In the birding world autumn is a time of movement and unpredictability. Thousands of birds head south for the winter, some leave the UK, some pass through the UK and others arrive in the UK to spend the winter. The majority of movement is expected and eagerly anticipated, such as the arrival of pink-footed or barnacle geese or the first redwings gorging on berries. There are however always those unexpected surprises from further afield each year with October 2017 bringing a cliff swallow to the Scilly Isles from North America and a stunning male Siberian blue robin to North Ronaldsay from Siberia.
Here at Lake Vyrnwy we are not best situated to pick up some of the rarer migrants but could and have had scarce species in the past as they move south through the country. Last autumn we had both firecrest and yellow-browed warbler, but as of yet we have not had anything unexpected yet… though I did find a yellow-browed warbler in my garden not too far away.
Yellow-browed warbler near Llanfihangel by Gavin Chambers
There may not be the scarcities around yet but there are plenty of other birds to find on the reserve. Typically at this time of year there are mixed flocks of tits including willow tit and long-tailed tit and other birds such as goldcrest, treecreeper and potentially a late chiffchaff. These flocks could be found in any scrub or woodland around the reserve but the wood to the Centenary Hide or along the Yellow and Blue trail are good places to look.
Finches are also flocking at the moment with siskin, lesser redpoll and crossbill being seen feeding on cones of conifers or the seed of birch. The Red, Orange and Blue trails are good areas to check for these flocks, but also listen out for the ‘chip’ call of the crossbill or trill call of the lesser redpoll as they fly over. Siskin and goldfinch can be seen from the Coed y Capel hide on the feeders and our first brambling was seen there on 10 October.
Juvenile hen harrier along Dinas Mawddwy road by Gavin Chambers
The moorlands go quiet over winter but there are still a few birds still around. A merlin and juvenile hen harrier have both been seen along the Dinas Mawddwy road in the last couple of weeks, probably taking advantage of some of the commoner migrant birds using the valley. It won’t be too long until masses of redwing and fieldfare descend on the moorland edges to feed on the many hawthorns and rowans on the hill sides.
My summer reserve list ended on 30th September at a total of 102 species. It ended up being a poor September with just a little grebe being added to my list. The clear highlight was the crag martin and hopefully something just as special will turn up this winter as I chase my winter list record of 90 species!
Gavin Chambers, Assistant Warden
Previous Blog: Nest Boxes Galore