Autumn Big Sit

October 1st

                  0545           Arrive on site                0747          Greenfinch               25                             0555           Little Owl                                       Herring Gull

                                    Mallard                                          Great Crested Grebe                                     Tawny Owl                                     Jay

                                    Carrion Crow                                 Blue Tit     

                  0615           Moorhen                  5   0851          Yellowhammer          30             

                                    Blackbird                                       GBB GULL                                                                         Robin                                            Cormorant                                                       Wren                                             Sparrowhawk        

                                    Green Woodpecker                         LBB Gull   

                  0638           Magpie                  10   0927           Meadow Pipit            35

                                    Woodpigeon                                   Stock Dove         

                                    Jackdaw                                         Skylark     

                                    Pheasant                                        Linnet       

                                    Great Tit                                        Kestrel     

                  0700           GS Woodpecker     15   0950           Grey Heron              40

                                    Chiffchaff                                       Rook  

                                    Chaffinch                                       Goldfinch

                                    Mute Swan                   1058           Common  Buzzard  

                                    Coot                            1140           Song Thrush      

                  0714           Black-headed Gull   20  1412           Mistle Thrush            45                

                                    Lapwing                       1655           Canada Goose

                                    Collared Dove              1712           Long-tailed Tit

                                    Dunnock                                                                                

                                    Starling                        1800          Complete Big Sit                         

 Capitals are used for a species seen for the first time on an Autumn Big Sit.  

It is overcast and still as I commence my eighth autumn Big Sit, at 5.45am, on the Greensand Ridge immediately above the cherry orchard. With a light drizzle falling, I’m sitting under my umbrella – not an auspicious start to the day. However, it soon eases and I can see a few stars through a break in the clouds, as the first Little Owl calls from the old orchard and another calls from within the Deer Park. Soon after 6am a  Mallard quacks from the direction of the lake in the Park, when a Tawny Owl hoots from the oaks east of the lake. With the cherry trees now a little taller, it is not possible to see the fallow field below me, over which the Barn Owl might hunt and a strain my ears to hear one screeching. A Carrion Crow caws, as the eastern sky lightens and a Moorhen is calling from the reservoir, followed by a Blackbird. At 6.20am another, more distant ‘hoot’ emanates from within the Deer Park and a Robin ‘ticks’ from the adjacent spruce clump. A third Tawny Owl ‘hoots’ from north of the orchard, not far from where the dead juvenile was found, and the first bird to be seen is a Blackbird, as it flies over the cherry trees. A fourth Tawny Owl adds his voice at 6.30am, when two of the others are still ‘hooting’, but there is no sound from the local Barn Owl – why isn’t he hunting over the visible reservoir stubble? A few minutes later a Wren sings and another Little Owl calls.

A Green Woodpecker and a Magpie call almost simultaneously, as dawn breaks; the clouds also break a little while drifting slowly southeast revealing an occasional patch of blue. New species are now being added in relatively quick succession, with a Woodpigeon ‘cooing’ at 6.45am, by which time I fear the Barn Owl isn’t going to oblige. A flock of Jackdaws flies towards the Deer Park, a Robin sings nearby, as I think of taking breakfast. A Pheasant calls from above the Barn Dell, flies into the cherry orchard below me and a Great Tit appears in the usually much favoured hawthorn, in which I anticipate adding several new species. It is just 7am and the visibility is good, though dull under the still cloudy sky. A GS Woodpecker calls, as I commence my breakfast, when I see Bob scanning the reservoir – I learn later he was looking at a Kingfisher, which might have flashed across my telescope vision, if I was looking through it continuously! Around 7.10am a Chiffchaff calls from the adjacent spruce clump and a Chaffinch calls as it flies over.

The fish farm and Monk’s Lakes, some two kilometres to the south usually produce a few more species and as I start scanning through my telescope three adult Mute Swans swim into view, beside a couple of Coot and a short while later a Black-headed Gull flies over the reservoir. Scanning the distant lakes again, I am pleasantly surprised to see a flock of at least 50 Lapwings flying around, before landing in the sheep pasture by the lakes. Some fifteen minutes pass before I hear a Collared Dove ‘cooing’ and a few minutes later two Dunnocks join a Great Tit in the hawthorn. While scanning distantly again, a flock of Starlings also lands in the sheep pasture but as yet there is no sign of any of the usual geese flocks or a pair or two of GC Grebes. Five finches fly over the Spindlewood orchard and one, visible in the top of the rarity hedge ash, is obviously a Greenfinch – halfway to my challenging target just before 8am. A lone Herring Gull flies NW overhead at 8.10am, some fifteen minutes later a GC Grebe swims into view on one of the Monks lakes and a Jay calls from the rarity hedge. Bob reappears at the reservoir at 8.30am, having undoubtedly visited the lake in the Deer Park and seen such species as Little Grebe, Shoveler and Tufted Duck, which won’t be appearing on my list, though a Tufted Duck did visit the reservoir yesterday. A Blue Tit appears in the rarity hedge ash and some fifteen minutes later a cock Yellowhammer, that drops down into the hedge, is a welcome addition – number 30 at 8.51am. One-two Jays keep flying to and fro over the Spindlewood orchard.

Bob joins me just after 9am and two pairs of eyes should help to boost the list. As we scan the distant fields, a flock of 11 Herring Gulls are resting on newly harrowed soil and close by is an undoubtedly much larger, adult GBB Gull, which increases the cumulative list for the eight years to 70 species. A lone Cormorant circles over the reservoir but doesn’t alight, as two fishermen are now present.  As we attempt to identify a large, juvenile gull, a male Sparrowhawk appears in our vision, mobbed by Jackdaws. The gull is joined by two more, as they circle and fly NW proving to be LBB Gulls. A short while later, as we feel some warmth from the sun breaking through the cloud, a Meadow Pipit flies N and, while looking in that direction, I see a large accipiter circling just north of the Greensand Way but I lose it behind some leaves on a nearby tree and assume that it was a female Sparrowhawk, though it would have been nice to be able to confirm that it wasn’t a Goshawk!  A Stock Dove flies towards the Deer Park and two more Meadow Pipits alight in the stubble to the north of us. As Bob watches four Skylarks flying E, I manage to pick up a fifth one following them and a flock of about 20 Linnets flies into the rarity hedge ash. A Kestrel, calling from near the rarity hedge, proves to be an adult male, as it flies into a beech on the edge of the Deer Park and a Grey Heron also flies E – number 40 at 9.50am.

Three Rooks call as they fly SW and about thirty minutes later another two Skylarks fly over, to the S on this occasion, as the sun shines from a mainly blue sky, with just a scattering of high cloud but I feel a coolness from a light northeast wind. Bob picks up two distant specks high in the sky, which look like hirundines but I am unable to locate them in my telescope and we are unable to confirm the identification. A Goldfinch flies N, which is a welcome addition, as few have been seen on recent visits. Just before 11am a Common Buzzard slowly circles to a great height in the wispy cloud and some ten minutes later we are surprised to see three circling and ‘playing’ over the southwest corner of the study area. Bob departs at ll.30am having helped me to increase the day’s total to 43 species but I feel that 50 is not a realistic target, even though there appear to be quite a number of commoner species that might possibly be seen. A short while after Bob has disappeared two Song Thrushes fly W from the rarity hedge, another welcome sight, as none has been noted on several recent visits. An hour or so later, with few birds to be seen, I enjoy my egg rolls for lunch and see a Speckled Wood and an unidentified dragonfly flying by.

Three GC Grebes are now visible on one of the Monks lakes but there is no sign of any geese or ducks on the various fishing waters, or on the fish farm. During the early afternoon I bask in the warmth of the sun, sitting in the lea of the spruce clump and there is a heat haze over the distant lakes. The white rump of another Jay disappears into the ash, as I scan, hoping to catch a similar glimpse of a Bullfinch. Shortly before 2pm I’m feeing particularly frustrated, as I’ve been ‘scoping a possible Raven for three or more minutes but it simply flew further and further away to the northwest, offering very few profile views. I picked it up north of the Greensand Way and its apparent size, proportions and manner of flight certainly suggest this species but I can’t be 100% sure. A little later a Mistle Thrush calls from the old orchard but thereafter I struggle to add anything new.

Two male GS Woodpeckers visit the dead branches of the oak in the barn dell, around 3.15pm, when I take a look at the autumn ‘Big Sit’ species lists, since 2002, to see what might be possible. I see I only missed Canada Goose in the first year and I’ve never not seen a Swallow and have only missed House Martin and Nuthatch on two occasions. As few hirundines have been seen throughout September, I can only hope rather than anticipate seeing either of them, let alone both. I certainly feel that three more species, to equal the mean, might just be on but 50 certainly appears impossible, even staying until dusk in the hope that the Barn Owl might perform – he’s probably roosting less than 100 metres distant!

A Large White and a Red Admiral appear, the latter alighting on spruce needles. Flocks of Woodpigeons and corvids, and smaller numbers of BH Gulls appear and disappear, as the afternoon slips by and it isn’t until shortly before 5pm that I manage to see a pair of Canada Geese swimming on one of the Monks lakes. I suddenly hear calls of Long-tailed Tits from the spruce trees behind me and I immediately hope for a mixed feeding flock that might include Coal Tit, Goldcrest or Treecreeper, which would have put the icing on the cake, but just a few Blue Tits appear. A flock of 15 BH Gulls is now feeding at the reservoir but no other gulls are with them – a Common Gull would have been most welcome. Scanning the fields near the River Beult for more geese, I can see a flock of 16 Grey Herons standing together but I decide to complete this year’s Big Sit in about thirty minutes, at 6pm. Around 5.35pm a flurry of wings alerts me and a male Sparrowhawk brings down what proves to be a juvenile Stock Dove on the slope below me, but it flies off without the injured, or maybe just stunned dove. A few dark clouds drift over, as the sun begins to sink towards the western horizon and shortly before 6pm a few tits and a Chiffchaff move through the trees on the edge of the barn dell, but a possible Coal Tit simply disappears from sight.

The twelve-hour Big Sit concludes with just 47 species, one below the mean for the eight years, which must in the circumstances be considered more than satisfactory and certainly enjoyable. I check the barn before driving away and the Barn Owl peers down at me, as if to say ‘bad luck’.