Middle autumn

These days, or at least in recent years, it seems like autumn has sort of split into three parts. Early autumn, say perhaps July through the start of September, is reliably good fun. Late autumn, maybe mid to late October through early December, is usually pretty decent too. But we seem to be getting these bizarre, no man's land periods in September and early October which are deathly quiet – most summer migrants and passage visitors have moved on, but the winter bits (thrushes, finches et al) are yet to arrive. This was the case in September – and for much of the first 10 days of October, which have been generally very slow, save a push of Continental bits in the last two days.

Grey Phalarope.

Sunday 1st

Having stayed in Edinburgh last night, the long journey south from Orkney recommenced today, but not after another King Eider dip at Musselburgh in gloomy, mild conditions. King Eider is one of my 'tartiest' UK ticks but I was happy this morning with hundreds of Common Eider, plus good numbers of Velvet Scoter, along with a couple of Scaup and a Little Gull.

The next pitstop was in Northumberland, in rural Elwick. Here, the county's first Red-breasted Goose since the 1800s (amazingly enough!) had arrived with Barnacle Geese on Wednesday. The bird was super distant but nice to see – doubtless one of the most beautiful birds in the world I'd say, and only the third I've ever recorded (and second in Britain).

Red-breasted, Barnacle and Pink-footed Geese.

The third and final stop before home was at Bempton Cliffs, East Yorkshire. Here, I got lucky with a very elusive Red-eyed Vireo – it'd vanished for nearly four hours, but I scored within minutes of arrival. Another gem of a bird, this is surely one of the most iconic British rarities there is. I've only seen this species in Ireland before, too.

Red-eyed Vireo.

Bempton is hardly one of the East Coast rarity hot-spots so it's funny I've enjoyed a few goodies here down the years, including Eastern Crowned Warbler, Black-browed Albatross and Red-tailed Shrike. Today, before leaving, I had time to get views of a Yellow-browed Warbler in the car park (one of only two on the East Coast today, which says all you need to know about this autumn!) and the resident Tree Sparrows.

Monday 2nd

I had a quick look at Tuesley this morning before a busy return to work. It was freakishly mild and muggy for October, but wildfowl numbers were decent and included a surprise 10 Pochard, perhaps grounded passage birds. Something is clearly going on at Tuesley with waterbirds, though – I guess some sort of food source has emerged in the last year or so – as a record count of 40 Coot was also totted up, along with 26 Tufted Duck.

Three Yellow Wagtails and five Siskins flew over Greenways during a short lunchtime walk around the village, and a Firecrest was calling out the back of the garden.

Greenways.

Tuesday 3rd

It was brighter and fresher this morning, but still mild enough for both Woodlark and Cetti's Warbler to be in song at Frensham Great Pond, with the latter my first record here since mid-June. Four Pochard (three drakes) were also present amid low wildfowl numbers, and two Kingfishers nosily zipped around.

Pochard.

After work, a walk around the 1-km felt almost spring-like, with raptors on the wing and butterflies skipping about. It was quiet, but 12 Ring-necked Parakeets at Peper Harow was easily my highest Eashing area count – and my third-highest locally, ever ...

Wednesday 4th

Again it was bright and fresh this morning – even feeling a little autumnal! – though the lack of forecast cloud meant vis-mig over Shackleford was more modest then notable. Still, 47 species was fairly decent going.

The main movers were Meadow Pipits, House Martins and Swallows, all in small numbers, along with a trickle of Chaffinches and Siskins. My first Redwings of the autumn were also detected – four heading south, on this slightly later than average date. A Lesser Redpoll was less expected and perhaps indicates a better winter for this species following the woeful 2022-23 season. 

Lesser Redpoll.

Otherwise it was quiet, to be honest, with 50 or so Meadow Pipits, four Stonechats and two Grey and one Yellow Wagtails of note. A count of 99 Greylag Geese north was interesting – doubtless birds dispersing from their Pudmore roost, where Dave counted an impressive 275 yesterday morning.

Greylag Geese.

Thursday 5th

For the third autumn in a row, it's been poor for vis-mig in the South-East, with a distinct lack of decent conditions for it so far. Despite this, I undertook a 75-minute watch at Eashing Fields before work. Guess what? It was quiet, with the only bits of note a southerly trickle of Meadow Pipits (46 in total), a handful of high-flying alba wagtails heading the same way and 11 Siskins south-west. Two Reed Buntings dropped into The Meadow, too.

Friday 6th

A big – and very long – day out in Cornwall with Dave in his spaceship Tesla was undertaken in unseasonal sunny and warm weather. Our main target was an incredibly elusive Black-and-white Warbler at Polgigga, a site where I saw an Amur Falcon in 2017. We endured a rather grim few hours of dipping, alas, with the long periods of waiting for tit flocks to pass through broken up by encounters with two Firecrests, a late Willow Warbler and a couple of flocks of Golden Plovers.

The other main target was the Northern Harrier on The Lizard, and we headed there after accepting defeat in Polgigga. We swung by Marazion on the way, though, to grab a brief glance of the first-winter Woodchat Shrike there.

Woodchat Shrike.

By the time we got to Goonhilly Downs on The Lizard it was veritable sunbathing weather. We staked it out for an hour, scoring a female-type Merlin and little else, until news came through that the Northern Harrier had relocated some 15 minutes away near Kynance Cove. A mad scramble ensued, before we eventually got to Kynance – and got long-range views of the mega Nearctic raptor towards Windmill Farm. A couple of obligatory Chough were also noted here.

With the day rapidly drawing to an end and a pesky electric charge to undertake, it was a manic race to our final destination – the sleepy and remote village of Minions – before sunset. We managed this, though, and upon arrived at the top of Caradon Hill with the light going and mist rolling in, our final quarry of the day was secured: a first-winter Lesser Grey Shrike perched atop the transmitter. 

Caradon Hill and Lesser Grey Shrike.

Saturday 7th

With local birding at a real low ebb at the moment, I plumped for another awayday today, visiting a favoured county of mine: Dorset. After yesterday I enjoyed a lie-in and didn't get to Arne until late morning, by which point the weather was once again unsettlingly warm at some 22°C. 

A lovely amble around for a few hours was quiet, though the lingering second-winter Forster's Tern showed well among a group of Sandwich Terns off Shipstal Point. Other bits of note included Pintail and Black-tailed Godwits, four Lesser Redpolls and stacks of Red Admirals.

Forster's (left) and Sandwich Terns.

I then headed further east, to Weymouth, to take in awesome views of a first-winter Grey Phalarope at Ferrybridge before heading home. Phalaropes are right up there as some of my favourite species, without doubt.

Grey Phalarope.

Sunday 8th

It was back to patch today, and it turned out to be a good morning in south-west Surrey after a deeply quiet September and start to October. It was still and a bit hazy early on, with the wind ever so slightly in the east, feeling rather good as a result. I started my morning at Tuesley, where two Pochard and a Mandarin were the best I managed, though the Coot high count record was broken again with 45 tallied.

I then headed to Shackleford. An hour and a half session was peaceful and pleasant, though very quiet on the bird front. Again there were large numbers of geese in the northern fields (150 of Canadas and Greylags, plus some fine domestic and hybrid specimens!), as well as a very light southerly trickle of Meadow Pipits and Siskins. 

Perhaps most interesting (in a barrel scraping kind of way!) was a very high 'V' of 11 Black-headed Gulls heading strongly south-west. Continental migrants, perhaps? Seven Lesser Black-backed Gulls heading the same way were likely movers as well, with all these gulls different from the usual dribs and drabs of post-London roost dispersal noted today.

I was pondering my next move when my phone rang: Shaun, with exciting news of a Common Scoter at Frensham! Timed nicely, I hot-footed it to the Great Pond, managing to connect with both Shaun and the scoter. The bird – a female – was very distant and seemed a bit agitated, though never flew from its favoured area. 

Common Scoter.

This was a fine record indeed – my one and only previous south-west Surrey record was also the last local record: four birds at Frensham over a decade ago in September 2013. 

A Little Egret was also seen during my visit, and a couple of Lesser Redpolls buzzed over.

I'd been at Frensham for little more than 20 minutes when the phone went off again. This time it was Dave, and he had a Short-eared Owl at Thursley! This was a most wanted species for Dave on his patch, so I was chuffed for him. SEO is easily my 'tartiest' local tick, having never seen one in south-west Surrey, so I figured I'd give it a go, even though it sounded like the bird had vanished.

By the time I arrived, it was properly warm and sunny. I ended up giving it an hour and 45 minutes, sadly drawing a blank with the owl, but having a truly enjoyable session. The clear highlight was a totally surprise Ringed Plover that flew high over Shrike Hill, calling. A site mega, it was far from optimum weather or time of year for such a record … bizarre!

A Wheatear was also on Shrike Hill, along with a quality flock of 100 or more Lesser Redpolls (first spotted by Dave earlier) – easily the biggest south-west Surrey count in a couple of years and, hopefully, a sign of a good winter for the species. A late Hobby and a Snipe flew over Ockley and a Greenfinch (always good at Thursley!) flew over Pudmore, too.

Hobby.

Monday 9th

Despite a late start, I managed to squeeze an hour of Eashing Fields vis-mig in before work. Following yesterday's big arrival of thrushes up northh today was very lively in Surrey, and my delayed start meant I 'only' managed 710 Redwings south-west – still a fine count and a wonderful event to witness. Some 13 Fieldfares in with them were my first of the season, too, and a few Song Thrushes were also moving.

Redwing.

Other bits migrating included finches, with 32 Chaffinches, seven Linnets (a very high flock) and four Lesser Redpolls noted, the latter amazingly only my second Eashing area record after moving here! 

Some 39 Meadow Pipits were counted heading south-west, so when a small falcon dashed low in the same direction I was a little surprised it was in fact a late Hobby (my latest ever in Surrey, in fact). Other southbound bits included a trickle of Skylarks and Starlings.

Hobby.

As I eventually dragged myself back home for work, I picked up three Ring-necked Parakeets bombing north-west – a long overdue (though not exactly wished for) site first!

Ring-necked Parakeets.

Tuesday 10th

I plumped for another Eashing Fields vis-mig this morning, even though the unforecasted clear skies felt less than ideal. However, it proved to be a lively and varied 90-minute session, contributing to a best-ever species total at this site of 49.

Redwings were moving again – not in the same intensity as yesterday, but my longer vigil meant I totalled a 860 south-west. Five Fieldfares and 10 Song Thrushes were moving with them. Finches were more evident today and included 86 Chaffinches, 22 Siskins and 14 Lesser Redpolls.

Skylarks too appeared to be going southbound, though it's hard to know if these were local movers. Other bits included 10 alba wagtails, nine House Martins and five Swallows south, two Stonechats in Scrub Strip and – best of all – two Firecrests in a mixed flock in Top Field: the second new species for the site in as many days!

Firecrest.