Friday 2 September 2016

last days of summer.......

Overall disappointing end to the month with little evidence of passage birds.
The parakeet has been heard more often and a male kingfisher (all dark bill) was watched fishing successfully north if the water bridge raising the question of the gender of the bird at the prefabs,.
last Thursday's gloom produced my only sighting of a large mixed flock made up of at least 40 birds.  Unfortunately the light was so  poor and they moved so quickly that I could only pick out goldcrest and the commoner tit species.
Friday was better with a group of blackcap in the hanging gardens along with willow warbler and both common and lesser whitethroat.  Another willow was with a couple of blackcap at the wetland.
Then it went downhill with nothing to report/
1st of September was almost an exact repeat of last Friday at the hanging gardens but presumably they were different birds. A treecreeper was seen at the metal bridge, my first for a couple of months but they will have been there and hopefully raised young.  It seemed to be with a very loose mixed flock which included nuthatch in bright weather.  Was the tightness of last weeks flock due to the gloom??
Finally having reported the seeming departure of the bigger groups of goldfinches I am now seeing the odd little group of 3/4 but they are all juveniles-could they be from 2nd broods?