October 2005

31st - At the Clevedon-Yeo today there were 5 or 6 Little Egrets, 95+ Wigeon, c40 Teal, 80+ Lapwing, 7 Grey Plover, 55 Dunlin (very low), 70 Curlew, 100+ Redshank, 20+ Turnstone, a Little Owl and 2 Stonechats.

30th - Heavy rain this morning stopped most of the birding, however a Firecrest was located at Wains Hill, and unlike the suspected bird earlier this month that turned out to be a Goldcrest, this one was seen and confirmed.

29th - Migration watching from Wains Hill this morning produced 5 Brambling, 15 Siskin, c100 Greenfinch, c400 Chaffinch and c300 Redwing all being watched by the resident pair of Peregrines!

27th - A pair of parakeets that have been seen around Clevedon for the past couple of weeks were seen again this morning and have been identified as Ring-necked, which is good news for patch listers!  On the coast a Clevedon there were 7 Little Egret, 105 Shelduck, 60 Teal, Peregrine - female, 80 Lapwing, 155 Redshank and a Raven.

26th - A 90 minute migration watch from Wains Hill, Clevedon this morning produced 380 Wood Pigeon, 2000+ Chaffinch, 200 Greenfinch, 9 Skylark, 2 Redpoll, 15 Siskin, 30 Redwing, 12 Bullfinch, 2 Mistle Thrush and 2 Peregrines.  Over high tide at Clevedon there was a  female Gargany, 5 Grey Plover, c50 Dunlin, 10 Skylark, 2 Redpoll, 5 Little Egrets, c20Wigeon, 10 Teal and a Green Woodpecker. At Portbury Wharf there were 4 Tufted Ducks, 1 Jack Snipe, 7 Snipe and a Little Egret.  A Barn Owl was seen at Clapton Moor.

23rd - There was a steady flow of migrant over Wains Hill this morning with large numbers of Chaffinchs moving down the coast (opposite way to last weekend) and a few Brambling, Siskin and Redpoll were mixed in with them.  A Short-eared Owl was still at Channel View Lane this afternoon.

22nd - Another day, another Ring Ouzel and a influx of Short-eared Owls were the highlights today.  A Ring Ouzel was one again seen at Wains Hill and was a different individual to the one seen yesterday.  Two Short-eared Owls were at the end of the track from Channel View Farm, Clevedon. At Portbury Wharf there was another Short-eared Owl as well as  6 Little Grebes, 250 Teal, 3 Tufted Ducks, 3 Little Egrets, Water Rail, Stonechat and 6 Bullfinch.  At Weston Moor 5 Snipe, 8 Stonechats and 5 Buzzards were seen.

21st - A Ring Ouzel was a good find on Wains Hill this morning.

20th - At Clevedon today there were 14/15 Little Egrets, 110+ Wigeon, 50+ Teal, female Merlin, 35 Oystercatchers, 8+ Ringed Plover, 11 Grey Plover, 35 Lapwing, 2 Knot, 45 Dunlin (very low numbers), 1 Snipe, 4 Black-tailed Godwit, 110 Curlew, 130 Redshank, 44 Turnstone and 3 Wheatear.

19th - The only sighting of note today was of 50+ Common Scoter seen flying down the Estuary this morning.

18th - Today at Clevedon there were 2 Wheatear, 2 Gadwall, 27 Oystercatchers, 9 Grey Plover, c50 Dunlin and a Snipe.  c75 Siskins flew over along with c300 Greenfinch and 30 Goldfinch.  Portbury Wharf held 3 Tufted Duck, 200 Wood Pigeon, 55 Lapwing, 8 Fieldfare,45 Redwing, 1 Sparrowhawk and a Stonechat.  Highlights from a 2hr migration watch from here included 11 Reed Bunting and 20 Brambling.

17th - Highlights from Portbury Wharf included 2 Chiffchaff, 3 Blackcaps, 13 Snipe and an influx on 32 Dunnocks!  Weston Moor had 3 Stonechat and a Kingfisher.  At Clevedon there were 10 Little Egret, 55 Shelduck, 40+ Wigeon, 30+ Teal, 42 Oystercatcher, 14 Ringed Plover, 4 Grey Plover, 55 Lapwing, 2 Knot, 120 Dunlin, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 90 Curlew, 120 Redshank, 1 Common Sandpiper, 4 Turnstone, 4 Stonechat and 2 Wheatear.

Many thanks to Jim Payne, Howard Taffs, Richards Hunt, Jeff Harris and Bob Fleetwood for helping with the count.

Migration counts from Portbury Wharf included, 30 Siskins, 6 Bramblings, 300 Chaffinch and 200 Starlings. Other birds there were 2 Sparrowhawks, 2 Snipe, 3 Tufted Duck, Gadwall and 18 Lawping.

15th - A fly-over Woodlark was a very good record from Portbury Wharf today, also seen on migration were a Brambling and c120 mixed finches.  At Portbury Wharf itself there were  3 Tufted Ducks, 8 Little Grebes, c170 Linnet, Chiffchaff and a Kingfisher.

14th - Active migration at Wains Hill today with the highlights being 3 Bramblings.  Portbury Wharf had 2 Tufted Duck, 7 Mistle Thrush, Little Egret, 5 Little Grebes, 5 Grey Wagtails and c500 Starling and c300 finches flew over.

13th - At Portishead there were 28 Ringed Plover on the beach and a Pochard on the Boating Lake.  Weston Moor had 3 Stonechat, 3 Chiffchaffs and 2 Ravens.  The usual selection were are Portbury Wharf with 2 Tufted Duck, 2 Pochard, 7 Little Grebes 3 Chiffchaffs.

12th - A probable Yellow-browed Warbler was located at Wains Hill today, however despite calling on occasions could not be visualised, lets hope it's nailed down tomorrow.  At Portbury Wharf there were 2 Pochard, 3 Tufted Ducks, 3 Chiffchaffs, 2 Blackcaps, 3 Redpolls and c70 Linnet.

11h - Migration at Wains Hill today included 24 Siskin, 2 Redpoll, 3 Goldfinch ,20+ Pied Wagtails and 3 Skylark.

10th - Two unidentified Parakeets flew over Wains Hill today, settled for a while than after being mobbed flew away.  Also flying over were 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 4 Skylark, 6 Siskin and a Redpoll.

9th - At Weston Moor today there were 5 Buzzards, 5 Ravens, 9 Stonechats, 4 Reed Buntings and a Snipe.  The Ring-necked Duck and associated Tufted Ducks were not at Portbury Wharf today, there were however 2 Little Egrets, 5 Little Grebe, 2 Pochard, 2 Stonechats, 3 Mistle Thrush and 5 Redwing flew over.  Yesterdays Firecrest has now been rejected as a Goldcrest!  At Clevedon this morning it was quiet with only Whinchat, 2 Stonechats, 2 Wheatears, 220 Dunlin,1 Common Sandpiper and up to 115 Shelduck of note.

8th - More evidence of migration today with a Firecrest heard at Wains Hill, Crossbill flying over, female Redstart along Poets Walk as well as  hundreds of Chaffinch's moving through.  The Ring Necked Duck was back at Portbury Wharf along with 27 Tufted Duck, 2 Pochard, a Peregrine and 2 Stonechats.  Kilkenny Bay, Portishead had 8 Ringed Plover, 11 Dunlin, c45 Turnstone and c55 Redshank.

7th - At Weston Moor today there was a good selection of birds with the highlights being 11 Chiffchaffs (one of which showed characteristics of being one of the eastern races, abietinus/tristis), 4 Blackcaps, 7 Stonechat, 3 Ravens and more than 50 Long-tailed Tits.  Portbury Wharf had c200 Teal, 1 Pochard, 3 Tufted Ducks, 40 Redshank, 14 Curlew, 3 Stonechats and 3 Grey Wagtails.

6th - A male Ring Ouzel was found at Wains Hill this afternoon, the third of the year on the patch.  At the rest of Clevedon there were 12 Little Egret, 95 Shelduck, 90 Teal, 2 Buzzards, 33 Oystercatchers, 6+ Ringed Plover, 2 Grey Plover, 1 Lapwing, 4 Knot, 150+ Dunlin, 4 Common Snipe, 2 Black-tailed Godwit,  a possible Whimbrel,  40 Curlew, 125+ Redshank, 24+ Turnstone, 2 Wheatears and a Cetti's Warbler.  Portbury Wharf had a Garganey (at Chapel Pill), Merlin, 60 Redshank, 70 Teal, 3 Black-tailed Godwits, 10 Dunlin, 15 Curlew, 5 Wigeon, 4 Gadwall, 3 Tufted Ducks, 3 Blackcaps, 7 Redwing, 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers and 2 Sparrowhawks.

5th - Few sightings early on today due to the heavy mist, at Portbury Wharf there were 5 Little Grebes, 1 Lapwing, 4 Goldcrests and a Blackcap.  A Siskin and 3 Redpoll flew over.  The only sighting of note at Clevedon was 2 Siskins over Wains Hill, and 38 Skylarks on the coast.

4th - The faithful band of Wains Hill migration watchers (working from home again lads?) were rewarded this morning with a flyover Tawny Pipit, which is potentially the second of the year for the patch.  Also recorded in around two hours watching were 200+ Greenfinch, 75+ Chaffinch, 50+ Goldfinch, 6 Siskin, 4 Redpoll, 12 Linnet, 2 Bullfinch, 1 Reed Bunting, 100+ Meadow Pipit, 12 Redwings (first of the Autumn), 20+ Jay!!, 3 Song Thrush, 4 Mistle Thrush, 40+ Pied Wagtails, 1 Grey Wagtail, 2 Yellow Wagtails and 10+ Skylark. Great Stuff, hopefully more of the same tomorrow.

3rd - Weston Moor had a Raven, 6 Stonechats, 3 Reed Buntings, Chiffchaff and 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers.  The Ring-necked duck was again not seen at Portbury Wharf but c170 Teal, 3 Tufted Ducks, 12 Wigeon, 8 Little Grebes, 45 Redshank, 3 Snipe and 4 Stonechats were seen.  A little overhead migration was noted here with 15 Skylarks, c40 Chaffinch and c30 Goldfinch going over.  At Clevedon 2 Redpoll, 46 Skylark and 5 Wheatears were noted.