Wildlife with Hugh

Farlington Marshes is one of my favourite places, and a guided birdwatching trip there in late October highlighted why this is. It was a gloriously sunny and clear day with barely any breeze to speak of. And the birds were even better than the weather!

This post is about some highlights from the most recent farmland bird survey at RSPB Medmerry. Myself and another surveyor, Mike, do these surveys fortnightly throughout the year. This one took place on a gorgeous sunny day in October with barely a breath of wind, and represented somewhat of a changing of the guard in regards to the bird species we recorded.

One week later and another guided birdwatching trip to the same local wood. It was interesting to compare the two outings, broadly similar species were seen however the themes of the day were quite different. Right at the start a tawny owl called but remained silent thereafter. A group of 4 hawfinches flew around and landed up out of sight. And a chiffchaff was calling in a small orchard.

Woodland birdwatching can prove quite difficult, and with plenty of leaves still on the trees I could barely believe how forthcoming the birds were on a guided session in mid-October around a local wood. We started at a likely spot with relatively open views into the tops of some large trees. After a short time two hawfinches flew in from right to left and out of sight. A few seconds later the pair of hawfinches flew back towards the right, and we could see their distinctive shape in flight and large white patches on the wings and stubby tail.