Severn house farm- Berkeley Power station- Berkeley via fields.

Sightings:
Farm- Power station

• 7 swallows flew inland
• 1 Bar tailed godwit in winter plumage
• 5 oystercatchers
• 1 redshank
• 30+ meadow pipits again in flock

Power station to Scott Law (entrance to public footpath)

• 30+ common gulls
• 10+ pied/white wagtails
• 2 green woodpeckers
• 30+ starlings
• 10+ goldfinches
• 5 chaffinches
• 1 chiffchaff
• Corvids

Scott Law- Berkeley park via fields
This walk over the year has been very good for migrants with most of the British warblers being seen along the path. This excludes rarities such as the WILSON'S WARBLER which has been sighted for about 3 days until today in Cork. This is Britain's second ever record.  

• 2 robins calling
• 4 great tits
• 5 blue tits
• 5 long tailed tits
• 2 chiffchaffs
• 20+ goldfinches- winter flock
• Corvids- magpies, carrion crows, jackdaws, rooks
• Common gulls
• Black headed gulls

My 21/9/13 garden sightings Migration

After a few days of being overcast and with minimal birds being sighted the morning was quite cloudy but in the afternoon the sun came out and the birds came in mass. With lots of "new" birds today the autumn migration has just started and there's big hopes for tomorrow as it's suppose to be another good day with high pressure coming up from the south west meaning there should be more good birds.
 Our garden blackbirds go into the countryside after breeding for moulting and for feeding on the natural berries before coming back into the garden for the Autumn and Winter months. A Migrant blackbirds last year scored at least 6 different females, 5 males and several 1st winter males my hope is that we score high again and get a leusctic individual which would be good for photographs and a few to come into the garden again.   

My sightings today:

Opposite houses

• 40+ feral pigeons
• Collard doves
• Wood pigeons
• Jackdaws

Trees

• 1 blue tit
• 1 great tit
• 2 robins
• 15+ house sparrows
• 1 collard dove
• 3 gold finch
• 1 coal tit- 1st of the Autumn feeding and calling in the apple tree. 

Coal tit

Flying over

• Peregrine juv- same bird as yesterday flew through quite quick.
• 1 buzzard circling on thermals
• 300+ corvids- rooks, jackdaws and carrion crows.
• 20+ black headed gulls
• 3 lesser black backed gulls
• 10+ wood pigeons
• 5 green finches

Visable migration overhead

Swallow

Marsh harrier juv (awful record shot)

• 30+ common gulls
• 30+ house martins- My latest sighting. Sighted in the evening feeding altogether.
• 3 sand martins- latest sighting, not usually near the town with the house martins.
• 5 Meadow pipits- a flock of 4 and a single bird flew north west (1st of Autumn).
• 105+ Swallows- A stream of birds in the 13:00- 17:00 period when after around 14:00, the clouds cleared and swallow sightings increased rapidly.
• 1 MARSH HARRIER- juv got mobbed by herring gulls as it flew south east.

SARA Sharpness sightings Swallows

A bit of migration at Sharpness but sightings were:

• 1 great crested grebe in winter plumage
• 1 little grebe in winter plumage
• 1 grey heron
• 2 little egrets
• 10+ lapwings
• 10+ redshank
• 50+ common gulls
• Black headed gulls
• 3 great black backed gulls
• Lesser black backed gulls
• 10 mallards
• 3 meadow pipits
• 50+ swallows in half an hour flooding through with groups of 10- 15 going through over the lifeboat station along the canal and east over the docks constantly.

Severn house farm- Berkeley Power station bird sightings

Today there was a 10m high tide which was very nice to go and see as there was some hope for a rarity as Slimbridge WWT had 1 BUFF BREASTED SANDPIPER juv yesterday and also today. The major problem with Slimbridge's high tide roost for waders is that it's situated too low down so when we had this high tide today the waders where sighted but then as the "shaft" which they go on, goes underwater the waders fly north. With a buff breasted sandpiper in the flock I thought they might go south to the saltmarsh at Berkeley power station as it doesn't get flooded as much as the dumbles (the name of land where the waders roost).
So as I walked from the farm there was much excitement and I saw:

• 30+ meadow pipits- a huge influx of birds as they may have been grounded overnight but feeding metres away from me before taking flight
• 2 grey herons
• 30+ black headed gulls
• 20+ common gulls
• 3 great black backed gulls
• 1 pied wagtail
• 1 goldfinch
• Corvids
• 3 curlew
• 5 oystercatchers
• 20+ mixed flock of small waders. Mostly ringed plover and dunlin but will confirm the other odd ones by tomorrow.
• 7 mallards  

20/9/13 garden sightings

Minimal birds today except for a few birds of prey.

Flying over

• 1 great black backed gull
•  A few common gulls
• 1 gold finch
• 5 swallows high flying south this morning
• 1 buzzard flew low over the house
• 1 PEREGRINE juv - two birds stooped down and one disappeared behind the houses but the peregrine flew on a little further and started circling on a thermal before flying back over the house scaring all the feral pigeons.
• A few corvids

Trees

• 1 house sparrow- possibly 1 but wasn't able to check.

Opposite houses

• 1 wood pigeon
• 2 collard doves
• 40+ feral pigeons

My earliest and latest winter migrant sightings (updated 19/9/13)

Migrants			Arrival	Departure
Fieldfare			?	?
Redwing			?	20/04/2013
Smew			No sighting	02/04/2013
Golden eye			No sighting	16/02/2013
Pintail			24/10/2012	23/03/2013
Pochard			28/10/2012	23/03/2013
Wigeon			27/10/2012	26/05/2013
Scaup			15/08/2012	No sighting
Knot			15/08/2012	08/09/2013
Bar tailed godwits			15/08/2012	22/04/2013
Grey plovers			15/08/2012	No sighting
Green sandpipers			23/06/2013	09/04/2013
Sanderling			No sighting	08/06/2012
Turnstone			13/08/2012	26/05/2013
Golden plovers			?	23/03/2013
Bewick swan			28/10/2012	23/03/2013
Whooper swan			31/10/2010	no sighting
White fronted geese			?	23/03/2013
Tundra bean geese			no sighting	26/01/2013
Brambling			?	19/01/2013
Glaucous gull			no sighting
Iceland gull			no sighting
Short eared owl			No sighting	09/03/2013
Great northern diver			No sighting	02/02/2013
Waxwing			09/12/2012	01/01/2013
Ruff			29/07/2013	26/05/2013

My earliest and late summer migrant sightings updated to the 19/9/13

Migrants (Summer)			Arrival	Departure
Lesser whitethroat			27/04/2013	08/09/2013
Whitethroat			20/04/2013	31/08/2013
Garden Warbler			26/04/2013	24/08/2013
Sedge warbler			26/04/2013	13/08/2013
Reed warbler			28/04/2013	02/09/2013
Chiffchaff			20/01/2013	16/12/2012
Blackcap			19/01/2013	16/12/2012
Willow Warbler			20/04/2012	02/09/2013
Wood warbler			?	?
Swift			21/04/2012	24/08/2013
Swallow			01/04/2012	24/10/2012
House martin			14/04/2012-13	19/09/2012
Grasshopper warbler			21/04/2013	13/08/2013
Sand martin			06/04/2013	14/09/2013
Spoonbill			09/06/2013	15/08/2012
Garganey			07/04/2013
Cuckoo			05/05/2013	05/06/2012
Artic tern			27/04/2013	08/06/2012
Common tern			29/06/2013	17/08/2014
Sandwich tern			12/04/2013	04/08/2013
Little tern			no sighting
Hobby			19/05/2012	14/09/2013
Wheatear			28/04/2012	22/09/2012
Yellow wagtail			10/08/2013	08/09/2013
Nightingale			05/05/2013	no sighting
Red necked phalarope			19/05/2013	30/05/2013
Whimbriel			22/04/2013	30/07/2013
Little ringed plover			23/03/2013	08/09/2013
Common Sandpiper			06/02/2013	08/09/2013
Wood sandpiper			29/07/2013	23/08/2012
Turtle dove			11/05/2013	no sighting
Spotted flycatcher			22/08/2013	25/08/2013
Osprey			no sighting	27/08/2013