Low sun over the estuary wall
Late autumn · clear, light easterly wind · 2 h 10 min
The geese came in before sunrise and stayed on the wet meadow all morning. A marsh harrier worked the edge of the reeds twice, low and unhurried, and put up every teal on the ditch.
- Greater white-fronted goose — about 400
- Barnacle goose — 60
- Eurasian teal — 35
- Marsh harrier — 1
- Bearded reedling — 6
- Water rail — heard
Fog, then lapwings
Mid autumn · fog until nine · 1 h 30 min
Nothing to see for the first half hour, only calls. When the fog lifted the ploughed field behind the pumping station was covered in lapwings and golden plovers, standing all in one direction.
- Northern lapwing — about 250
- European golden plover — 120
- Common snipe — 4
- Great egret — 2
Last warblers
Early autumn · overcast, mild · 1 h 45 min
A few reed warblers still moving through the willows. The swallows have gone; the starlings have started gathering on the wires by the farm.