Autumn has arrived

When I titled my last posting "Summer's passing by" I didn't anticipate it disappearing overnight. It seems as though one night last week we went to bed in summer and woke up in the morning in autumn, it was that quick. I was kept awake last night by a howling NW wind coming straight off the sea here and round my windows and got up at 5.30 to near darkness, grey skies and a classic October morning - summery August it most definitely isn't!
Never mind, it will no doubt keep the sea-watching enthusiasts happy, or at least those that don't have to go to work and miss it today. We have a WEBS to do early this evening so it will be interesting to see what that turns up.

Having tramped around a very quiet and dreary reserve early yesterday morning, seeing little else than a few Green Sandpipers and Reed Warblers, I returned home for breakfast before deciding to give Warden Point a look. A few migrants were reported as moving through there on Friday and it would be nice to see a Pied Flycatcher again and more importantly for me, a first sighting of reported Brown Argus's. The walk down the football pitch to the cliff edge was uneventful apart from the abundance of ripe plum varieties on the bushes there. Although it was breezy walking down the field it was blowing almost a gale at the cliff edge and so it was obvious that the more sheltered conditions of a hundred yards or so inland would be more favourable.
So I made my way back to The Manor and took the little track opposite that goes underneath the radar tower. This is normally a good spot for both butterflies and passing migrants such as warblers, flycatchers and redstarts. Once again I drew a blank this time, the only thing of note was the tent of a vagrant who has been there for a few months now, rather a long way from any water and provisions I would of thought.

Making my way back to the football field again I bumped into Andy M and his wife and they pointed me in the direction of an earlier Pied Flycatcher and so I went off to have a look for that. After a short wait I re-found it in some sycamores alongside the road that runs down to the holiday camp there - once again this is a regular autumn spot for flycatchers as well as Goldcrests and Firecrests - just a shame about the constant passing traffic in and out of the holiday camp.

That was pretty much about it for me there yesterday morning, a tad to breezy and still a tad early for the main autumn movements but worth a regular look now for the next couple of months. I re-met Andy and wife as I made my back to the car and they had done a bit better than me along by the radar tower, with a Lesser Whitethroat and a few Willow Warblers.

Lets just hope that the forecasts aren't completely right and that summer is now finished, there must surely be a few more decent days to come - aren't there?