Coverage of the south side of CF produced at least one Golden Plover (heard but unseen high over Broadfield at 10:56, our first record of this formerly regular species since August 2013!), a Firecrest by the compost heap at Legal & General (our 13th record and the second this year) and further overhead passage involving 121 Meadow Pipits, 28 House Martins, 58 Swallows, five Black-headed Gulls and four Pied Wagtails. Two female Stonechats flitted around Owl Meadow and Horse Pasture. 10 Chiffchaffs and three Blackcaps were logged, along with three Little Owls, 30 Linnets, two Canada Geese, a Hobby, three Mistle Thrushes, a Rook and a Collared Dove. Additional local birds included four Buzzards, a Sparrowhawk, two Kestrels and three Yellowhammers.
Willow Warblers are thin on the ground now so one in the Harholt Plantation was a nice sighting. Other BW sector sightings included a further eight House Martins, six Swallows and five Chiffchaffs, along with singles of Meadow Pipit, Whitethroat and Blackcap, two Pheasants, a Buzzard and 17 Rose-ringed Parakeets.
Three Red Admirals in the sector seemed to be migrants. BW butterfly sightings involved two Small Heaths, a Peacock, a Speckled Wood, five Large Whites, a Small White, a Green-veined White and eight Meadow Browns. Piddly Pond sported a Southern Hawker.
David Campbell, Andy Downing and Ian Ward
