A rare evening visit to coincide with the meeting of the EIDB User Forum was undertaken today. So far the Autumn migration has been very slow. Mainly clear skies and westerly winds have meant that migrants are very hard to find. There have been a few warblers, particularly Sedge Warblers but waders, seabirds and hirundines have been almost non-existent. The area has been very busy during the Olympics especially on the Thames with vastly increased boat traffic and low flying helicopters so maybe this has had an effect. We also have failed to add a species to the year list since June, which is surprising given the poor species total so far this year.
This evening was in general quiet, there were no warblers recorded even though I spent some time searching the the best areas for this group of species. I did see something interesting moving about while I was passing by the copse and I darted in only to be attacked by some teasels. These plants have sharp heads at this time of year, and I did'nt find out what the bird was. A good sighting was a Wheatear on Orchard Wharf, the first of the Autumn. Five House Martins were feeding overhead, another good bird here and an Adult Yellow-legged Gull was on the O2 mud along with a number of Great Black-backed Gulls most of which were juveniles. It was quiet for people, no one doing Bradley Wiggins impersonations, and I don't mean growing long sideburns so I might try another evening visit again soon.
