Work sightings & patch visit.....

  Lets start with what i saw while at work on Tuesday at Keswick. First interesting thing of note was a massive amount of Ladybirds in the air and all over the windows i was about to clean! These were the black ones with orange spots on.They were every where in there hundreds among the mist & fog. This was confusion as i thought these were usual active in the summer? What was also really unusual was the Gulls and Corvids catching them out of the air for a quick snack (not much of one though i guess).Plenty of Redwings and Fieldfare over head which confirmed Autumn was here and migration was under way. Also some nice moths which were hiding away in the door ways-i took a picture of one of them but hope that someone can tell me what it is?! Also a beautiful little butterfly which i was told by James and Jim is a Small Copper.


Small Copper



any ideas what this is ?

Later on that day i popped to the patch(finally!).
  I noticed how overgrown it had become since i last was here in August.I immediately headed for the Marsh and picked up 2x Cettis on the way. I picked up 6x Tufted Ducks which soon took off and set the scope up to take a better look.I soon picked up 5x Snipe resting up on the waters edge. I also saw a nice little flock of 5x Meadow pipits which beat my highest count here of 3.


Resting Common Snipe

 

 

As i made my way to the hide via the marsh to the east i flushed 2 more Common Snipe up as I made a totally of 7( very nice).
A single Pied Wagtail flew over as I scanned the broad.It was very quiet with just a couple of Mute Swans and a Great Crested Grebe of mention. I scanned the shingle and it was also bird-less but I did find this chap which wouldn't have helped matters!


Mr Fox

As I walked back another 2x Cettis was heard bringing my total to 4 and a nice flock of 23x Fieldfare over head as I reached the bridge, which brought some evidence to Norwich that migration is happening. As I pulled up at home a mixed flock of around 50+ Redwings and Fieldfare went over and a nice end to my day.
Happy birding,
Shaky