Variety is the spice of life!

After a quiet autumn period the first week of November saw some welcome variety with a steady trickle of migrant birds visiting the site.  Unsurprisingly, easterly winds dominated the period and, as usual, seemed to change things up.

A male Marsh Harrier on 3rd Nov seemed to herald a few arrivals - 3 Wigeon that increased to 4 on 7th, at least 5 Golden Plover flying around the site and a huge flock of 400+ Linnet in the fields.  In addition, a peak count of 8+ Common Snipe on 3rd joined up to 6 Green Sandpipers, a flock of 60+ Lapwing​ and up to 3 pairs of Stonechat around the site.

The young male Marsh Harrier hunting at the far end of main pit

The 4th Nov saw the arrival of a Dunlin and the 5th a smart adult female Shelduck.  The Barn Owl was also back at its hole that evening.

An adult Yellow-legged Gull joined the afternoon roost on 6th November.  The gulls seem to like the newly scraped exposed mud on the edge of the deep pit.  The area also looks good for waders and maybe will be as the ground matures and provides more invertebrate food.  The main pit however is clearly still attractive to waders with a Redshank appearing on 8th Nov.

Adult Yellow-legged Gull on 6th Nov

A distant view of the Redshank on 8th Nov

The real highlight of the week however came on 9th Nov with the discovery of a smart male Black Redstart that spent the day hopping around the newly formed earth bank along the track.  While it had gone the next day many local birders were able to see it and it becomes #128 for the site year list.

A few more shots of the obliging Black Redstart on 9th Nov

While the Black Redstart charmed another bird puzzled - appearing to be the site's first Caspian Gull, closer scrutiny suggested it may have been a hybrid with a Herring Gull.  The bird gave a very 'Caspian' vibe with its bulk, extremely long legs and white head.  It also had a nice white underwing and clean black tail band in flight.  However, small notches on its tertial feathers, heavily chequered inner greater coverts and heavy anchor-marked scapulars suggested at least some Herring Gull influence.  Despite the bird's stand-out 'presence' among the other gulls it sadly does not make it on to the site list.  It surely must soon though!

Putative 1st winter Caspian Gull on 9th Nov that appeared to be a Herring-Caspian Gull hybrid.

Regardless of the disappointing outcome the Caspian-type gull provided further education on the pitfalls of gull ID and the challenge of pinning down pure species.  Equally, the first week of November was by no means disappointing and delivered a welcome variety of birds to spice things up after a dull autumn!