Quiet

Apart from a report of yellow-browed in Ventnor Park again (on RBA), things are pretty quiet.

Elsewhere, St Caths produced a Pallas's warbler and yellow-browed.

Second yellow-browed of the autumn

Only my second visit to Old Station Road this autumn produced Ventnor's second yellow-browed warbler of the autumn. It was in with a LTT gang on the western side, moving south-west, calling. I didn't see it! There was possibly a second bird, which also called. And a male ring ouzel in Coombe Bottom.

Garden ouzels

7.30 up in the garden produced three ring ouzels briefly in the hawthorns before heading north. Full tallies on a quiet morning as follows:

Garden:

Ring ouzel: 3
Chiffchaff: 11
Meadow pipit:17
[Reed bunting? 1]
Swallow: 8
Siskin: 4
Alba wagtail: 9
Chaffinch: 4
Goldfinch: 6
Blackbird: 3
Linnet: 1

Walk into town then Salisbury Gardens:

Alba wagtail: 33
Siskin: 1
Goldfinch: 30
Linnet: 72
Chiffchaff: 8
Meadow pipit: 31
Chaffinch: 15
Swallow: 2
Grey wagtail: 1
Robin: 5

Feels rare!

With the persistent e-s-e breeze and thick cloud and spots of rain at dawn, today feels 'rare'! Up in the garden at 7am, four song thrushes around the hawthorns were a good indicator, but it was immediately obvious that visible migration was less pronounced than yesterday. The garden tally was as follows:

Alba wagtails: 1
Blackbird: 3
Song thrush: 5 (as above)
Chiffchaff: 1
Goldfinch: 8
Chaffinch: 2
Meadow pipit: 9

Grove car park or more specifically the tiny church yard here was a hive of activity, with:

Alba wagtail: 1
Chiffchaff: 15
Grey wagtail: 1
Robin: 8
Blackbird: 10 (all at each others' throats, mostly with black bills)
Black cap: 1

Twenty minutes stood at the Salisbury Gardens sun dial produced:

Alba wagtails: 21
Chiffchaffs: 5
Black bird: 2
Linnet: 33
Meadow pipit: 49

Ten minutes stood at the Rex view produced:

Goldfinch: 70
Alba wagtail: 1
Meadow pipit: 17
Chiffchaff: 3
Heron: 1
Sparrowhawk: 1
Grey wagtail: 1

Afternoon update.....

A walk around Ventnor this afternoon wasn't that eventful apart from 10 ring ouzels flushed from the abandoned field on Steephill Down. Blackcaps remain scarce; robin numbers are beginning to build up; jays remain thin on the ground; no hint of wood pigeon movements (so I'm not bothering counting them yet!); goldcrests - what are they?!

Totals as follows:

Alma Road:

Blackbird: 1
Swallow: 2
Robin: 4
Chiffchaff: 6

La Faliase to Myrtle Bay:

Robin: 7
Chiffchaff: 6
Blackbird: 1

Ventnor Park:

Robin: 10
Chiffchaff: 12
Jay: 10
Blackbird: 3
Grey wagtail: 1

Royal Hotel:

Jay: 1
Robin: 2
Grey wagtail: 1
Chiffchaff: 1

Steephill Down:

Ring ouzel: 10
Chiffchaff: 5
Goldfinch: 5
Blackbird: 4
Blackcap: 2
Chaffinch: 2
Hirundines: 10
Robin: 11
Meadow pipit: 47
Alba wagtail: 3

Visible migration picking up.....

Although the chiffchaffs have largely cleared out, with the persistent east-south-east air flow, cloud cover and chill, visible migration has finally picked up this morning.

Garden and Zig Zag Road:

Alba wagtails: 50
Meadow pipit: 3
Linnet: 8
Hirundines: 52
Phyloscs: 3
Goldfinches: 21
Song thrust / redwings: 5 (west over garden)
Blackbird: 1 (high north over garden)

Winter Gardens:

Hirundines: 256
Phyloscs: 8
Alba wags: 36
Goldfinch: 55
Meadow pipit: 41
Great-spotted woodpecker: 1
Robin: 2

Rex Cinema:

Hirundines: 85
Alba wagtails: 35
Meadow pipit: 7
Phyloscs: 3

Finally......

A smart yellow-browed warbler in Ventnor Park at 3.15! In an immobile tit flock (chiffchaff flock) by the band stand. In full sun which was rather nice. This tit flock has a rather restricted circuit so my guess is the YBW would be easy to re-find (was still present when I left). My second YBW in this bit of Ventnor Park since 2013, making this the joint most reliable part of Ventnor for YBW, alongside the Ventnor Industrial Estate area!

Also one goldcrest and 30+ chiffchaffs (i.e. the 'tit' flock) and two blackcaps, a jay, and five skittish continental blackbirds.

At nearby Flowersbrook, 5 chiffchaffs, a grey wagtail, two robins and a chaffinch drinking and bathing at the cascade.

Blowy easterlies

Strong easterlies which are set for the rest of the week and, predictably, the east coast is full of rares, with an eastern-crowned warbler and black-browed albatross at Flannelborough, White's thrust on Holy Island, etc etc.

The garden this morning produced a chiffchaff.

The walk into town was even better, with c.100 swallows battling east, a couple of chiffchaffs, and, well, that was it.