Woodlark!

Sunday 23/10 appeared to have the potential for some promising visible migration with low cloud and favourable winds. So, I figured a trip to the 'mountainous' Borough Hill, Daventry was in order, to see what was moving. It was also a nice change from flogging the local water bodies!

I got there for first light and set up camp in the centre of the hill. Here, a nice pair of Stonechat were in situ and in fact spent most of the time pretty close by atop a variety of weedy perches.

After a slow start birds began to move quite a bit, mostly heading in a north or north westerly direction. There was a really nice steady trickle of Chaffinches in ones and two, as well as the occasional larger groups with a party of 17 over at one point. Redwings too were going over in steady numbers.

The highlight of the early part of the morning were a group of 3 followed soon after by another Brambling that circled the hill before departing NW.

Things though seriously hotted up a little while later. I had just been looking at some thrushes heading over, when I noticed a bird flying north, low over the hill away from me. It was a lark and looked remarkibly short-tailed (!) It soon dropped down in long grass, around 100m away from me. I immediately decided to follow it up, having a sneaking suspicion that it could be a Woodlark.

I approached the rough area the bird landed and nothing! Then suddenly the bird took flight around 15 feet from me and began calling 'tleee tweee', 'tleee tweee'. Oh my, it was a Woodlark, get in!! It again landed around 150m away, right at the far north end of the hill, where to my dismay, a dog walker was approaching the exact area. The timing was absolutely 'impeccable'...typical!!

Surprise, surprise, there was no sign from where I saw the bird land and it had presumably been flushed by the dog walker. I hung around the area for a little while but no further sign. So, I began to walk back to my earlier vig mig spot. As I did so, the Woodlark again appeared from nowhere and flew right past me, calling it's head off and exhibiting the short tail and rounded wings. Unfortunately it kept going and headed off high north. 

I then resumed watching overhead to see what else I could muster. I actually managed a few more nice bits, including a group of 6 Crossbills and yet more Chaffinches and Redwing. While on the phone to my friend Dave James, I also then had the most amazing sight of a Kingfisher cruising right past me, west across the hill!!! This surely was a migratory bird with no apparent water on any part of the hill to my knowledge and therefore quite an exciting observation. To finish my morning off, a Peregrine, Red Kite and several Buzzards were also seen as the cloud was slowly replaced by blue sky and sun.

What an enjoyable morning! Overhead totals below:

1 Redpoll sp

c.130 Chaffinch

c330 Fieldfare

c.185 Redwing

1 Woodlark

6 Crossbill

21 Starling

1 Kingfisher

5 Pied Wagtail

9 Linnet

1 Grey Wagtail

4 Brambling

1 Peregrine

1 Red Kite

1 Blackbird

1 Mute Swan

3 Goldfinch

4 Buzzard

3 Yellowhammer

1 Raven

Plus lots of Skylark & Meadow Pipit in the area