Monday 30th September

I have not written for a while, but the birding has not been overly exciting, and I have been away as well. The week we had lovely weather I was away for, meaning that since I returned it has been wet and windy, hardly conditions suitable for birding.

Until today. Today has bucked the trend. A break in the rain meant that migrants were making the most of the dry spells to travel as far as possible, and they were flying over fairly low due to the cloud cover, which was still almost 100%.

But the birds. On the Montargis Estate, a record 4 Yellow Wagtails (year tick for me) flew over low, one landing briefly on some garages: these formed only the third record for the Crowborough area, with the previous records being as follows:

• 2 at Alfreys Road on the 1st of March 2003
• 1 at Goldsmiths Recreation Ground on the 24th of September 2017

However, that was not all. Chiffchaffs were literally everywhere, calling, and I picked out a Willow Warbler (the 5th record this year so far) at the top of Luxford Road. To top it off, Meadow Pipit migration was clearly underway, with heavy passage. I recorded a minimum of 34 in less than two hours.

Tuesday 24th September

Today I had superb views of two Chiffchaffs in my garden, and a small mixed flock of tits and a Nuthatch at very close range, enabling me to take some half-decent photos. Tits seen included Blue, Great, Coal, and Long-tailed. I also saw two Robins fighting, and 5 youngish Blackbirds plus two adults were feeding on the rotten apples from our apple tree.

There was one Meadow Pipit over Steel Cross at 07:31 this morning.

Tuesday 3rd September

Highlights this morning came in the form of the first 2 Meadow Pipits of the autumn, flying over the junction between Green Lane and Poundfield. Three Nuthatches were encountered in their usual places, but this afternoon I had another two juveniles on the Beeches Estate. Despite the cloudy conditions overnight, the hoped-for fall of migrants never came to much, with just a Blackcap in the woodland along Green Lane, and a single Chiffchaff at the junction of Luxford Road and Montargis Road. A party of approximately 8 Long-tailed Tits were at Payne Close, whilst a couple of Siskin flew over Steel Cross.

Monday 2nd September

Fairly quiet this morning, with the highlight being the two Marsh Tits at the top of Payne Close, a regular (ish) site for them. Chifchaffs were in good numbers, with one at the top of Pelling's Farm Close, one at the top of Poundfield Road, and two over on the Montargis Estate at the top of Luxford Road (near Rockington Way). I had the joint highest numbers of Nuthatch - 3, all in the usual places.