Well here we are in September already. Thankfully there's been a fair bit of rain though so far there's been no sign of any returning flood water. It's strange how it suddenly appears as the ground water level rises - I can't wait for it to happen.
In order to try and find some waders I've been making periodic visits along the shore of the Thames up by the Poplar Trees where occasionally they can be found. I was rewarded recently for my efforts with a couple of COMMON SANDPIPERS, the most likely wader species in this location. There have also been one or two LITTLE EGRETS along the river of late as well as a smattering of Black-headed Gulls. YELLOW WAGTAILS are in amongst the livestock regularly and Roly Pitts managed a count of nine a day or two ago. One of the highlights since my last posting though was a flock of five SISKINS which flew over calling one morning. I posted in July about these finches and how we're getting increased sightings now but it was nice to see them for myself on the Patch this year.
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| The two Common Sandpipers |
In Burgess Field many of the young warblers have now moved on and it's just the odd calling Chiffchaff that's to be found. I'm still holding out hope for a Redstart or even a Wryneck - after all we've had a couple already in the county this autumn.
There's been a pick-up in activity on the Odonata front. Migrant Hawkers are suddenly starting to appear in the Trap Ground area and I managed to spot three of them the other day on a morning visit. One was quartering the back of the pond and two were patrolling the main clearing area. There are also plenty of Common and Ruddy Darters around.
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| Migrant Hawker |
On the moth front the weather has been a bit iffy of late so I've only run the trap once. Apart from lots of Large Yellow Underwings the main moth of note was a migrant Dark Sword Grass, always nice to see. I did find a Red Underwing roosting on the side of the house the other day as well.
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| Migrant Dark Sword Grass moth |
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