Night-time Migrants (13th November 2012).

Many passerines (perching birds) migrate by night, and this means that they pass overhead unnoticed. Sometimes though they can be heard calling as they pass overhead.

I have regularly been hearing Redwings over the last few weeks, and tonight I heard the distinctive chattering calls of Fieldfares as well as the thinner "Tsseeep" calls of the Redwings.

Beachy Head (9th October 2012).

A visit to Eastbourne provided a good reason to spend some time on Beachy Head to search  for migrants. I chose to try the area near the Belle Tout lighthouse, where a small patch of mainly Sycamore woodland was a likely location for Firecrests, and perhaps even a Yellow-browed Warbler.

The Belle Tout lighthouse - no longer a working lighthouse, but still a land mark.

On arrival a Peregrine gave a close fly past soon after we got out of the car, and a Common Whitethroat gave a brief burst of song from nearby scrub - I have no idea why it chose to sing at this time of year on a rather overcast and breezy day, but migrant birds do occasionally sing during the autumn!

House Martins had gathered to feed in the more sheltered area around the woodland, with more House Martins, large numbers of Swallows, and much smaller numbers of Sand Martins also heading east along the coast. We later found out, after walking towards the cliff edge, that they were also passing by out to sea, again heading east. Meadow Pipits, "alba" wagtails (Pied and/or White Wagtails which could not be identified to subspecies), and Skylarks were also visibly on the move, again mostly heading east, and smaller numbers of Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, and Chaffinch also passed over.

A view towards the newer Beachy Head lighthouse (the black specks towards the right hand side of the photo are Swallows heading east along the cliff edge).

Goldcrests were very easily found in Belle Tout Wood, and it wasn't long at all before we found the first Firecrest among them - a much brighter, stripy headed gem than the accompanying Goldcrests. In total we probably saw about eight different Firecrests and several dozen Goldcrests in, and around, the wood, all feeding actively, hovering to pick at the underside of leaves.

Good numbers of Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler and a couple of Blackcaps were also present in the woodland and nearby scrub, as well as large numbers of Robins and Dunnocks

Countryside Live (29-30th September 2012).

This has been an annual event in the Lee Valley for a the last few years, with a mix of family entertainment and groups representing countryside activities. This year the event was held at the Waterworks Nature Reserve, and the East London Birders Forum were there again to take people on short walks to see some of the birds present, as well as pointing out birds of interest at other times. Dave was on site on both days, I was there all day on the Sunday.

In total we recorded 51 species (49 on Sunday), which isn't bad for a small nature reserve in a built up area of East London - especially as the event was held in a grass field so we were only in the best habitats when we took people on walks. The complete list of species can be seen on the hastily put together 'sightings board' seen below:

It can be surprising how many species can be seen in a relatively small area!

The highlights included the first Redwings and Fieldfares of the autumn, a Hobby, and a constant stream of hirundines (Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins) which were heading south and south-west in small flocks.

On the move (19th September 2012).

Dave and I visited the Chingford Reservoirs (King George V and William Girling) today for the monthly Wetland Bird Survey count. Considering the time of year it wasn't surprising to find passage migrants moving through as summer migrants headed south for their wintering areas in Africa, as well as the first winter visitors.

A Northern Wheatear was on the banks of the KGV Reservoir, along with at least half a dozen Yellow Wagtails. More Yellow Wagtails were feeding around the edges of the William Girling Reservoir, as well as quite large numbers of Pied Wagtails, and a few Grey Wagtails - it is likely that some of these two species were also passage migrants, even though both species breed at the reservoirs.

Yellow Wagtails on the banks of the reservoir - the amount of yellow on the underparts can be especially variable at this time of year.

Swallows, and House Martins were also moving through in small numbers.

The wetland species that we had come to survey included 25 Black-necked Grebes and the first two Goldeneye of the winter on the William Girling Reservoir, as well as increasing numbers of Common Teal, and a few Green Sandpipers and Little Egrets.

Waders on the move at last (15th August 2012).

There was certainly some evidence of Autumn migration at RSPB Rainham Marshes with good numbers of waders around. Up until now there have just been a few Green Sandpipers and Snipe with the occasional Black-tailed Godwit and Whimbrel. Today those four species were all present with 6, 25, 4 and 1 respectively. There were, however, several more species of wader on the various pools with single Greenshank and Common Sandpiper, 4 Ruff and the star bird of the day, a juvenile Wood Sandpiper which was alongside a juvenile Ruff at one stage providing an excellent comparison between the two. There were also at least 4 Yellow Wagtails flying around and I counted 27 Little Egrets.

Before I arrived there had been Black and Sandwich Terns seen on the River and a Little Stint in Aveley Bay.