anticipation!!!!.... 2011-09-25

 Sunrise through misting rain.... (c) 2011

 An improving morning.... (c) 2011

 York Minster from the watchpoint!... (c) 2011

Snipe.... an all day move!... (c) 2011

S F2 rising S F5 a cracking dawn but periods of drizzle setting in even before sunrise. Longitudinal front moving through NE and wer were right on its line!
0625 - 1110hr DCB, HC, GH, LW

A wonderful dawn but periods of drizzle setting in even before sunrise together with the wind picking up. Large groups of mips arriving in the top fields and congregating but refusing to pass through. They kept getting up, testing the wind and then returning and going back down again. This happend many times. Another very large congregation a bit further away was doing exactly the same.... quite possibly waiting for the "straight in the face! wind" to become more cross! Snipe were most interesting with several parties and singles tracking hard west during the mid to later part of the morning. Grey Herons and Lapwings were also the movers of the morning with chaffinches being the best to date. Otherwise the diversity was there but only in small numbers. Anticipation... as mips appear desperate here!

Mip 447
alba 6
LBBG 39
Sparrowhawk 2
Goldfinch 5
Goosander 4
Starling 3
BHG 1
Chaffinch 30
Wheatear 4
Siskin 5 + an unseen flock
Greenfinch 3
House Martin 62
Grey Heron 4
cormorant 2
stock dove 3
Lapwing 82
Reed bunting 1
Snipe 16

SSW F 5 beconing SSW F3 dropping 2.
1415 - 1900hr. DCB

Front moved through East with cloud clear interface overhead upon arrival and with brilliant sunshine. A pretty bland afternoon except for an obvious all day thin passage of Snipe still going west. Come 1730hr the mips began to move again with some quite big parties both high and low, all moving southish. Swallows also picked up late afternoon with sevearl sizeable parties just before and in conjunction with the mipits.

Swallow 327
House Martin 16
Mip 538
LBBG 29
Common Gull 1
BHG 46
Lapwing 59
Snipe 18

Dave, Howard, Gordon and Lester