14 September, 2011

A nice morning at Climping Gap where it was obvious there had been a fall of Chiffchaffs, with 60+ in the bushes and 30 Blackcaps. It was much as yesterday really, with a variety of the commoner migrants; 17 Whitethroats, 2 Willow Warblers, 14 Wheatears, 12 Yellow Wagtails, 2 Grey Wagtails, 16 Siskins and singles of Tree Pipit, Whinchat, Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher. Another 200+ Meadow Pipits were on the move westwards, as were large numbers of hirundines - a guestimate would be around 1500 Swallows, 1000 House Martins and 250 Sand Martins, but possibly many more. The sea remained dead except for 3 Sandwich Terns, but today's prize goes to a crazy Woodpigeon that in mid-Sept has decided to nest in an exposed hedgerow beside the car park.