The Silent Fields....

A short break for a holiday in Austria and Germany of which I will post some pics and details some time....meanwhile...I went back to the pits...

....and so it is....silent across the fields....the Skylarks have finished singing, even if they didnt want to, the farmer has been in and ploughed and tilled the soil and nothing remains of the stalks and grasses....im sure the birds had completed their breeding anyway and if they were successful it will be in no way any credit to the maniac that sprayed, cut and ploughed here....

0625 - 0830 overcast SW F1

....anyway....it was mostly silent running all round...odd, the autumnal migration has commenced and will soon be in full swing and then I will be waiting for the first Fieldfare of the winter months...but ive just seen Fieldfare in Germany....its already a strange autumn...

The oddities today would include the Garden Warbler by the bridge in Five Oak Green when I headed out and the Willow Warbler briefly singing near by when I returned.

 House Sparrow, Starling, Collared Dove, Herring Gull, Garden Warbler, Blackbird, Crow (50+ in the newly tilled fields), Jackdaw, Chiffchaff, Woodpigeon (one group of 40+), Black Headed Gull 20+, Yellowhammer (including a juvenile), Blackcap, Mallard, Reed Bunting, Linnet (15 flying south), Coot 80+, Tufted Duck, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Bullfinch, Whitethroat, Greylag Geese 60+, Grey Heron, Wren, Stock Dove, Cormorant (1 SW), Reed Warbler, Lapwing 2, Mute Swan 5 (though no juveniles!) Swallow (10 SE), Greenshank 2, Magpie, Pied Wagtail.

The water level has now dropped significantly enough to show a sand/mud bar in one of the bigger pits where many birds gather including the Lapwing.  This is where the Greenshank flew in to giving their familiar call continually.  They were hard to see  hidden amongst the many Greylags and finally flew off after a couple of minutes.

Not an entire site visit as I hope to do this during the next week and try to get an idea of numbers.