Autumn almost over.

 October is now over with only a single post on the blog.

This might be because this may be one of the poorest autumns birding I can recall. Since August we have had a constant southerly or south westerly airflow. For us on the NE Coast that is about as bad as it can get.

Looking at some stats, Manx Shearwater for example. Not one in September. There was just no suitable seawatching conditions. Same goes for drift migrants. On my patch there have been no Redstarts, Whinchats or Pied Flys.

It shows, people think we have it made watching a patch on the east coast, but that is only if the weather is in our favour. Back in August I wondered if the steady S winds would ever change, and they didn't apart from a couple of very narrow sub standard windows of opportunity.

On 25th September a seawatch was largely quiet other than a few Dolphins a Wheatear and an in-off Short Eared Owl.

Above- Bottle nosed Dolphins and a Short eared Owl at Cullernose.

A brief twitch to Holy Island on 27th September while we were up that way had a nice Red breasted Flycatcher. The following day a Cetti's Warbler giving short snatches of song at Foxton Golf Course pond was a first for the Boulmer patch. The same morning a good count of 71 Redpolls flew S. It at least has been a good year for Redpolls with bird moving S on most days.

On 5th October a nice group of 7 Curlew Sandpipers dropped on to the Aln Estuary. 

On 20th around our village were 6 Little Gulls N, a Woodcock, 18 Crossbills and 9 Whooper Swans S while the glitch in the machine dropped a few Yellow browed Warblers on site with 3 at Craster with a late Willow Warbler and two Willow Tits.

Willow Tit

Willow Warbler 

Half a Yellow browed Warbler

And thats about it .

So, its no good wondering what could have been.

Winter is coming...