Lovely autumnal vibe on the coast first thing this morning, with plenty of birds on the move as I worked on the Green Beach.
Large numbers of hirundines passing through, (mainly Swallows, but many House Martins too), perhaps up to 200 an hour.
They swarmed over the area, often coming so close I could hear the snap of a bill as another little insect went to bug heaven.
Parties of hirundines continued to head south all day.
A bad time to be a midge.
Goldcrests in the alder line, 3 Wheatear in the tidal debris, with several parties of alba wags, Skylarks, Mipits and even four Redpoll overhead.
The local Reed Bunts getting a bit more vocal, but no phylloscs calling.
Plenty of Goldfinches and a few bands of Linnets though.
Nowt especially rare, but exciting to see 'em moving down the north wind.
Who knows what'll be coming through in the next few days...?
Frequent flocks of Pink Feet heading inland all morning, and it was only 1100 or so that I realised they couldn't all be late out of the low tide roosts, so I checked with my bins and saw skeins of 'em coming in off the sea high from the north west, their splitty splatty feet probably still dirty with the mud of Iceland.
Cool.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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Was out and about around Bickerstaffe and saw a fair few Swallows hoovering up insects around the fields. Very little else out there though other than Collared Dove, Chaffinch and a possible posse of Pink Feet in a field near King's Moss. Back home a Coal Tit was making a smash and grab run at the feeder plus a Speckled Wood butterfly drifted in.