintail at Brandon |
Another autumn visitor taking advantage of the main pool over the last several days has been a rather pristine looking
Pintail, showing well during my visit yesterday. The odd
Wigeon have begun to drop in and
Snipe numbers continue to increase slowly, with (14) during my visit yesterday.
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| Snipe at big hide - numbers now on the increase |
Another sign that autumn is upon us are
Robins in song and if your visiting Brandon over the next few weeks you'l notice a gradual build up as our resident birds are joined by immigrants from Scandinavia, continental Europe and Russia. Also worth a mention during my visits Monday and Wednesday: (3)
Green Sandpiper, (1 Adult - 3 Juv)
Common Tern, Willow Tit, Blackcap, Goldcrest, Whitethroat, Reed Warbler, a late record
Oystercatcher and at least two
Kingfishers, which have been extremely active.
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| Grey Wagtail at Napton Reservoir |
Nearer to home there have been no further sightings of the Napton Reservoir Spotted Crake. However, during a visit on Monday I did manage
Reed Warbler, (4)
Grey Wagtails, at least (8)
Yellow Wagtails and a solitary
Sand Martin, which passed through with the now dwindling numbers of
Barn Swallows and
House Martins. A
Lesser Whitethroat has been present at the marina over the past few days and one or two
Meadow Pipits have been heard passing over.
For me it's the chainsaw at Brandon Marsh this morning and then it's off to sunny Spain this Friday 13th so stay tuned, good job I'm not the superstitious type!
