Donna Nook and Saltfleet October 16th 2024 - a day of twigs, leaves and zero light

The reality of birding the Lincolnshire coast where birders are thinly spread and birds even more so!

Started out at Stonebridge and walked down to Pyes Hall picking up a few birds, two Brambling started things off and it was then that I realised 3200 ISO was the order of the day - thrushes were numerous mainly dark coloured continental Song Thrushes but with a scatter of Redwings, Blackbirds and four Ring Ouzels. Dunnocks and Reed Buntings were in abundance and my first Woodcock of the autumn blasted out of the marram but as usual the big bird remained elusive or should that be absent? A few Robins but no crests until the last bushes at Pyes revealed a very nice Firecrest that remained stubbornly camera shy all morning: one Goldcrest was the only other crest seen and apart form a few Rock Pipits Song Thrushes were the main item of interest. By lunch time I was nearly back at Stonebridge chatting to Chris A when we both saw what appeared to be a swallow coming down the dunes but it turned into a small bat! a strange looking thing with dark blackish brown foreparts and paler buffy brown rear end but it just continued south at a height of about 2m until lost to view - surely likely to have been an incoming migrant?

After a few thrushes first birds of note were two Brambling against the nice dull white sky 

Such smart birds should make some effort with them in winter if we get any staying

Song Thrush, Redwing and Blackbird the flavour of the Donna bushes 16th 

As one Ouzel flew off another actually sat still for all of a minute or so - in itself a strange event 

and showing both its sides 

Managed to get 1000th second at 3200 ISO 

This Song Thrush just dropped out of the sky into a tree I was stood under - cracking bird - wonder where it was yesterday - presumably a 1cy bird with the median and greater covert tips that colour 

branches and leaves and bits of a Firecrest

Views of many things seemed to be looking upward! 

a juvenile Ouzel against the inevitable white sky 

juvenile Ring Ouzel coming at you 

and another adult

and away

Its a bunting and surely looks good enough to be rare!

I like Reed Buntings with their infinite variations in subtle plumage features but a rarer species once in a lifetime would be a nice find

Song Thrush incoming over the saltmarsh after a North Sea crossing 

Arriving in Lincolnshire is much safer than Southern France or Spain but many will reorientate and head that way for a winter maongst the mad human gunmen - watched one hunting thrushes in the Alpilles one winter - really saddening 

Newly arrived Song Thrush over the saltmarsh - like the feel of this shot and the Canon R62 focused well on a very small target with the RF 100-500 lens again at 3200 ISO

So after four hours of scouring the same few bushes and grass and buckthorn I gave in and went to look for the Yellow-browed Warbler at Saltfleet - found it quickly chasing a second bird out of its favoured willow and it continued to do that all afternoon every time the second bird tried to have a feed - so a new arrival? Well Chris A did the same area as me at Donna in the afternoon and had 3 Yellow-browed Warblers plus the same birds I had, 4 Ouzels, Firecrest et al - they must have arrived in the afternoon surely I had not missed three in the 4 hours I had been there as one clearly then stayed in one of the two sycamores that I had stood next to for about 30 minutes, and its not big! Lincs coast birding reality

Yellow-browed Warbler at Saltfleet - a bird with attitude and very vocal which helps

Yellow-browed Warbler in a willow with far too many leaves and branches 

always in the dark under the canopy 

and yet more leaves across the bird