Arrived at the lake just as the sun was about to appear over the trees at the northern end.

There were a few birds moving after the change in weather, with Chaffinches going over bringing my first Brambling of the Autumn with them. I soon added singles of Siskin  and Reed Bunting. Then Fieldfare and Redwing went over. A lot of Wood Pigeons were going East.
On the lake there were 25 Canada Geese, 3 Great Crested Grebes, 9 Mandarins, 8 Moorhens, a Coot (a bit of a rarity here, plus best of all a Litttle Grebe (115).

Little Grebe in the mist.

So a nice little walk plus a species for the year list, Excellent!!

October started with a walk on the 3rd which produced the first Water Rail for a little while. The lake  also held a Kingfisher,14 Mandarin and 14 House Martins and 11 Swallows. All three woodpeckers were seen and I managed a rather distant shot of a female Lesser Spotted

                                                   Female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
A quick look at the lake on my way home on the 4th produced 230 Black headed Gulls plus 30 Herring Gulls going over East as well as 85 Stock Doves going south. The first Siskins of the Autumn arrived over the house on the 5th , with 7 over the next day and a flock of 30 at the lake on the 6th.
A stroll around the lake after work on the 10th gave a female Teal and a high count of 23 Mandarin,

                                                 Teal taken in the gathering gloom
2 Grey Wagtails, 4 Chiffchaffs, 2 Kingfishers, 5 Meadow Pipits, 43 Mallards and 10 Moorhens.
At last the sun shone and I managed a two and a half hour walk on Saturday 12th. I was hoping for a decent bit of movement and soon had my first Redwings of the autumn. I soon added Lesser Black-backed Gull, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw and Rook.
Down through Kirkins and passerines overhead were very few with a few Blackbirds and Song Thrushes but I did get Reed Bunting and Meadow Pipit. The only summer migrant so far was a lone Chiffchaff.
Down by the pumpng station I found a Grey Wagtail and a couple of Mistle Thrushes with some Stock Doves over. As I walked along the farm track between the rows of apple trees I was greeted by the call of Brent Geese(113) and was amazed to see two massive skeins, really high up, going south east. In total there were at least 450. Truly jaw droppng! Things got even better when a Stonechat(114)appeared on top of one of the wind break hedges, before flying off.A lone Swallow flew south east.
On the Shirrenden side I found my first Lesser Redpoll of the autumn with a couple of Siskins. I saw a total of 8 Great Black-backed Gulls, which is a fantastic count on my patch. 55 Species were seen in all, a really great total for the patch and I also saw 4 Roe Deer. Brilliant!!
I had a walk in the rain this morning and saw another Swallow, poor thing, I reckon this could be my last of the year.