Pull Out The Stopper, Let's Have a Whooper

 Stanley Holloway's rendition of "Get Me To The Church On Time" was suitably amended to provide this post's title. Burger King would obviously go with his original version 😂

Whooper Swans arrive at the Mere through Autumn while on passage, but they don't often stay more than an hour or two; sometimes they land and almost immediately take off again; if we're lucky a small flock will arrive at dusk and stay overnight, before leaving early on next day.

 

Eight Whooper Swans on Wed 9 October

Same swans above but zoomed in

As above, leaving after 15 minutes

22 Whoopers flew over Southorpe Road on Fri 11 October

I am still awaiting the first winter thrush of the season. Redwings and Fieldfares are arriving but not in my vicinity yet. Even the local Song Thrushes and Mistle Thrushes seem to be lurking out of my sight 🤣 Meanwhile Goldfinches are scoffing the hawthorn berries as fast as they can.

Goldfinch munching hawthorn berries

In the past two years I have seen dragonflies up to 8 October, but not this year. Last year I saw a Common Darter on 13 October, but not this year. It may be part of the overall decline in insect life - or it may just be too damn cold for them now.

Autumn is a time to pick out seeds that are everywhere you look. I think this is a desicated Hogweed umbelifer with some seeds still hanging on.

Hogweed past its best now, but looking beautiful in a different way

Squirrels are quite active now, rumaging in the leaf litter for whatever they can find. I watched one this morning as it seemed fixated on one particular piece of wood. It was chewing it at the end, along its length, at the other end, dropping it and picking it up again and again.

Squirrel chewing on a twig

In Wassand Wood another large branch has fallen from a tree and made life interesting for those of us who walk down to the hide. I'm just glad I wasn't under this one when it fell. It hasn't been particularly windy recently so it may just have been the rain and accumulated weight that did the damage.

A large branch takes its final bow

Autumn Is Here

 Autumn felt as though it had arrived this morning as I walked through the fields with a slight ground mist swirling around the sheep; dew was hanging heavily on the grass stems, bending them over with the weight; most impressive of all was the gorgeous blue sky, with a wide vista filled with the sight and sound of passing Pink-footed Geese. I just love Autumn!

A deep blue sky

A little ground mist

Dew on the grass

Not much Autumn colour in the trees yet

I found a little piece of Autumnal colour

Pink-footed Geese in a clear blue sky

The hawthorns and dog roses are stacked with berries and hips all waiting for the first winter thrushes to arrive, or the Starling flocks, whichever find them first.

Hawthorn berries

Rose hips

It really was a beautiful morning and the wonderful light made almost everything look great - even a beady-eyed Rook looked good 😉

A few passage migrants were found in the first field reedbed, a Whinchat and two Stonechats. I missed a Redstart that had been seen earlier.

Whinchat

Stonechat

Yesterday I walked down to Rolston to try and get a Yellow-browed Warbler, which I did and I had reasonable views, but no photos worth adding here I'm afraid. A few photos were taken of other suff though...

A late blooming Marsh Marigold

A charming flock of Goldfinches on teasels

Two Kestrels were being mobbed by corvids

To finish this update, I found a pair of Common Scoter on Wednesday morning just off second field. The light was very poor but the birds are at least recognisable.

Pair of Common Scoter on the Mere