Its Autumn!!

Hello

Been a while, though i didn't realise it had been THAT long! July was the last time i posted, back when i was looking at butterflies to pass the time! Time has certainly flown since then, probably owing to me being extremely busy at the moment, which also would explain my lack of posting, and a little less birding, photography, etc.

I've been on a few trips over the last couple of months, managing to add a few birds to my year list, as well as seeing a good few birds i haven't seen in a while. I've been to attenborough and clifton mostly but the frequency that i have been able to get out has been rather low.

I had a couple of trips to attenborough at the start of August, twice in one week actually, and on both occasions i saw a few good birds. These included my first Greenshank of the year, my first ever Barnacle goose, a presumed escapee that has been knocking around all year in the area, and various other waders such as common sandpiper, ringed plover and growing numbers of Lapwing. Little egret numbers were also high with up to six birds present. On my birthday i saw a juvenile Mediterranean Gull on the works pond, and in general had a good days birding. 3 Kingfishers also put on a good show at the delta hide, chasing one another around the reedbed, and walking near the visitor centre i watched in awe at an incredible array of warblers flitting about in a small group of trees. There were 7 species present amongst the brances including Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Sedge Warbler and astonishingly enough, a Cetti's too, strange as i didnt expect to see one in such a location!

A few good birds have been seen at Clifton and i've been down a few times. Yellow wagtails have been incredibly frequent here this year, having been present nearly every time i've been. I also finally saw my first Wheatear of the year, after a rather uneventful walk on a friday evening at the end of september. These 2 birds were wonderful to see as i had missed out on seeing them throughout the year, and will most probably be the last ones i'll see til next year now! (Although some greenland-race birds have been passing through this week). At the end of august, another walk around the site resulted in 3 WHINCHAT being seen, these were my first ever sighting of this species and i got excellent views of these birds, all females i believe, as they demonstrated typical Saxicola behaviour - flying low to the ground from a perch on a bush to pick insects from the base of the hedge before swooping back to a higher perch on the top of the hedge. I followed them for some time down the hedge before they decided enough was enough and flew behind me back to where i had begun, leaving me to decide to leave them be, having disturbed them quite enough. Happy with this sighting as i don't see many being recorded in nottinghamshire apart from at clifton!