My recent visits to Potwells in North Mymms Park have helped me 're-imagine' birding in Herts and begin to believe that good birds might be found, more regularly...if we look!  The temptation is always to look and travel outside Herts for the best birding, or just to wait for others to turn something up, but I think the best rewards come from doing the legwork and discovering some local birds.

My decision to regularly 'do vismig' or observe visible migration from Potwells was long overdue and regular recent visits have rewarded me with a great selection of birds that I just wouldn't normally see in Herts, at least not every year - Goshawk, Tree Pipit, Woodlark & Hawfinch.  Usually I have to wait for a trip to Dunwich Heath in Suffolk or to Wykeham Forest in North Yorkshire but not only have I now seen these birds locally but also more than once!

Today I arrived at 6am - perhaps a bit too early as it was properly dark but I did get several Tawny Owls calling!  For the first hour, even hour and a half, passage was slow to non-existent but eventually Chaffinches and Meadow Pipits began to call and suddenly a Brambling was flying around overhead!

Siskins were plentiful but just after 7.30am I caught a glimpse of a large finch flying up the valley.  Unfortunately it disappeared before I could really confirm what it was but it made me think "Hawfinch".  I played the call and listened and realised I could hear a ticking call - it grew louder and I picked up the 'tseep' flight call too.  I knew it must be perched somewhere on the edge of the wood and, sure enough, there it was, a nice male Hawfinch!  At the same time I thought I could hear another bird but couldn't see it.

Once a Herts speciality, the Hawfinch is now a very rare breeder in Herts and scarce winter visitor.  I don't usually see them every year in Herts and only got to grips with their various calls during the big influx of the winter of 2017/18 when many birds were around in local woods.  It is still a real treat to find a Hawfinch - something I do every year when I visit a known stronghold at Lynford Arboretum in Norfolk - but this was extra special being in woods local to me.

I kept alert and 2 more Hawfinch flew over headed southwest soon after 8am and a further Brambling too.  Despite otherwise low numbers of passage birds the quality had not been lacking.  Swallows and House Martins also continued to make their way south but otherwise the skies were quieter than in previous visits.  I plan to visit again soon - surely Crossbill and Ring Ouzel must be likely potential additions...?

Since late July (!) I have been on the hunt for a local Redstart but to no avail.  In 2022 I had a bright male as early as 4th July so it feels like it's been a long wait to get one.  This year the first Herts bird turned up not far away on the edge of Hatfield on 11th August but, despite further county records, none appeared locally.

As part of my search, I targeted Potwells and Redwell Farm on the hill above London Colney and have visited almost every day.  I was of course rewarded with a Goshawk, Tree Pipits and Spotted Flycatchers but my real quarry - a Redstart - remained undiscovered.  That was until today when I entered one of the sheep fields at Potwells and out of the corner of my eye saw a shadow flit up into the bush overhanging the fence-line.

I almost dismissed it as one of the many Robins and Chiffchaffs that were omnipresent but this time, sat on the top wire of the fence, was a female Redstart!  A very welcome #145 for my local 2024 5 miles from home list.  I should add that, just a couple of days before, I had added #144 to the list - an adult Mediterranean Gull that had made a brief appearance at Tyttenhanger GPs.

The Redstart was very elusive so afforded no photo opportunity but I did watch it for a little longer flitting around in the middle of the hedgerow.  Instead, my header photo is of a similar bird at the same site last year.

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to find my own Wryneck and recently I did on a visit to Cornwall!  Sadly, my camera continues to play-up and this was really the only shot I managed, the others all too blurry to share.

We were staying just outside St Agnes on the north Cornish coast and just a short walk from St Agnes Beacon - a small tor that, once climbed, gave far-reaching all round views of the area.  The surrounding farmland, hedgerows and scrub all made for excellent Wryneck habitat and it was the perfect time of year for one to pop up.

The Beacon also looked like a good vismig spot so I scheduled an early morning visit on 6th Sep to see what might be there and watch the sun rise.  At the top, I was rewarded with breath-taking views as the mist hung in the valleys and the sun began to rise.  Quite a few Meadow Pipts were mobile around the beacon and one of my target birds then called overhead - a Tree Pipit!  It settled further down the Beacon so I made a mental note to look out for it later.

As I walked the path along the Beacon ridge a lark flew up and landed just a few metres away - a Woodlark!  It didn't stay long enough for a photo but flew off across the nearby field and out of sight.  I continued on a loop down to St Agnes Head to check out the headland scrub and the back up to the Beacon.  I didn't add much on my loop save the local pair of Choughs and a Whinchat with the many Stonechats.  A Ringed Plover and Dunlin flew over - typical passage birds at this time of year.

As I walked along the lower path round the Beacon a small bird flew up and across the gorse.  I put my bins to my eyes and bingo!  There sat a Wryneck and the very first one I had found myself.  I was amazed at how small it looked in flight - just like a large warbler really.  They are peculiar, cryptic birds with their unique camouflage and habit of twisting their neck like a serpent.  They also - at least to me - possess a 'larger than life' quality as when observed in binoculars or in a scope they seem a fairly significant bird and yet the moment they fly or start flitting around the resemble a bird not much bigger than a House Sparrow.

The Wryneck remained in the area and eventually disappeared into a small holly bush not to be seen again.  However, the Tree Pipit did reappear in the same bush!  My next target must surely be a new camera!!

I have been on the hunt for a good vantage point in St Albans (and within 5 miles of home) that would serve as a reliable 'vismig' or visible migration watchpoint.  Based on some recent visits I think I may have found one!  My hope is that if it delivers, it will become a key part of my local birding arsenal, perhaps connecting me to migrating passerines that I wouldn't otherwise get - like Crossbills, Hawfinch and, at this time of year, Tree Pipits.

​So, at 5.30am on 25th August I arrived at Potwells in North Mymms Park just to the southeast of St Albans.  It is part of what is probably, at 130m above sea-level, the highest point around St Albans.  It was a clear, still morning - perfect for Tree Pipits - and I had good views to the south and east with the woodland behind me.  I was interested to note the lines of movement over the site so I could know best where to pick up migrating birds.

The usual early morning southwards passage of larger gulls was evident in the valley but very little else seemed to be on the move.  Just after 6am I thought I heard some faint calls that could pass as Tree Pipits so I played the Tree Pipit calls on my phone and waited.  I heard the calls again faintly, sounding like 2 individual birds and began to get excited.  I played the calls again and before I knew it 2 Tree Pipits flew overhead, just above treetop height calling as they went!

They headed over the valley in a south-easterly direction having appeared from over the woods behind me.  By 6.30am a further 4 had flown over on the same trajectory meaning that I had now witnessed 6 (possibly more) Tree Pipits migrating over my home patch!  This was the highest count I had ever had in Herts but made me wonder what sort of numbers I might be able to get on a really good day when lots of birds are moving.

That said, birds were clearly on the move that day with 2 Spotted Flycatchers on the edge of Redwell Woods as I returned to the car - my first local birds for the year.  Together with the Tree Pipits they took my 5 miles from home list to 143 species - just 7 species shy of my 150 annual target.