MID-ISH OCTOBER UPDATE.

October is racing by but at least it has yielded two new ticks for the year.Nothing unusual has turned up but on the 9th the Canada Goose numbers peaked at 152 with the single Greylag tagging along.
The 11th produced my first Little Grebe(103) of the year although Glyn had seen one in the spring. The next day Lesser Spotted Woodpecker for some time was seen behind the boat house. Of note there were 10 Lesser Black-backed Gulls over and two Grey Wagtails on the stream.
The 13th saw forty House Martins going over south(what I thought would be my last) but four were seen the on the 15th with five Swallows.
On the 17th I had the day off work to catch up on some decorating but managed to get a quick walk in before I started, which tuned out to be very enjoyable.
The field at Kirkins held plenty of birds with 60 Linnets, 15 Pied Wagtails,5 Skylarks and rather surprisingly a Wheatear. This is my first October record.Whilst watching it charging around the field I had my first Brambling of the autumn.
Down at the lake things got even better when as I was walking alond the orchard track I heard the humming of wings a was delighted to see a Mute Swan(104) take off from the lake and fly off north.At the southern end of the lake there were two Water Rails and 3 Chiffchaffs and I also had my first Lesser Redpoll calling as it flew over.It's amazing how much pleasure we can get form seeing the commonest of species.