One Two Three Four

Last weekend spent being good and staying about Patch [mutter mutter big fat reed warblers... mutter mutter] delivered the odd surprise amid a scattering of passing [mostly] migrants, but no Bluetails down this way. [Yet.] [[What?? I can dream....]]

What to post? Four species caught on camera. Perhaps exactly where ought to remain at least a little misted in obscurity [what with all the scum out there], but getting all four in one day on camera is a rare thing.

One.

The inevitable.

Two.

The classic silhouette.

Three.

The moult centres.

Four.

No, not the standard pose.

All four birds hunting. :) 

I quite like these, despite the dodginess of the actual images. The Sprawk's classic soaring pose in particular - the 'Flying T' - is very nice to get [now all I need is a good one of a Gos doing its version.. ha ha..]

Despite favourable wind directions [well, theoretically favourable] and not awful weather, a lack of spectacular rarities, or indeed spectacular numbers of passage birds. Not to say things were awful, with steady continued movements of now mostly finches. Sunday saw more larks coming over, well into the morning, with the highlight undoubtedly being three Woodlarks, contouring 'south'* and right over me like musical woodpeckers :D [the silhouette and flight action is very 'pecker-like], while at least a dozen Skylarks were in/off out of Lyme bay [over from France??]. 

Other flyovers mostly the expected common everywhere species, enlivened by the local Goldfinch mob [well over 60 when fully assembled - try calling passage birds with them about!] and seasoned with a few Patch scarcities like Siskin and the winter's first Brambling - one passing South from IMD with two other finches [which could have been Bramblings but just as likely Chaffinches] below road level, so nice rump view - mixed in. Of note on Sunday were several small groups of Robins - low enough to clearly ID, too - going north and quite possibly arrived from over the Channel?

Non-birdy things;

Acteris schalleriana

Little moffs often flush from vegetation, rarely do they pose for a photo afterwards!

Several of these turned up again.

I'm starting to suspect it is a

'darker, more obscurely marked' 

[to use the book's words]

 form of Paignton Snout

Less mobile sightings;

Fairy Inkcap

Giant Polypore

Cyclamen, growing all over the place.

Work failed to deliver more notable passage [unsurprisingly, I think the good burst was Storm Alex-related], though Grey Wagtails have definitely taken to the roofs with the resident Pieds [and probable albas]; seen and heard most days. One notable lunchtime sighting was another Hornet, which on Tuesday hummed by close enough to make me slightly nervous.!

Whelp, that'll do for now I think.

Be Seeing You...

[[*Technically they were going WSW at the time...]]