I was out of the house at 5am yesterday where a few minutes later, I pulled up at Chislet Marshes for a listen into the darkness. Within a few minutes, I had heard 2 Tawny Owl, 2 Little Owl and 1 Barn Owl and as I walked up the path to collect my recorder, I noted 5 Grey Partridge and could hear 1 Red legged Partridge (very scarce here) calling. There wasn't much on the recorder except for the 3 Owl species calling throughout the night. I then spent a good few hours walking around the Nethergong / Chislet Marshes patch and noted 60 species. Birds noted included c70 Greylag Geese, 4 Mute Swan, 2 Gadwall, 12 Mallard, a record count of 17 Pochard, it seems crazy that a few months ago, I hadn't seen one on the patch. There were 6 Tufted Duck, 3 Pheasant, 44 Woodpigeon, 11 Moorhen, 2 Coot, 2 Little Grebe, 6 Cormorant, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Kingfisher, 2 Great spotted Woodpecker, 2 Green Woodpecker and 2 Kestrel. There was 1 Hobby, 4 Jay, 2 Raven, 21 Blue Tit, 4 Great Tit, 2 Skylark, 1 Sedge Warbler, 3 Swallow, 17 Chiffchaff, 7 Cetti's Warbler, 13 Long tailed Tit, 7 Blackcap, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Whitethroat, 1 singing Firecrest, 1 Treecreeper, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Grey Wagtail, 3 Pied Wagtail, 2 Chaffinch, 14 Linnet, 1 Goldfinch and 7 Reed Bunting. Weather permitting, I can get the recorder out during the week to see if anything good is passing over during the night.   

Spotted Flycatcher

Back to work this week so it has been back to weekend birding and 'nocmig' recording when the weather allows. Recording throughout the night over the past couple of nights have produced 2 Tawny Owl, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Coot and 1 Bittern calling as it flew over Nethergong early this morning at 01:45. 

Bittern

A bit of a catch up over the past week. Highlights on the 26th August included 9 Egyptian Geese still, 4 Tufted Duck, 2 Coot, 8 Mediterranean Gull in a newly ploughed field, 2 Little Grebe, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Hobby, 2 Raven, 1 Willow Warbler, 2 Blackcap, 3 Whitethroat, 3 Whinchat, 1 Yellow Wagtail and 1 Bullfinch. The 29th produced 3 Pochard, 2 Tufted Duck, 1 Coot, 2 Common Tern, 1 Little Grebe, 1 Barn Owl, 6 Raven moving slowly west along the pylons, 1 Willow Warbler, 2 Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap, 2 Whitethroat, 8 Goldfinch and 1 Reed Bunting. A visit Sunday morning produced 9 Egyptian Geese, 6 Pochard, 1 Tufted Duck, 1 Common Sandpiper, 2 Green Sandpiper, 1 Cattle Egret flew west over the cattle fields, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Jay, 9 Swallow, 6 Chiffchaff, 4 Cetti's Warbler, 3 Blackcap, 2 Whitethroat, 1 singing Firecrest, 1 Treecreeper, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Bullfinch and 12 Goldfinch. 

6 Pochard

Green Sandpiper