The Summer Ends

September can be a changeable month, both in terms of the weather and the birding. Sometimes it feels like an extension of summer, at other times autumn can start to bare its teeth a little early. Technically we're still in summertime as I write this, astronomically speaking, though of course ornithologically it's been autumn for quite some time and meteorological autumn began when September started. 

Weather-wise this ten day period saw a dramatic shift from some of the hottest weather of the year so far, to proper westerly, squally Atlantic conditions towards the end. It's also mid-September where the birds on offer locally takes a distinct turn towards autumn proper, and this year has been no exception, as the likes of Spotted Flycatcher, Whinchat and other passage passerines begin to ebb away, and one's thoughts turn towards the first thrushes, finches and Yellow-browed Warbler. Siskin has been perhaps the most frequently encountered species on many of my birding forays these past couple of weeks - an encouraging sign after a very poor winter for the species last year. 

Plus of course there was the star species, the Aquatic Warbler at Beeding Brooks, which delighted all who went to see it, me included.

11th September

I don't often twitch much these days but couldn't resist the urge when an Aquatic Warbler turned up just 20 or so minutes from home, found by Jamie Wilkinson on the 10th. 

After dropping B at nursery I headed down to Beeding Brooks where I found a group of around ten birders already gathered, most of whom had already seen the bird. It showed pretty quickly but only very briefly in flight a few times before giving fleeting perched views at 9.20 then going to ground for two hours. When it eventually reappeared at around 11.30 it proved a little more showy for a short time, deigning to stay in the open for as long as five seconds - enough to appreciate the warm ground colour, strong head stripes and tramlines on the back and relatively plain face. A world lifer for me - my first in the UK for quite a while. 

The bird never quite showed well enough from my angle to get any photos today, but see further down this blog post for pics from my second attempt.

Other highlights from the morning here included a flock of five Crossbills north-east, a Hobby south-west, at least one Kingfisher flying past three times (or three different Kingfishers!), heard-only Siskins and a couple of Ravens.

Beeding Brooks

Raven

In the evening a Barn Owl was heard calling near home. 

12th September

For the first time in quite a while I had a proper two hour session at Burton Mill Pond, checking all three water bodies (Burton Mill, Chingford and Black Pond). It felt distinctly autumnal in the misty, murky conditions, although still warm and very humid. The selection of passerines encountered was rather less summery, with three each of Firecrest and Marsh Tit the highlights among the usual tits, Nuthatches and a few Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps. Very vocal adult and juvenile Hobbies were flying around over the trees at Newpiece. In terms of water birds, Chingford Pond was where the action was happening - as is often the case here - with minima of 70 Gadwall, 40 Tufted Duck, 15 Teal, 10 Shoveler and half a dozen Pochard. The water level has been dropped to allow work to be carried out on the outflow channel, so the margins are looking perfect for waders. Unfortunately, none were to be found today, though there were workmen and a photographer present around said margins. 

Gadwall

Hobby

Early afternoon, a short walk round the local farmland and brief skywatch produced just the faintest whiff of autumn vismig starting to pick up, with around 150 hirundines (mostly House Martin) west/south-west, a single Meadow Pipit south and a heard-only Siskin - the latter recorded locally for the third consecutive day. 

13th September

A return visit to Beeding Brooks this afternoon after a morning co-leading a garden safari at Knepp. Thankfully, the juvenile Aquatic Warbler proved much more showy than on Monday, showing well within ten minutes of my arrival and several more times in the next hour before going to ground again for a while. I even managed to get a couple of record shots this time! A search further upriver for the reported Red-backed Shrike proved sadly fruitless but other bits of note from a couple of hours here included a Green Sandpiper which flew up from the pool by the river and off east (apparently quite a good record here according to local birders I spoke to), two Ravens west and at least five Yellow Wagtails over. 

Aquatic Warbler

14th September

A morning safari in the Walled Garden and orchard at Knepp produced Hobby and Spotted Flycatcher plus Blood-vein and Brindled Green among the usual suspects in the moth trap - although it has to be said the catch was fairly minimal owing to the overnight temperature dropping into single figures for the first time in quite a while. Brrr! 

Blood-vein

On the way home I stopped off at Chantry Hill for a walk round. It was rather quiet but very pleasant nonetheless with highlights including two Wheatears, two Common Whitethroats, singles of Stonechat and Lesser Whitethroat, a Hobby worrying a flock of around 40 House Martins and at least one flyover Yellow Wagtail. 

Red Kite

Wheatear

15th September

Not much birding today, though the moth trap produced Frosted Orange and Pale Mottled Willow, both new for the garden. A quick look at Waltham Brooks on the way home from Knepp early evening revealed two Stonechats in the scrub near the road and the usual selection of Gadwall, Shoveler and Teal on the main lake. A small group of Gadwall were also heard flying over the garden in the evening.

Frosted Orange

16th September

Another day without much birding, though a short skywatch in the garden early morning produced a little trickle of Siskins heading south/south-west, a theme that continued at our allotment later in the morning, with more heading over. Also of note here were a Common Gull flying west and a Willow Emerald Damsefly in nearby trees, a species that is rapidly spreading across West Sussex.

Willow Emerald

A walk at Knepp with friends early afternoon yielded 15 White Storks, a couple of Red Kites and Buzzards and other usual fare. In the evening, a short walk/skywatch on the local farm fields produced a little flurry of southbound Swallows. 

17th September

An early start this morning for WeBS day. Sadly the low cloud and north-easterly didn't produce a tasty wader at my private reservoir site over near Petworth, or any waders at all for that matter, with even the recent lingering Common Sandpipers having moved on at last. Highlights on the water were three Shoveler, 11 Pochard, 52 Egyptian Geese and a site high count of 126 Coot. It was fairly lively on the passerine front with Yellow Wagtail and at least two Siskins heard flying over, plus a few Meadow Pipits.

Egyptian Geese

On the way home I dropped in at Burton and Chingford Ponds for a brief look. At least 52 Gadwall were on Chingford Pond and there was a light easterly passage of hirundines, otherwise highlights included a vocal juvenile Hobby again, 5 Red Kites circling together and a minimum of 50 Siskins. 

Continuing the vismig theme, a short stint in the garden mid-morning produced a little flurry of hirundines and a couple more Siskins, followed by a kettle of 19 White Storks which took a while to decide on their direction of flight before drifting strongly south-west, apparently later seen over Southampton. 

White Storks

Late morning saw us heading up to Surrey to meet friends for a quick walk at Thursley Common before lunch. Perhaps unsurprisingly the first bird I heard as soon as I got out of the car was Siskin and their 'pew' calls soundtracked what turned into a pretty short walk, as our storm chaser friends alerted us to the rush of wind preceding a torrential downpour, meaning we thankfully got to shelter before the rain hit (Amazingly, an inch of rain fell in the following hour!). Just prior to the rain I noted around 20 House Martins drifting east.

Back at home in the evening I took a short stroll out to Thorndale Bridge which produced a vocal male Tawny Owl (new for me at this hotspot) and 2-3 Water Rails squealing on the Amberley side of the Arun. 
 

18th September

The morning after the storm before. A midnight thunderstorm of biblical proportions which brought down trees in the local area and blew out the bulb in my moth trap (that will teach me to bodge a rainguard with a garden umbrella...). Unsurprisingly, all the moths had vacated the Skinner by the morning, with just a few Willow Beauties scattered about and a new for the garden Garden Carpet doing a rubbish job of trying to camouflage against some nearby woodwork. 

Garden Carpet

After dropping B off at nursery I popped by Pulborough Brooks for a brief scan of the North Brooks which produced my first Pintail of the autumn (at least five among hundreds of Teal) plus 3 Ruff, 5 Snipe and a perched adult Hobby. 

With more rain on the way and a bit of a window of opportunity I decided to dash back over to the reservoir near Petworth, in the hope that the storm had dropped something in. It proved to be a very worthwhile decision as I approached the rim of the reservoir and peered over to be greeted by the sight of two juvenile Black Terns hawking up and down over the water - not just a first for this hotspot but a first for me anywhere in my local area and, indeed, anywhere in inland Sussex. For the next hour or so I delighted in watching them feeding over the water and occasionally resting on the buoys at the southern end. A truly wonderful bird to encounter in this unlikely location in the middle of rural West Sussex, following on from the lingering Long-tailed Duck here last winter. What next! 

Other highlights here this morning included a showy Wheatear on the fence by the reservoir and a Lesser Whitethroat in nearby scrub, the latter actually a hotspot tick but rather overshadowed by the terns!

Black Terns

Black Tern

Wheatear

19th September

Another distinctly autumnal morning with drizzle in the air and a brisk south-westerly wind. While driving through Houghton/Amberley this morning I noticed an adult Great Black-backed Gull on the river bank near Houghton Bridge. Not a regular sight round these parts, especially not on the deck. After dropping B at nursery I decided to head back over to Petworth to check if the Black Terns were still around. They weren't but, frustratingly, I did have another tern flying away from me heading purposefully south-west, but didn't get good enough views to clinch the ID. It seemed fairly uniform grey on the back and very buoyant, but unfortunately will have to go down as one that got away. 

There was a bit of House Martin passage going on with at least 110 birds powering straight into the wind during my 90 minutes here. Otherwise, highlights were restricted to ten Pochard and 14 Shoveler on the water and a flock of 20 Meadow Pipits overhead.

20th September

Very little birding today, as I was leading a garden safari at Knepp in the morning and heavy rain set in by mid-afternoon until nightfall. Passing glances at Waltham Brooks and Southlands Farm, West Chiltington on my way to and from Knepp, respectively, revealed much the same species on offer at both sites. 20 Shoveler were on the main lake at Waltham Brooks plus a few Gadwall and a lone Grey Heron perched on the post in the water, while Southlands hosted 10 Shoveler and five Teal. The almost total absence of waders at both these sites in recent weeks reflects what a generally poor wader autumn it's been everywhere, combined with higher water levels than we were experiencing this time in 2022. 

Seasons collide

As the schools go back and we enter meteorological autumn of course the weather has decided to go all 'high summer' with the first anticyclonic system to reach our shores since June, as I write this in early September. It's been a bit of a shock to the system to dig out the shorts and suncream again after what felt like a protracted bout of autumnal weather in recent weeks. It's also scuppered the first week and a half of September from a birding point of view, in some ways, with many migrants clearly making a quick getaway in the fine weather. Vismig in particular has been pretty poor so far, but I'm still hopeful for better to come in the next few weeks.

It's still been an enjoyable start to autumn proper though, with plenty of bits to talk about in this ten day period. 

1st September

It was our fifth wedding anniversary today, so we headed down to Ferring for breakfast and a walk along the beach followed by a stroll around Parham gardens.

At Ferring, avian highlights came in the form of three Ringed Plover and two Sanderlings among around 75 Turnstones roosting on the beach, and at least ten Sandwich Terns and three Common Terns past at sea. A lone Teal briefly landed offshore before flying off west. Eight Oystercatchers flew west while we were having breakfast.

Sandwich Terns

Sanderlings

The highlight of the morning though came when Kate asked 'what's that flapping about on the beach there?' Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a Convolvulus Hawkmoth, presumably newly arrived from across the Channel. It was struggling to stay clear of the incoming tide so I gently scooped it up and placed it in a patch of vegetation at the top of the beach, safely away from a nearby flock of House Sparrows. A remarkable encounter!

Convolvulus Hawkmoth

Parham was, comparatively, pretty quiet, though raptors were much in evidence in the by now warm afternoon sunshine, with at least half a dozen Buzzards thermalling overhead along with a couple of Red Kites and a Sparrowhawk. At least three Ravens were around too, and I commented to Kate that it's amazing how quickly the species has spread into this part of West Sussex, going from being a relatively infrequently occurrence when we moved down here in 2017 to now being a daily event. 

2nd September

An early morning loop of Pulborough Brooks produced 58 species including a pleasing selection of waders on the North Brooks (seven Black-tailed Godwits, four Ruff, three Green Sandpiper, four Snipe and 120 Lapwing) but sadly not the Spotted Redshank seen by Chris and Juliet et al the previous day. At least a dozen Yellow Wagtails were with the cattle near Winpenny and a Spotted Flycatcher was among a mixed flock at the picnic area on the way down to Nettleys.

Ruff and Lapwings

Later in the morning, while at our allotment, I noted a Swallow flying over carrying food, so presumably still feeding young in a nest. Later still, a Cattle Egret flew low over the A29 as we were driving home. 

3rd September

A morning walk from home with Kate and B produced a couple of Willow Warblers and three Spotted Flycatchers up Sandy Lane. 

A check of the North Brooks at Pulborough en route to Knepp was again lively on the wader front, with Wood Sandpiper the highlight along with eight Black-tailed Godwits, two Ruff, heard-only Green Sandpiper and at least 140 Lapwings. At least five Yellow Wagtails were with the cattle up towards Brookgate Farm, one of the Knepp White Storks was also wading about on the North Brooks but too distant to read the ring number, and a Hobby was hawking overhead.

Yellow Wagtails

Knepp itself was rather quiet on the bird front, but a check of Southlands Farm in West Chiltington on the way home produced singles of Tufted Duck and Shoveler on the little pool there; both new species for me at this site. 

4th September

After dropping B at nursery this morning I headed up to Amberley Mount, hoping I would find it above the fog level. Frustratingly, the fog was sitting just at the height of the Downs here and took a little while to clear. As I reached the top of the western slope, it had thankfully mostly dissipated and the first birds to reveal themselves were three Wheatears on the fence line around the sheep fields. There were several Yellow Wagtails calling and occasionally flying up from among the sheep too - I reckoned at least six by the end of the session here. Other highlights from a lively couple of hours included a minimum of ten Redstarts (mostly on the southern slopes), a few Willow Warblers, singles of Whinchat, Stonechat, Corn Bunting and Spotted Flycatcher, and a Marsh Harrier powering north. Swallows and House Martins were trickling west/south-west throughout the session, and three small groups of Siskin were also heard flying over, seemingly heading in the same direction. 

Willow Warbler

Marsh Harrier

5th September

A rewarding early morning jaunt from home produced a 1km year tick in the form of a Whinchat in the scrub near the railway crossing at Waltham Brooks. Atypically, it didn't hang around for any photos as it flew strongly off towards the river almost as soon as I'd lifted my bins. This followed a flyover Yellow Wagtail - species 104 for the Watersfield Farmland hotspot. At least one Yellow Wag was heard around the cattle at Waltham Brooks too, with other highlights including at least three Lesser Whitethroat, half a dozen Common Whitethroat, three Snipe (my first of the autumn here), two Stonechat, Water Rail, three Tufted Duck and a Little Grebe.

Whitethroat

Lesser Whitethroat and Stonechat

A mid-afternoon skywatch from the fields near home proved rather quiet in the searing heat, though at least 100 Swallows were milling about, some purposefully heading WNW, with a few House Martins in tow. An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull also drifted the same way.

6th September

After a morning garden safari at Knepp (highlights of which were Hummingbird Hawkmoth and a lot of hornets!) I made an impromptu decision to pop down to Mill Hill near Shoreham, even though the Red-backed Shrike hadn't been reported for a couple of days. I hadn't been here for a few years and it was lovely to have a stroll round, even if it was blisteringly hot and the shrike didn't put in an appearance. 

Highlights included two Spotted Flycatchers in the scrub north of the car park, a heard-only Redstart and, best of all, a Honey Buzzard which suddenly appeared to the west of the hill, flying away from me before gaining height, banking and heading north. Annoyingly, a combination of the element of surprise, suncream on my glasses and terrible light meant I wasn't able to get any useable photos of it, so the record shot below is purely for posterity. Mill Hill is always a great site for butterflies and today didn't disappoint, with several Adonis Blues about and my first UK Clouded Yellow of the year. 

Adonis Blues

Spotted Flycatcher

Honey Buzzard (honest!)

On the way home I briefly stopped off at Pulborough for a scan of the South Brooks from Hail's View which produced just a couple of Green Sandpipers. 

7th September

A dawn walk from home was rather too hampered by fog and low light to be anything other than a nice breath of cool air after a sticky night.

Sunrise over Watersfield

After dropping B off at nursery I decided to head over to the farmland and private reservoir near Petworth. The temperature was already climbing fast and it was uncomfortable to be in the sun for any length of time. It proved to be a fairly lively 90 minutes or so here though, with 42 species recorded. Highlights were a hotspot first Redstart briefly in flight along a hedgerow, Wheatear, two Common Sandpipers at the reservoir and at least two Ringed Plover flying over, calling, seemingly heading west but not seen.

Farmland near Petworth

8th September

Not much birding today aside from a trip to Warnham LNR with B. My first visit to this reserve for a while, today it produced 32 species including Kingfisher, Marsh Tit and the usual assortment of wildfowl and gulls. 

Best from the garden moth trap at home in the morning were two Light Emeralds and the first Centre-barred Sallow of the autumn.

Light Emerald

Centre-barred Sallow

While in the garden in the afternoon, singles of Yellow Wagtail and Siskin flew south and south-west, respectively. 

9th September

A morning safari at Knepp was scorching hot and rather quiet on the bird front, though the odonata put on a good show, especially Migrant Hawkers which seemed to be everywhere we looked. 

An evening walk out to the river at Thorndale Bridge was a relief after the heat of the day, and produced a juvenile Marsh Harrier quartering just across the river at Amberley and a Great White Egret which flew across to Amberley from Waltham Brooks, the latter my first record for this eBird hotspot. 

Great White Egret

Marsh Harrier

10th September

The moth trap was out again overnight which produced a new for the garden Marbled Green. Prior to emptying the trap, an early morning loop of Waltham Brooks and Thorndale Bridge produced a/the Great White Egret again, flying in from Amberley before turning and heading up the river towards Pulborough. Also noteworthy were two Whinchats along the river bank, a Green Sandpiper which flew in from the north and dropped in under Greatham Bridge and a heard-only Kingfisher.

Marbled Green

Waltham Brooks sunrise

Whinchat

Great White Egret

Later in the morning, half a dozen Siskins flew high south-west over the garden. There already seem to be more of these around lately, even if just moving through. Fingers crossed for a better winter ahead for them and other winter finches.

With rain forecast around lunchtime I headed over to the private reservoir near Petworth hoping for a wader to drop in. In the event, there was just a Common Sandpiper of note on the deck, although at least two Ringed Plover were again heard flying over, 16 Pochard was a fairly high count here and at least 70 Swallows drifted east ahead of the approaching weather. 

Late August

And just like that, one of the longest and most bird-filled months of the year comes to a close.

I recorded 129 species in August this year, mostly in Sussex, including three UK year ticks and multiple local year ticks, including Tree Pipit, Whinchat and Honey Buzzard.

Weather-wise, August has ended much in the same vein as the rest of the month: intermittent warm sunny spells, punctuated by some torrential downpours or sometimes just grey and murky days. 

I'm still missing a lot of really gettable species for the year round here, and am excited for what local birding might bring in the coming weeks and months. Bring on the autumn proper!

22nd August

After dropping B at nursery this morning I stopped off at Pulborough for a scan of the South Brooks from behind the visitor centre, followed by a brief check of the wooded edge of the heath. The best on the South Brooks were two each of Greenshank and Green Sandpiper and singles of Hobby and White Stork, while a Spotted Flycatcher was on the edge of the heath. 

Later in the day, two Yellow Wagtails south/south-west over Codmore Hill north of Pulborough represented my first passage birds of the autumn.

Kestrel

23rd August

An eclectic day, starting with a short walk around the local farmland, which produced a lively passerine flock as the rising sun caught the willows and oaks. In among the more common species were at least 4-5 Willow Warblers and singles of Redstart and Spotted Flycatcher.

Spotted Flycatcher

En route to Knepp I very briefly stopped off at Amberley Mount for a scan from Downs Farm which produced a few Whitethroats but little else.

Knepp itself was good (I was co-leading a garden safari) with flyover Yellow Wagtail and Raven over the walled garden and a Spotted Flycatcher flying from the garden area to the trees to the west. 

On the way home I stopped in at Waltham Brooks which again yielded a Redstart in the scrub near the main lake and a White-tailed Eagle in flight over Widney Brooks. 

Another brief look at Amberley Mount late afternoon didn't reveal any new birds of note, but I did see my first Hornet Robberfly on one of the paths - what amazing insects they are!

Hornet Robberfly

24th August

An early loop of Pulborough Brooks proved fairly quiet for waders with just four Ruff and two Green Sandpipers on the North Brooks, while the South Brooks held a third Green Sandpiper and a heard-only Greenshank. Passerine activity was relatively limited due to the time of day and cloudy conditions but at least three Spotted Flycatchers and a couple of Garden Warblers were noted around the trail. From Winpenny, a White Stork (GB0S from Knepp) and the usual very pale Buzzard were the most obvious species.

Buzzard

White Stork

Mid-morning I headed down to Littlehampton with B for a stroll along the West Beach. This was somewhat curtailed by the rain, but nonetheless we managed at least 25 Ringed Plover, three Sanderling and 15 Sandwich Terns on the beach, with others of the latter feeding offshore. A Wheatear very briefly alighted on the fence near the cafe and a couple of Yellow Wagtails were heard flying over. 

25th August

A great little session up on Amberley Mount this morning produced a pleasing selection of species, with migrant passerines again the stars of the show in the form of two Spotted Flycatchers and singles of Whinchat and Redstart. At least one Yellow Wagtail was heard flying over. Four Grey Partridges flew up from near the farm buildings at Downs Farm as I passed. 

Spotted Flycatcher

Whinchat

Redstart

26th August

I started this morning at Waltham Brooks at first light, which proved a worthwhile choice, as one of the first birds I encountered was a Tree Pipit flushed up from the long grass between the railway line and the main lake; amazingly my first record of the species anywhere in 2023, and a particularly welcome 1k and Waltham Brooks tick (123 and 131, respectively). Other highlights here this morning were two Lesser Whitethroats and a Garden Warbler with a couple of tit flocks, a heard-only Kingfisher, and at least 45 Greenfinches leaving roost near the lake. 

A second 1km walk around lunchtime was cut short due to torrential rain, but a late afternoon excursion on foot west home from home proved very good. Having picked up a Spotted Flycatcher on call behind the sports pavilion at Watersfield playing fields, further exploration of Watersfield Common produced rather little until I got to Sandy Lane on the eastern side and found at least two more Spot Flys in an oak here. I figured I needed to get up to the fenceline right by the tree to get the best views - and to check what else might be lurking in the mixed flock (I had already picked up a couple of Willow Warblers kicking about). As I did so, it became clear there were many more Spotted Flycatchers all the way along the hedgerow between where I was stood and the playing fields. Indeed, a proper scan all the way along produced an absolute minimum of ten Spotted Flycatchers (including two fluffy young ones) plus a bonus Redstart. Amazing scenes!

Redstart

Spotted Flycatcher

27th August

No birding today.

28th August

A couple of local outings on foot today, either side of social stuff in Midhurst. The first walk around the local fields this morning proved fairly quiet, though early afternoon two of the White-tailed Eagles drifted high over Watersfield, heading roughly west, chasing each other and tumbling like Ravens as they went. 

Another walk out to the local fields late afternoon was made worthwhile by first a Hobby drifting high south-west overhead, followed by at least two heard-only Crossbills seemingly heading roughly the same way; my first in the 1km this year (124 for that particular list) and my 102nd species in the Watersfield Farmland hotspot. 

Migrant Hawker

29th August

As I had a free morning I decided to put in a couple of hours up at Amberley Mount in the hope of some good passerine action. Redstarts were the stars of the show, with an absolute minimum of nine around, probably more. Other highlights included eight Grey Partridges, three Wheatear and a lone Spotted Flycatcher. 

Grey Partridges

Wheatear

Redstart

The spectacular finale to my walk came in the form of a White-tailed Eagle powering up the valley from the direction of Arundel and straight over the Downs a relatively short distance to the west of me. It was clearly carrying some kind of prey, though it was hard to make out exactly what. 

White-tailed Eagle

With still another hour or so to spare before I needed to head up to Knepp, I decided to pop down to Goring for a quick seawatch in the hope of connecting with a Balearic Shearwater or two (over 200 had been seen off Selsey earlier in the morning). In the end there was to be no such excitement, just a few Sandwich Terns and Gannets offshore and a Turnstone on the beach. 

Turnstone

30th August

A funny, mixed day. A look at the reservoir near Petworth again held three Common Sandpipers and a high count of 43 Tufted Ducks. A walk up to the north-west of Petworth produced a single Swift flying among dozens of Swallows and House Martins.

A late afternoon stroll around the local fields near home was enlivened by an immature Goshawk powering through low and fast into the trees on Lodge Hill, scattering dozens of Rooks and Jackdaws in the process. Not a 10km or 1km tick for this year but my first for the Watersfield Farmland hotspot (species number 103) and still an exciting bird to encounter, despite their rapid increase in this part of the world. 

31st August

An early walk from home out to Thorndale Bridge wasn't particularly productive, though there was a nice scattering of common warblers in the willow scrub just west of the railway bridge, including Reed Warbler, Willow Warbler and Whitethroat.

That was about it for birding today, although a rather late Swift flying over Farnham early afternoon was noteworthy. I don't tend to see many after the end of August.