28th Sept - mostly sunny, light northerly, 16C

Willey, a surprise this morning when a Ring-necked Parakeet flew over me calling loudly, to the west of village, it disappeared over the long spinney.  First area record.

Most mornings Goldcrest and Nuthatch are around the Church area.  Green Woodpecker heard too and Chiffchaff.

Stanford Reservoir; Sparrowhawk and Kestrel were seen.  A Green Sandpiper was in the out flow pool area.  A Tit flock with at least 6 Chiffchaffs.  On the game cover of the adjacent field 2 Stonechats, a female and immature.  Yesterday, a male was also photographed with a female, so at least one new bird today as the male was not found.

Also, c45 Shoveler, Wigeon c25, Tufted Duck c150, Teal and Gadwall too.  Hopefully Goosander will be appearing here soon.

27th Sept - sunny, 22C, light WNW

Cotesbach Landfill; this morning 3 Red Kite, plenty of Gulls around. I managed to see a colour ring on a Lesser black-back Gull yellow/black Tdot38A, hopefully I'll get some info about its history.
6 Mute Swans, a few Mallard and single Wigeon were on the water. Long-tailed Tits were working down the hedgerow, at least 8.  A Jay was near the derelict house garden area. Due to the warm weather making various insects rise up so quite a few Starlings hawking to catch them.

26th Sept - sunny, light WSW, 21C

A busy day, a late afternoon visit to Stanford reservoir.  The highlight was a Curlew calling and flying over the dam before leaving westward.  Near the dam a Little Grebe too and a Grey Heron on the overflow wall., plus the usual mix of duck species. 6 Red-legged Partridge were close by.

25th Sept - sunny, 18C, mod SSW breeze

Willey; a Chiffchaff and Mistle Thrush were in the Church area today.

Stanford reservoir; this afternoon a Hobby was hawking over the area and adjacent wood.  a mixed flock of Tits and Chiffchaff were in the bushes but moved off quickly.  On the dam a single Shelduck, adult, c20 Shoveler, Teal numbers were up at 31, also 4 Pochard (3 males), Wigeon slowly increasing with about 10 today.  In the conifers 5 Siskin had been spotted by Chris Hubbard, when I got there I was able to count 10, so some more had come in. Plenty of Black-headed Gulls, a few Lesser black-backed Gulls and my first autumn site Common Gull.

24th Sept - sunny, light-mod WNW, 16C,

Willey; early morning 2 Swallows were around the village and 12 over pasture to the west, feeding and sitting on wires. Included juveniles which were sometimes fed by adults.

Cotesbach landfill; 4 Red Kite, a Kestrel, c40 Linnets, 2 Grey and 2+ Pied Wagtails, several Meadow Pipits over.  A couple of Jays inn the adjacent derelict house grounds.  All the usual Gulls, but quiet and mostly resting as no dumping was going on.

Daventry reservoir; popped down here after lunch to see the juv Grey Phalarope which had been reported for a couple of days, it was still present.  Mid- distancer, but good views, sometimes on the shore and water, Coots definitely thought it was different and often chased it, which meant flight views were had.
Also, present was a Goosander, 2 Green Sandpipers, a Ringed Plover, 3 :Little Egret, c60 Lapwing plus a selection of Gull and Duck.

23rd Sept - rain am, brighter later, 14C, fresh SW

Welney WWT;  heading back from Norfolk I wanted to drop in here in the hope of seeing a Pallid Harrier which had been frequenting the reserve a few days. Arriving in rain things good only get better as brighter weather could be seen in the distance and arrived.  Sure enough the Pallid Harrier, a juvenile, flew on to a post before giving some flight views and then settling back on the ground in view, so lucky to see it, some quick record photos.

I like this reserve anyhow, always interesting things to see. At least 7 Whopper Swans were present, apparently the first winter returning birds occurred yesterday.  The usual ducks, Snipe, Swallows, a Sand Martin or two, several Kestrels and unexpectedly a Green Woodpecker added to the interest today.

22nd Sept - cloudy, moderate SW, 13C

Old Hunstanton; a pre-breakfast sea watch produced Gannet and Common Scoter moving.  A party of 5 Great Skua moved west against the wind.  Five Spoonbills flew over westward to the ‘Wash’, as did a couple of Red-breasted Merganser.  A selection of usual waders were feeding a,OMG the waters edge.

Burnham Overy;  a Red Kite flew low over the road near the village.

Burnham Staithe;
A Great Black-Backed Gull caught a ‘flat’ fish in the shallows and began to kill and eat it.

Titchwell; late morning I had a look here, I particularly spent most time around the trees and bushes hoping for migrants, especially scare Warblers.  The wind was still blowing steadily which was clearly keeping birds in cover and quiet.  So, I only managed to find Blackcap and Chiffchaff.  The marsh areas were also quiet, good number of Ruff but not too much else out of the ordinary.
Overhead Skeins of Pink-footed Geese were flying in after feeding on the farmland last night.