Horrid autumn- 30/9/17

Point: Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, 4 Chaffinch, 2 Reed Bunting.
Viz mig: Meadow Pipit 7, Rock Pipit, Pied Wagtail 5, Linnet 97, Reed Bunting.

And stupid Grebes. A pair of Great Crested Grebes in full display. It's autumn! Get a creek!

Horrid autumn- 29/9/17

6:40-9:20
Sharp shower of rain starting against the window, 90 mins before sun-up. A promise of something turning up. Expectation over reality?

Point: Blackcap 3, Chiffchaff 4, Goldcrest 3, Firecrest 1 (that'll do, that's what's turned up), Greenfinch 16, Reed Bunting 3

Viz mig: Teal 22 (w), (Barnacle Goose (w)), Meadow Pipit 136,  Grey Wagtail 3 (e),  Rock Pipit (w), Pied Wagtail 6 (w),  Linnet 73,  Chaffinch 15. In, high from ne: 557 Dunlin, 30 Black-tailed Godwit and 59 Turnstone.

Horrid autumn- 28/9/17

Empty skies today. Brent movement calmed right down, just 84 present this a.m. Many Wigeon and Teal had also moved on. Just a single Grey Wagtail past the Point. Negative data is useful, and all that. Bring on the diurnals..

Horrid autumn- 27/9/17

Quiet, still.And quiet still.

Pt- Blackcap 2, Goldcrest 2, Meadow Pipit 8, Chaffinch 6, Linnet 4, Reed Bunting 2

Viz mig (west)- Brent Goose 54, Wigeon 33, Teal 35, Meadow Pipit 23 (+11 south), Grey Wagtail (east), Chaffinch 9, Goldfinch 6, Linnet 16

Horrid autumn- 26/9/17

6:35-8:05

Viz mig (west)- Brent Goose 125, Grey Heron 8 (south-west), Meadow Pipit 16, Chaffinch 5, Linnet 9.
Viz mig (inland, south)- Sandwich Tern 11, Brent Goose 208.

Sun up, sun down, Brent on the inland route once again.

Another 440 south-west in the last hour of the day. The lunchtime walk had also been on this stretch, with just three Brent loafing near Bloors; clearly behaving correctly, spending the middle part of the day feeding (it should really only take the dawn flights a couple of hours to reach south coast feeding grounds). 

Horrid autumn- 24/9/17

Brent. That'll do.

Horrid autumn- 23/9/17

Point: Kingfisher, Robin 12, Goldcrest 4, Chiffchaff 7 (plus one in-off from the north-east), Blackcap, Greenfinch 9, Reed Bunting 3, Linnet 11.

Viz m (w): Greenshank (south), Kingfisher, Green Sandpiper (east), Meadow Pipit 17, Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail 2, Grey Wagtail (east), Jackdaw 2, Reed Bunting 6.

Horrid autumn- 22/9/17

A quiet passage day:
Point: Chiffchaff 2, Blackcap, Goldcrest, Linnet 5, Reed Bunting.
Viz mig (west): Gadwall 2 (south), Marsh Harrier (south-east), Black-tailed Godwit 10 (south), Sandwich Tern 13, Common Tern, Swallow 17, Meadow Pipit 20, Rock Pipit 1, Grey Wagtail (east).

After that, Horrid Hill 08:40-16:00.
What? Yup, I hung on a bit today. I often have two or three short birding session a day this time of year, all around the estuary. Today I'd decided on a count known as a 'through-the-tide count' (TTTC). Seven sets of counts, one every hour, to give an idea of how an area is utilised. What today's count showed is precisely why estuary WeBS counts should be coordinated; once the tide was in, the birds spent varying amounts of time in up to six different subsites. This is the track of the Grey Plovers:

The map was taken from the BTO webpages. In reality, not been counted by seven different people for some years, Nor, Friars and Bishop counted by boat when first I returned. The interchange between Rainham Saltings, Rainham Creek and Motney saltings clear, and I've found over the years there is also routine exchange between Copperhouse Marsh and the whole of the bay to the east of Horrid Hill.

Motney is blue, as it is an area with a counter vacancy. Doesn't mean they don't still need counters for the other sectors; some of the best organised estuary counts around the U.K. have subs (-titutes, nor marines) to count on the actual date if the regular counter can't make it. The regular might do a week later to keep their own run complete, and both can be submitted- supplemental counts are welcomed by the BTO. Some of the very best organised estuaries even try for annual LTCs (Low Tide Counts).

The important thing is for individual counters to really appreciate the importance of co-ordination. There is every possibility of a major mis-representation, and here on the Medway, such movements as shown will mean under-estimates; birds may spend a lot of the time out of your area while you're counting, and they certainly not spending equal amounts of time in each- the probability is you will miss some of them. So, going at different times of the high tide period really isn't the best for waders either. Just covered? Numbers higher along the shore, but these birds may well be mid-Channel come high tide itself.

Hopefully I'm not teaching many WeBS counters their job here. The reason I mention now is that I've been told by a couple of counters this winters' counts will be more coordinated. Absolutely brilliant news. I don't know if that includes the islands, clear that it really should; but if the boat can still only go weekdays, then one can dream of enough volunteers to get a mid-week count as well as the core date around the shore; results would be intriguing- the different rates of area usage weekdays to weekends would be clear for all to see.

Back at the results, you don't have to go all pictorial, you can just as easily chart. Here's a screengrab of three species counts that day- Oystercatcher, Curlew and Black-tailed Godwit:

Oystercatcher- on the top of the tide, some birds are getting pushed off and wandering (by now, main roost is over on the northern shore, Kingsnorth Power Station apron wall).

Curlew- all off to Oakham saltings for the high tide, after finishing feeding at Rainham Saltings. They can often choose Motney, but often avoid for a few days after disturbance.

Black-tailed Godwit- classic early season feeding effort on a low tide through from dawn- enough light to feed up out towards centre, have a pre-roost rest before tide even fully covers (today they chose Oakham island); different from later in season when have to work flats hard and follow right up Rainham Saltings/ Rainham Creek.

A TTTC is of the sort of survey your average consultant undertakes. They will be full of data, but if they get interpretation wrong, it then throws the lot. Why worth having a go at few yourselves. Here I've seen some very odd conclusions drawn for the north shore- statements that certain species do not use at certain times of the tide; utter pants, but unless the locals go about assimilating good information, hard to present. Even if you have a grasp of things, these sort of counts help refine your understanding, and you can argue your case so much easier.

Nothing wrong with playing at this either, on your own beach/shore/mudflat- say a mini-version, 3 or 4 hrs over the covered rising waters, 3 or 4 hours over the covering mud. You don't have to be as mad/sad/lonely as me. What I've been concentrating on these past few years is just the one central hour, mud-flat covering time, collecting data for all whole south shore areas up to three times a month. I'm beginning to suss what happens, but I know from carrying out a few TTTCs as well there's a lot to learn about those other hours. You could also very easily clarify/discover a few things about your own area. Grab your chairs, flasks and lunchboxes.. Shouldn't really leave it just to WeBS/LTCs and those bloomin' consultants.

Horrid autumn- 20/9/17

13:45-15:45: couldn't go for dawn, wrong time of day, but, hey(!)

Point: Meadow Pipit 2, Chiffchaff, Reed Bunting.

Viz mig(w): Brent Goose 12 (plus 40 on Nor), Wigeon 41, Teal 40, Pintail 4, Shoveler, Sandwich Tern 24, Meadow Pipit 5.

And it finally happened- Swallow (south-southwest):

Plus how many earlier in the day? Deffo plus eight Sand Martin (no House Martins though). Not streams coming through low upriver, but streams dropping from the sky after coming down the main Channel, high. Most dropped out around (roughly) Booze Buoy, with one movement low west over Friars and Nor, a stream over the Point and others turning in over Rainham Saltings. Our locals had left a few days before, now this push, from who know where, was sending a signal; few Swallows would be left to come through after next few days. Peak migration. Always a pleasure to see. Always.

Not much of Rainham Saltings left on today's high tide
(the Point, and the Edith May, beyond)

Horrid autumn- 19/9/17

Point: Chiffchaff 2, Teal 4 (don't knock it, that's good for the small tidal pond).

Vis mig (w): Brent Goose 12, Wigeon 68 (+120 north-west), Teal 35(southwest), Dunlin 76, Snipe 1, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank 4, Black-tailed Godwit 30 (north), Sandwich Tern 47 (and 11 offshore), Common Tern, Wheatear, Meadow Pipit 10.


Yesterday I mentioned disturbance to roosts. Thankfully birders do not flush the roosts every day. Nor do the dogwalkers. But add them all together.. Today? That seaplane. Motney then on to put up everything on Burntwick and Greenborough. Everything. Waders forced to cross the estuary, duck as well. Easy to make out some individual species than others; the Greenborough Curlew roost went up as one. The larger the wader, the easier they spook. Hopefully they won't be as easily put off as the summering flock this year, whose numbers were extremely low once they'd been put to flight, by flight.

The seaplane can land to play on the water where marked in red. It can bank and turn over the islands to do so. Today, most of the curlew and duck came up from the stretch marked in green. Go figure.

Horrid autumn- 18/9/17

Viz mig (west): Teal 26 southwest, Ringed Plover 10, Knot, Whimbrel south, Bar-tailed Godwit 2, Greenshank 3 south, Snipe 2 south, Sandwich Tern 5, Common Tern, Kingfisher 1, Sand Martin 3, Swallow 24 (+20 south), Meadow Pipit 22, Grey Wagtail 2 east (downsteam as per norm).

Point: Chiffchaff 2. Oh, and a Woodpigeon building a nest. What an optimist. Stupid Woodpigeon.

While new arrivals would be expected to be wary (and there were certainly new birds in) the already settled staging waders didn't want to roost on Nor/Friars, even though no wildfowling out on the latter today. They instead chose RSPB Motney Saltings to start with, but were pushed off this first choice by an overeager birder. Motney, to Friars, to Rainham Saltings then back to skirt Motney and round into Otterham.

Problem, much? Obviously the present fair weather and daylength gives time for refueling in optimum conditions. This routine type of disturbance during the winter months will hit fitness and local carrying capacity. It could still be doing so now. Many of these birds are trying to take every opportunity to reach optimal migratory state before striking out for south-west Europe, for Africa. Really difficult to work out if they can under constant disturbance.

Horrid autumn- 17/9/17

Dull as dishwater. Seven Avocet off the Point noteworthy, otherwise nothing moving. 'Negative data is still useful. Negative data is still useful. Negative data is still useful..'

Horrid autumn- 16/9/17

6:25-8:55
As I was saying yesterday, where's them Swallows? None today, first time that's happened this autumn.
Viz mig: Teal, Sparrowhawk, Snipe 11 Meadow Pipit 20, Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Song Thrush 2, Linnet 18

Point: Chiffchaff 7, Blackcap 3, Reed Bunting.

Snipe. Sussing their tactics out now. While there are a handful settled on the saltings, arrivals drop and then get caught out on the lower sections, having to fly off (invariably inland) as the tide covers. A bird or two might move south over the Point in the first hour. Of course, these might just be birds moving to day roosts, but the pattern is highly irregular. More probably arrivals, I'd like to think. Especially if you have a wisp of seven go over in line. I'm so easily pleased.

Horrid autumn- 15/9/17

6:30-8:55
Viz mig: Teal 3, Buzzard, Kestrel, Sandwich Tern 3, Common Tern 2, Swallow 18, House Martin 2, Sand Martin 2, Meadow Pipit 31, Kingfisher 2, Goldcrest 1, Pied Wagtail 2, Grey Wagtail 2, Linnet 2, Chaffinch 8, Goldfinch 27
Point: just 2 Chiffchaff

It takes a while for the flick to switch. The nocturnal summer migrants are beginning to disappear off the radar. Sure, you go coastal and the feel from talking with other birders is that they're still 'here'; but numbers are low, these are now late stragglers. A big trigger for migratory onset is daylength, and not just the flight proper. Second, third broods often feel the need to carry out their post-juvenile moult quickly, taking sometimes just about half the time of a first brood. So whereas you might think they could leave eight weeks or thereabouts after their kinfolk from another egg-yolk, they might only be two or three weeks behind them leaving. Of course, this has costs; weaker feathers and the suchlike. Better to be brood one stock. Later broods are insurance policies.

Same works for adults- those that have a full post-breeding moult before migrating might shorten their own moult periods. For a great many species, peak migration periods are short, perhaps just a few days. That may seem hard to digest, but we can actually see several peaks within the same species passing through over a few weeks as various populations do their thing; northerlies set off earlier than southerlies, but might actually go slower so their passages run into each other a little. Greenland Wheatears set off much earlier than our southern softies, but usually pass just after their main passage here in the south-east.

Look closely enough at these sorts of graphs and you'll find if birds arrive earlier, they tend to leave a little earlier, similarly later if late. The control that stops the whole clock going askew is the kick-off to the spring migration down in the wintering grounds. There, they have no idea of conditions oop narf, they just know when to start off from the subtlest changes in photoperiods a short way off the equator.

All why I smile wryly when birders moan about sites that underperform to expectations in autumn. They've had some good days in past years that tend to stick in the memory, but speak to any old 'un who slogged that site, there were plenty of quiet days back then when 'nothing' happened. Expectation over reality. We're spoilt by the internet and easy access to honeypots.

Enjoy the ride. The mainly long-distance nocturnals may be slowing down and there might be an obvious gap now until those shorter-distance diurnals show, but there's still more than enough to entertain. There should be a push of long-distance diurnals any day now; where's them Swallows?

House Sparrow: doing well just along the shoreline,
three figure counts possible in the Park. Will they
wander out the Hill? Will they heck! A single figure total
for the whole of the autumn to date.

Return of the wildfowlers

Grey Plovers, flighting past the Point.

A part of the Redshank roost, Rainham Saltings.

Horrid autumn- 14/9/17

Viz mig: Teal 5, Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Swallow 15, Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch, Goldfinch 9, Linnet 14.
Point: Chiffchaff,  Blackcap, Kingfisher.

Two off the leash Dalmatians chasing out onto Sharps Green Bay saltings cleared the Turnstone roost out. The mixed Motney roost was cleared out by a more natural predator, as a Fox stalked out to the edge. Most chillaxing sight today, three Black-headed Gulls playing catch with a leaf; spending quite a bit of time on the water, chasing up from time to time as one rose with the treasure.

Horrid autumn- 13/9/17

Not a morning vis-migging, had to be elsewhere; instead a quick visit for the covering tide. There's always something to see in the autumn. A handful of Sandwich Tern upriver, then time for wader OCD as totalled 443 Grey Plover on view east of Horrid, then 444 Turnstone. I so wanted to find another Plover. Had I missed one?

Motney RSPB was the chosen sheltered roost for these Turnstone and Grey Plover today, but even from 1.3 km I instantly recognised one of the regular dog walkers making their way up the beach and out onto the reserve. Turnstone went off past me west towards the Strand, the Grey Plover kept south and east of me into R'ham saltings.

That dog walker will tell you he's been walking the saltings for 30, 40 years now, and nothing will stop him. RSPB will say privately 'it's a "minor reserve", what can you do?'

What can you do in the face of such a defeatist attitude? Me, I cancelled my RSPB membership years ago, and instead funneled those pennies to a small site trying to improve their conservation value here on the south Medway. Futile in the big picture, for sure, but I do keep hearing 'act locally'..

Horrid autumn- 12/9/17

6:15-8:40
Point- Blackcap 2, Chiffchaff 3, Reed Bunting 1
viz mig- Meadow Pipit 13, Swallow 4
offshore- Song Thrush 3, Common Tern 1, Marsh Harrier 1

Yup, that didn't cause a ripple when I tweeted. Three Song Thrush offshore. Spread about chomping on the algae in Sharps Green Bay. That'll do.

The Mystic. Still on Nor. Play 'spot the Marsh Harrier'.

Offshore, Darnet in use as a wader roost for one of the first times this autumn; 90 Oystercatcher and 35 Black-tailed Godwit in view. The slightly higher saltings just east of the fort look as if they should attract a routine roost, but is perhaps a little too close to the landing party magnet that is Darnet Fort. The area further east, past the old seawall of a long-abandoned cement works, tend to go under on the highest tides nowadays. The fort? Often a display site for Shelduck, or a roost for Egrets/Herons. But too disturbed, especially in the summer months. Scanning from the shore, even if you don't spot people, you'll often see their ropes and ladders.

Final icing on the cake today? Confirmation of Horrid as good choice for an uber-dull spot this autumn. My daily morning catch up went:

Ranger 'Anything?'

'Double figure Mipits'

'Oh. Flushed LOADS of them from the car park'

Horrid autumn- 11/9/17

11/09/17
06:30-08:20

Point- Just one Blackcap; persistent rain after dusk seems to have stopped most overnight migration higher up the country. One Willow Warbler in halfhearted song at the start of the causeway.

Viz mig- Four Meadow Pipit over the point, with another two over the shoreline. Single Sand Martin and 221 Swallow, all west.

Offshore- A young Marsh Harrier trying hard not to be harassed out over the estuary by a party of Crows. In addition to the large numbers around the Hill, clear that a distant Wallop Stone was full today; 240+ Grey Plover, 320+ Black-tailed Godwit, 40-ish Curlew among the easier to estimate.

When is Swallow movement actual migration? With Motney holding two roosts this year (Sewage Farm and Wildfowlers' reserve), how hard is it to discount numbers as roost dispersal?

My own rule of thumb, based on years of tape-luring Swallows for ringing. The vast majority will leave a roost pre-dawn, but birds can also mooch over the reedbed before deciding what to do. Some may loiter for an hour or so. As diurnal feeders, Swallows will be better off feeding when the insects are active. Unless a big movement day, when birds can continue through dawn 'til dusk, passage takes place for the first couple of hours. Steady movement, no feeding. Only when they reach the next suitable habitat do they pause to feed. Why ringers catch a lot of Swallow after 9, 10 o'clock in the morning this time of year; they don't respond to tape lures until ready to feed.

So, although I enjoyed clumps whizzing low over water and head height over the Hill, I was also sorry to see some of the birds were pausing and circuiting over the extensive cordgrass on Nor to feed; more than likely birds that will loiter around the estuary all day. Of my viz mig fig, about 40% looked like loiterers. Why so hard to interpret raw figures. One Swallow does not a migration movement make. Deep down I know I shouldn't think of Swallows as being in active migration flight mode unless I've had 3-400 whizz past me (and keep going) in those first couple of hours.

Harrison's 'Birds of Kent': "a map of the spring (red) and autumn (blue)
migrations of the Hirundinidae and Apus apus apus"
Based on records between 1905 -1951- now you know where I get it from.

Horrid autumn- 10/9/17

Horrid 06:20-08:35: an autumnal feel to the morning with the rolling fog along the north shore. That will have stopped some nocturnal migrants on Hoo, for sure, but the Point was busy (for the Point, that is), presumably birds coming in over the fog bank then deciding early safe landing probably a good option.

Point: 15 Blackcap, Whitethroat, 4 Chiffchaff, 3 Chaffinch, 2 Linnet. (Another four Blackcap at Sharp's Green Pond, with a further dozen around Mariners Orchard- clearly a Blaca day.)

Viz mig: Mute Swan, 4 east (don't knock it- one of the dog walkers stunned to see them, thought they were never seen around here. Wrong of course, but brightens up a morning).Whimbrel 2 s-w, Tree Pipit s (where have they been this autumn? Always a small passage, but a passage nonetheless), Greenfinch 4 west, Linnet 4w.

Horridhenge. Site of an amazing Spinal Tap concert some years back now.
"If you can remember it man, you weren't really there man"