Autumnal

It felt very much like Autumn this evening at Druridge, not just the weather but the birding. Post or pre work autumn birding at Druridge usually consists of me checking the 'easy-to-work' bushes by the entrance and in the plantation, the bushes by the Budge screen, the recently coppiced by the path to the Oddie hide and if I make it to the end, the blackthorn and whitebeam scrub at the north end. The rest is too dense to work.

I spent the first hour and half in the bushes, there has certainly been an influx of migrants during or after yesterdays torrential rain, lots of willowchiffs were calling and flitting through the willows and alders and sedge warblers and whitethroat were in the recently coppiced bits.

I couldn't find an icterine warbler among them though.

On the Budge field, whilst I was on the phone, credit card in hand renewing my RBA subscription, a juvvy marsh harrier was hunting over the rushes before dropping into cover - it went straight onto the RBA pagers before my transaction was done, how's that for efficiency?

Bugger all of note on the sea.......