Watchpoint 02-10-2005

Members only watchpoint 02-10-2005
Sunday 2nd October 2005
0640 – 1105hr (DCB, JS, HC - a full team from before sunrise today!)
Weather and Sky:
A deteriorating morning with high cloud overdrawing. Wind. Initially NW F3 at 0525hr, remaining similar for most of the morning, with WNW F3 by 1100hrs> Temp: 6 @ 0525, similar at 0830, 9 by 0950hr, with 8 at 1100hr. Visibility: good but variable >60km NNW Leck Fells / 124km SE (Lincolnshire). Cloud: open sky, 0ok initially, becoming mainly altostratus in many interesting forms by mid morning when 8ok. Pressure: rising quickly overnight and throughout the morning with 1021 at 0525hr and 1026 by 1100hr.

Apologies for the number of sky pictures, but we all thought it important to capture the conditions here today for all to see!!!

A magical morning of wonderful skies, with lots and lots of moving birds to complement. Not massive numbers but enough to keep the team of three constantly shouting species and numbers, with many, many book pages filled – thus confirming constant movement, by lots of smaller groups. Meadow Pipits were coming from our first arrival before sunrise. All were high and appearing to be mainstream stuff, with virtually all going direct south. Pipit movement here today was on a broad front, with many birds seen and counted by scoping as well as to the NE, out to the SE and NW as well. Lots of finches on the move as well with only the closer ones identified counted. A good few groups of finch sp remained uncounted. Greenfinch were especially strong, with party after party heard calling and then seen coming up out of the valley below and onward west. A Buzzard was heard calling once overhead, but none of us could see it and then as if by magic away to the west at c0845 the bird was picked up having a very hard time from a big band of corvids as it went on WSW and away. Also very interesting were two well time spaced Great Spotted Woodpecker singles, one going SW and the other west. Both were very high and identical in mannerism with direct bounding flight. One of the birds came within scoping range to id the plumage as it passed on west. Jays were also seen on the move, one NW and another two NE. Woodpigeons, for the second consecutive day were seen moving in the upper sky, today a small group going high NE. A few Skylark passed, with the first at about 0910hr, with more later, but all were high and suspected more missed. Generally we were so busy looking for and picking up passerines that there was little opportunity to scope the goose tracks, so with conditions being ideal for them as well we may have missed some birds. A single Greylag Goose was however picked up close, and onward NW.

Moving Birds where indicated:
Greylag Goose 1 > NW
Cormorant 1 > SE
Sparrowhawk 1
Buzzard 1 > WSW
Kestrel 3
Golden Plover 4 > S / SW
Lapwing 1 > S
Snipe 1 > S
Black-headed Gull 131 > W / NW
Common Gull 21 > S / SW
Lesser Black-backed Gull 64 > S / WWoodpigeon 8 > NE
Great Spotted Woodpecker 2 (1 > SW and 1 > W)
Skylark 12 > W / SW
Swallow 82 > S
Meadow Pipit 1,882 > S with a few SE and SW
Grey Wagtail 3 > W
alba Wagtail 26 > SW / S / SE
Stonechat 3
Mistle Thrush 12 > NW
Jay 3 (2 > NE and 1 > NW)
Jackdaw 25
Carrion Crow 20
Starling 51 > S mainly, a few west
Chaffinch 33 > W and S
Greenfinch 144 > W
Goldfinch 40 > S / SE / SW
Siskin 38 > S / SE / SW
Linnet 6 > W
Redpoll 9 > W
Reed Bunting 4 > W

Total: 2632 individuals, 31 species, 4:25 hours

Meadow Pipit distribution:
Before 0700hr 39
0700 – 0800hr 246
0800 – 0900hr 648
0900 – 1000hr 498
1000 – 1100hr 451
Total: 1882

Dave.