Peter Jones Wildlife blog

A week off from work in the middle of September, and I was in the mood to visit Islands in search of Migrants! First up was a Marinelife Survey to Lundy. Great trip in good company, the sightings can be seen at the following web page:  http://www.marine-life.org.uk/ilfracombe-or-bideford-lundy/2013/09/14(1) The Island itself really impressed me. Very remote, but with camping facilities, and a smattering of migrants including Whinchat, Willow Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, and White Wagtail. didn't explore the whole island, and some distant areas of trees looked to have potential. Certainly enough to keep me busy on an overnight stay in the future. I left the Marinelife survey and Ilfracombe, heading West. I originally planned to take my tent to the Scillies, but the heavy gales forecast for Sunday and Monday put paid to these plans, and looking back at bird sightings from the Scillies, I had a close escape. It looks to have been a struggle!  Instead, I decided on some heavy seaw...

At the end of August, I had a week's leave from work coinciding with a pretty noticeable fall of migrants locally. I didn't have much hope for the last week of August being a mecca for migrants, but so far, it has been the highlight of my Autumn, and all were seen within walking distance from the house! A 50 acre horse paddock and fallow-land which is private, but which I've managed to arrange access to, held the bulk of the sightings with 3 Redstarts, Lesser Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Whinchat and Wheatear all putting in an appearance together with Tree Pipit overhead, and a decent number of Whitethroats (which breed in the more overgrown areas of the field). Further afield, near Ashfield, another paddock and small dell always seems to have a migrant or two lurking, and this week I managed 2 Redstarts and 4 Spotted Flycatchers, plus Blackcaps and a Hobby. More recent visits in the midst of some serious Westerly winds have drawn a complete blank in both areas.