Autumn Big Sit 2011

September 29th

                  0445            Arrive on site                                  Sparrowhawk                             

                 0517            Little Owl                                         Linnet       

                                    Mallard                                           GS Woodpecker              

                                    Woodpigeon                                    Bullfinch                    

                                    Carrion Crow                       0736    Blue Tit                    30

                  0557           Coot                         5                   Nuthatch

                                    Tawny Owl                                      Greenfinch

                                    Robin                                             Chiffchaff

                                    Blackbird                                        Chaffinch

                                    Wren                                   0821    Song Thrush            35

                  0635           Jackdaw                  10                    Mistle Thrush

                                    Green Woodpecker                          Goldfinch

                                    Collared Dove                                 Starling

                                    Dunnock                                         Skylark

                                    Magpie                                0832     Blackcap                 40

                  0702           Rook                       15                    Mute Swan

                                    Black-headed Gull               0948      Pied Wagtail     

                                    Stock Dove                                      Kestrel     

                                    Tufted Duck                      1000      Yellowhammer

                                    Moorhen                             1150      Pheasant                 45

                  0709           Grey Heron              20       1215      Common Buzzard

                                    LBB Gull                             1335      Cormorant                    

                                    Jay                                    1540      Hobby                        

                                    Herring Gull                        1735      Long-tailed Tit          

                                    Canada Goose                                          

                  0717           Greylag Goose         25       1815       Complete Big Sit         

In the above table, bold type is used for a species seen for the first time

on an Autumn Big Sit.

I’m sitting atop the edge of the Greensand Ridge, close to the barn dell, under an amazingly clear starlit sky, at 4.45am in warm, windless conditions, as I listen for the hooting of Tawny Owls. Sadly, the noise of traffic on the Staplehurst road is intrusive. A little after 5am I believe I can hear both Coot and Mallard calling from the lake in the Deer Park, but the traffic noise makes me doubtful. At 5.17am I hear a single squawk from a Little Owl and a few minutes later I can hear a Mallard quacking. A satellite races across the sky below Jupiter to the southwest and an hour has passed before I hear the next species, a Woodpigeon cooing, as the eastern sky begins to lighten and I feel a little worried that no Tawny Owls have performed – I need every possible species, if I am going to get anywhere near even a mid-forty total. Shortly before 6am a Carrion Crow calls and I can now hear Coots calling from the lake. Another Little Owl calls from quite nearby, followed by a third as the stars fade. At last, at 6.07am a ‘kwik’ and a hoot emanate from the far side of the alpaca orchard, a fourth Little Owl calls and the Tawny Owl continues hooting for awhile and I feel much relieved. Robins then call and sing, followed by calls from a Blackbird and a Wren at 6.23am.

A low mist is blanketing the Weald and a fisherman arrives at the reservoir. It is feeling a little chilly, as dawn breaks and I think I maybe seeing a Tufted Duck on the reservoir, but I’ll have to wait for the light to improve to be sure. The first Jackdaws call, followed by a Green Woodpecker. A few minutes later I can hear a Collared Dove cooing, as I think of eating breakfast, while continually straining my ears for other species. A Dunnock calls from the scrub beside me and just before 7am a Magpie adds its voice from along the rarity hedge. Two Rooks call as they fly NE and four BH Gulls fly S. Numerous Woodpigeons are flying around and two Stock Doves are among them. I am now able to confirm the presence of the Tufted Duck on the reservoir – a new species for the autumn Big Sit – and a Moorhen swims alongside it. New species are coming thick and fast, as the light improves and a Grey Heron (Number 20 at 7.09am) appears low over the trees surrounding the dell, into which it appears to drop – maybe to the pond in the Spindlewood garden. An adult LBB Gull flies SE, a welcome addition in such still, sunny conditions, and a Jay makes its unmistakeable raucous call from nearby. A lone Herring Gull flies SW and calls come from a flock of seven geese as it flies SW, revealing one Greylag with six Canada Geese, which turns out to be a real bonus, as they are the only geese seen all day. A male Sparrowhawk that flies along the rarity hedge is another welcome addition and a flock of 14 Linnets can be heard calling, as it circles nearby.

A GS Woodpecker alights on one of the dead branches of the nearby oak, on the edge of the dell, and a cock Bullfinch appears in the ‘favoured’ hawthorn, at the north end of the rarity hedge, a Blue Tit (Number 30 at 6.36am) feeds close by and a Nuthatch calls. Meanwhile, two more BH Gulls are flying low over the reservoir, six Greenfinches fly N into the alpaca orchard, another Herring Gull flies SW and three Dunnocks appear in the hawthorn. A Chiffchaff sings and a flock of 11 BH Gulls flies S just after 8.15am and a lone Chaffinch flies overhead. A most welcome Song Thrush alights on a dead branch of the nearby oak and within a couple of minutes a Mistle Thrush calls, as it alights in an adjacent oak. A Chaffinch is next to appear in the hawthorn and just after 8.30am five Goldfinches fly into a small tree just beyond the cherry orchard, five Starlings briefly alight on the top of the rarity hedge ash, three Skylarks call as they fly S right overhead and suddenly a cock Blackcap appears in the hawthorn (Number 40 at 0832), where it is joined by a Chiffchaff and a Goldfinch, with a fourth Dunnock, a Chaffinch and a hen Blackcap – the hawthorn is proving a busy and invaluable asset for this Big Sit. It is a pleasant surprise to have reached 40 species already, with quite a number of possible additions not yet on the list. A little before 9am the Linnet numbers appear to have doubled, as they alight in the ash and a pair of Mute Swans swims into view on Monks Lakes – the only species noted so far, neither on nor over the patch.

As Bob joins me another Skylark flies S. An immature male Sparrowhawk chases a mobbing Magpie and a little later a Skylark flies N, on this occasion, and a flock of at least 50 Linnets circles around. Having thought I was hearing calls of Pied Wagtail two fly E overhead – my first this month. While I’m scanning Monks Lakes yet again, hoping to find a pair of GC Grebes, Bob discovers a juvenile Kestrel perched on the power line pole just below us. At 10am he’s following a passerine in flight, which alights in the top of a Deer Park beech and proves to be the only Yellowhammer of the day.  He leaves at 10.15am having helped me raise the total to 44 species, which equals the lowest autumn Big Sit total recorded in 2002. Nearly half-an-hour later a female Sparrowhawk flies E over the reservoir and the Linnet flock is even larger, possibly as many as 70 but I couldn’t see the whole of the power line on which they were perched. I hear a distant Pheasant calling, at last, at 11.50am. In the heat of the day a Migrant Hawker flies around, a Red Admiral appears and several Small or Green-veined Whites fly all around me but fail to alight, as I continue to scan for a GC Grebe, a Common Buzzard, a hirundine or a Great or LT Tit – three of which would produce the mean total for the nine autumn Big Sits. I’m hearing a call that sounds like a Meadow Pipit – but just one call isn’t good enough to be 100% certain, sadly.

At 12.15pm, I can hear a distant mewing of a Common Buzzard and suddenly there are six, thermalling together low over the southern edge of the Deer Park. They break up a little, one flies slowly E along the Greensand Ridge, three fly into the Deer Park and one circles higher and higher and I see a falcon join it, but making the error of switching to my telescope I fail to find it again and Duncan had seen a Peregrine a few days earlier! Within five minutes it was quiet again, apart from presumably the sixth bird flying E from the Deer Park at 12.25pm. A light southerly breeze is blowing now, as I celebrate such excitement with my picnic lunch, during which a Large White settles on a dandelion, another Jay flies by, another female Sparrowhawk circles in front of me, before flying off high SE and within a few minutes a third female flies SE from the Deer Park. A Nuthatch calls from the same dead oak branches, while I wish it were a Great Tit, though it is likely to be late afternoon before such passerines will become active again. The juvenile Kestrel returns to its perch again as I complete my lunch around 1pm.

Scanning north for a change, just after 1.30pm, I suddenly pick up four Cormorants circling behind the tall trees north of the alpaca orchard, before they fly SW, and a Common Darter also flies by. Another hour passes before two more Common Buzzards glide E along the Greensand Ridge, possibly two of the earlier birds that flew into the Deer Park, but just as possible they are two more migrants. Another hour-or-so later I hear a loud swish of wings and a flock of about 150 Woodpigeons rises from the Deer Park and only a few minutes later a Hobby appears over the dell, but doesn’t provide any prolonged views, as it rises above and disappears behind the trees before presumably flying off E. It feels good to have equalled the mean figure, when I was convinced it would be a struggle to reach the mid-forties, and I’ve still not seen a Great or LT Tit, and no hirundines have shown. I feel I ought to be able to locate a GC Grebe on the Monks Lakes, but the trees have matured considerably and there is relatively little open water now visible. Another BH Gull flies S, when I am anticipating that several will fly N as the day draws in. It has gone 4.30pm now, as two bright yellow Dragonflies chase each other around my viewing circle, but fail to alight to be seen well enough to identify. Can they be Golden-ringed I wonder? Probably more likely to be brightly coloured Southern Hawkers.

Around 5pm, 10 BH Gulls are flying around the reservoir, on their way N and the juvenile Kestrel is still present but there is no sign of my missing tits yet. At 5.30pm only my second Blue Tit of the day appears close by, giving me encouragement that a Great Tit might yet be seen. Five minutes later a small flock of LT Tits appears and works its way S towards the rarity hedge, with two more Blue Tits and two Chiffchaffs but no Great Tit. A cock Bullfinch reappears in the hawthorn. I’d set myself a 6pm finishing time, and feel like sticking to it, though it would be so nice to reach 50 with a Great Tit. Where are they hiding? In recent days, I’ve seen them in the hawthorn (and do again, two days later). The Tufted Duck, the 71st species for the autumn Big Sit list, is visible on the reservoir again and the wind has dropped. It is now 6.15pm and enough is enough, after a most enjoyable thirteen-and-a-half hours in the hottest conditions yet for an autumn Big Sit.