Autumn has started quietly on the patch. On Wednesday I put some nets up for a
ringing session. I caught a mixture of adult and juvenile warblers (chiffchaff, willow and sedge warblers, blackcap), which I presume were all local birds as nothing was carrying any fat. I also caught a
grasshopper warbler, a female with the remains of a brood patch, very close to where a male was singing for a few nights four weeks ago. A bullfinch was calling nearby but I didn't catch it.
I also caught a few robins, wrens, a chaffinch and a tree sparrow. I watched a stunning juvenile
marsh harrier flying over the Budge fields, right in front of the little hide - no photographers at that hour!
I spent some time on the patch today. A Saturday night out at the Cluny meant it wasn't an early start. I think all of the birds were asleep by the time I arrived.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwNtCE3Qq3R_ZTkLa5WHzBPa7VavgKE2Wfw9_dwXpfkXzlS2KTngmH8wN1nO5toZ6cZCvO9GQYL4ztWR0z1zCVaxhwZi1Rzhona5Vdmtnq6KRUYBwrFU_PCn85q3ciKWQWS_3U1oHomXf6/s640/little_grebe_sleeping.jpg) |
Little grebe - asleep |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwjY3MHhD5BJ5FIHgKeMaY7rY9fT3rRGWgo4_bltSP210mYioeFq8NMlFjUcebNByVKMbHSii0Ia9zfTcJsO0mcxdezkF9PJLO1OFOhh2JFaBeUSxZXdIL69aXx7PjgYhIhE0DEP1Y7z7j/s640/mute_swan_sleeping.jpg) |
Mute swan - asleep |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1qCDLBD_p6H7xzN1ZL4S6Dij0Ud-NJis1ON41ENf_SHk3X89ImoWFu4PqLKzvYu9vRyNIHo8k1stl91hrGClRC8c-cNtpvAV-7GcrfzSDeTFqwTgHLZpiw555Dhuhoai0j3U5U8Xc-LpZ/s640/common_black-headed_gulls.jpg) |
This common gull must have had no 'craic' as the black-headed gull was obviously bored |
There were three juvenile
ruff and black-tailed godwit (which was also asleep for much of the time) from the little hide and two
common sandpipers on the far bank of the big pool.
There were a few 'wheeting' phylloscs in the bushes and a family of four juvvy blackcaps. I checked the fences and bushes at the north end for whinchats but none were found. I photographed some insects as there were no birds about.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2pf1FRJCaGMIJamN89pgxjYSvteBNLn9_jar95eAX3ElSKgyYcmXPgATeCz7SDAJkFGzVmM2_miYw8fqKezBCVUghLakiy2Y4rTjTOOwWiFtNA2aKh0GtvbLlEibPmrKGpiDJvJik8vfu/s640/lime-speck_pug.jpg) |
Lime-speck Pug on wield |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX6i2BMcZo5RaXcLn8rOQigRuV_sx2jvQQv2vqJHZ6v9ypifO2fPgGVssuoa5YFbcXKc5Yx4rhoLKOeL2g5xp_2IeLWp7W6-OtEh96zYXbcuJKFeAcedFW43VlkGuJLD8hKxmlDK34Ud6I/s640/noon_fly.jpg) |
Noon fly or Noonday fly on knapweed |
I headed back to the patch this evening, hoping the high-tide might have pushed some waders off their usual haunts. Six oystercatchers and five
turnstones flew south, but not the hoped-for knot or grey plover. Three red-throated divers were on the sea - they were asleep too!
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