Its been quite a week on the Hill, with some days being very pleasant and producing incredible migration, while others have been awful with strong winds, rain and thick fog until late afternoon. This is the time of year when the weather can dictate the birding on offer, so it has been pleasing that the days which have been calmer have produced some of the best birding days I have ever had here.
- The first day with notable passage was the 18th, when Woodpigeons really started to get going with 1291 all heading south. Most of these birds went south within the first hour of light and seemed to die off after that. This is only a prelude to what was to follow for VizMig this week.
- It is simply impossible to describe the scenes on Soil Hill on the 19th this week. The first easterly winds of the autumn and fortunately it didn’t bring the mist and rain that they normally do. What it did bring though we masses and masses of thrushes. I headed up before first light and could already hear flocks of Redwings moving in the dark. Once the light cleared at around 07:30 I started counting as thousands of birds started passing through. With the torrent not slowing down until after lunch, I ended up staying until 12:30 watching flocks pile through. In the end I managed 12679 Redwing, with an additional 1035 Fieldfare and 812 Woodpigeon, as well as a small selection of the usual finches. Outstanding stuff, exactly the kind of day I had hoped for when I knew I would be here all October.
- The 22nd of October saw the wind switch back to southwesterly, and with no rain in the forecast it looked promising for VizMig. And so it turned out to be with big groups of thrushes, mostly Fieldfare, heading south from first light until 10:30. In total I managed 3308 Fieldfare with 934 Redwing mixed in for good measure. Woodpigeons were slightly down on what I expected, with ‘just’ 449 going south. Another very enjoyable days birding.
Among the throngs of migrants there were a few standout
birds to enjoy as well, some real local rarities and others that are just special
for here, including a patch tick…
- Although it was long expected as a patch tick this autumn, it was nice to clinch my first Brambling on the 22nd when a single flew south over the North Slope calling. Later a flock of seven also flew south but much more distant. This is my 121st species for the patch! Fittingly, it was also my 100th on Soil Hill this year.
- On the 19th, just as I was finishing up the insane mornings VizMig, I picked up a Red Kite slowly drifting north, to the east of my VP. It came a little closer but was always high and continued to slowly move it’s way north. Remarkably, this is my first of the year here. Long overdue!
- On the 22nd there was a nice surprise in the North Slope Tree-Line when I spotted a day-roosting Tawny Owl perched atop one of the fenceposts that runs down the slope. Its almost two years to the day since I first found this species roosting on the Hill, and I have only seen it one other time since, so to find it again on the nearly the same perch is quite the coincidence.
- The final real notable species for the week was in the afternoon of the 23rd when the high pitched calls alerted me to the presence of a flock of Long-tailed Tits. It was this time of year in 2020 when I also found this species here, when they lingered for just short of week. This time it was a flock of nine birds on the Ned Hill Track. Time will tell how long they will keep visiting the Hill for.
There were a few bits of Wildfowl this week, some on passage and others visiting the site itself. Although there were no huge numbers on passage, it’s always nice to see flocks on the move.
- It’s been a long time coming, but the first Whooper Swans of the autumn finally passed south past Soil Hill this week. A group of 15 went south on the 19th, passing down the Ogden Valley, with another small group of 8 on the 22nd, which went out much further to the east over Bradford.
- The 19th was the only date this week where Pink-footed Geese were moving, with two small skeins totally just 91 birds heading northwest in the low cloud.
- The NK Pond has hosted variable numbers of Teal during the week, with sightings every other day ranging from just three individuals to a personal record of 9 on the 22nd.
There was plenty of other good winter to be birding this week, even on days with poorer weather conditions. The poorer weather conditions produced a huge count of Common Snipe on the 20th, when a passing ATV flushed a flock of 15 off the summit. Further walking produced another eight individuals bringing the total to 23! Another impressive count was on the 22nd, when I totalled 15. My hunts for Jack Snipe have been successful for the most part, although no more than one individual at a time. Frustratingly though for most of the week it flushed before I was able to locate the bird with the thermal. That was until the 23rd when one sat rather nicely and conspicuously, glowing in the thermal. The only other wader of note this week was a flock of six Golden Plover that flew north on the 19th.
Passerine migrants have been much reduced, as expected. Probably the last Chiffchaff of the year was present on the 17th, and given that almost a week has passed since then, I think it is safe to say that this will indeed be the last of the year. Goldcrests have been present almost daily but the best count of the week was just two on the 18th. And finally, there have again been a number of Stonechat hanging around the Hill, with up to four being present almost every day, although they are mobile around the site.
Throughout the week there were finches present in varying numbers, generally on VizMig but other times settled in the bushes feeding up. A Lesser Redpoll on the 21st was the first I have ever seen on the deck here, surprising given how many I have heard and seen flying over. Siskins especially saw some nice totals on passage, with 29 on the 17th and 28 on the 22nd both being my best counts for this species here. Bullfinch have also been present daily, with the best count being four on the 22nd. These were settled in the North Slope Tree-Line.
The final note of the week was a flock of I estimated 500 Starlings
on Perseverance Road on the 21st, moving around in the fog in rather
atmospheric conditions.
Soil Hill: Pink-footed Goose, Canada Goose, Whooper Swan, Mallard, Eurasian Teal, Goosander, Common Pheasant, Red-legged Partridge, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Woodpigeon, Common Moorhen, European Golden Plover, Northern Lapwing, Jack Snipe, Common Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Cormorant, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Red Kite, Common Buzzard, Western Barn Owl, Little Owl, Tawny Owl, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Northern Raven, Coal Tit, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Common Chiffchaff, Long-tailed Tit, Goldcrest, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Redwing, Common Blackbird, Fieldfare, European Robin, European Stonechat, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Common Chaffinch, Brambling, Eurasian Bullfinch, European Greenfinch, Common Linnet, Lesser Redpoll, European Goldfinch, Eurasian Siskin, Common Reed Bunting,
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