15th October

Overcast with occasional rain squalls, a brisk southerly breeze moderating during the morning.

Once again a reasonable vis mig early morning with 19 Reed Buntings, 12 alba Wagtails, 160 Swallows, 20 House Martins, 190 Meadow Pipits, one Rock Pipit, 28 Skylarks, 245 Goldfinches and  five Mistle Thrushes. The counts would have been significantly higher had we stuck at it on the clifftop but we wandered off into the Paddock in search of rarities and probably missed a lot going over.

Sadly the rarities again eluded us but it was a reasonable morning nevertheless with 10 Ring Ouzels including seven that flew south past Hope Point, 14 Stonechats,  55 Chiffchaffs, 12 Blackcaps, 32 Goldcrests and a single Firecrest. A late Common Redstart was on the Clifftop, a different bird from the male on Saturday and a late Whinchat was at the Gun Emplacement, probably the same bird that has been in that area for a few days. The Cetti's Warbler was still present at Hope Point, where a Little Egret was seen on the shore.

Jack & Brendan

Ring Ouzel. One of 10 Seen today

Common Redstart seen along the clifftop. 

Whinchat at the Gun Emplacement

Its been a very good Autumn for Stonechats. 14 seen today 

Chiffchaff numbers are holding up with 55 today 

Firecrest in the Farm Wood today 

13th October 2019

Another day of visible migration with birds moving W into the wind, most notable being127 Meadow Pipits, four Rock Pipits, 12 Alba Wagtails, two Grey Wagtails, 6176 Starlings, 11 Siskins ( or siskins heard on 11 occasions and not seen), 737 Goldfinches, 95 Linnets and four Reed Buntings.
Around the area were two Ravens, 10 Stonechats, three Ring Ouzels, a Cetti's Warbler, four Blackcaps, 26 Chiffchaffs and a few Goldcrests.
Later on a Crossbill flew over the Rough.
Phil, Gerald, Steve C, Richard, Simon., Jack   

12th October 2019

Nothing much was moving overhead today in the drizzling rain but around the area there were quite a reasonable number of grounded migrants. Notable birds included 18 Stonechats along the Front and at Hope Point, Common Redstart and Dartford Warbler at Backward Point, Ring Ouzel at Otty Bottom and a Woodlark over the Freedown.
Elsewhere in the area there were 57 Blackbirds, 132 Song Thrushes, 70 Starlings, a Cetti's Warbler, 5 Blackcaps, 67 Chiffchaffs, 77 Goldcrests, 7 Siskins and several mipits including 3 Rock Pipits.
Brendan, Phil, John C, Richard, Jack. 

10th October

A brisk WSW wind and clear sunny conditions.

Most of today was spent on the clifftop viz migging. Totals included; 37 alba Wagtails, 2 Grey Wagtails, 75 Meadow Pipits, 2 Rock Pipits, 37 Skylarks, 33 Starlings, 19 Stock Doves, 85 Goldfinches, 194 Linnets, 3 Siskins, 10 Reed Buntings, 135 Swallows, 230 House Martins and one Great Spotted Woodpecker. Blue Tits were again moving along the clifftop in small numbers with 49 counted along with 2 Great Tits.

Limited coverage around the bushes produced 26 Chiffchaffs, five Blackcaps, one Firecrest, seven Goldcrests, five Ring Ouzels and three Stonechats. Meanwhile the Cetti's Warbler was still at Hope Point as per Tony Swandale

Brendan & Jack

9th October 2019

In the first two hours after dawn we had a visible migration of 216 Swallows, 42 House Martins, 33 Meadow Pipits, four Alba Wagtails, three Bramblings, 186 Goldfinches, 116 Linnets and six Siskins W at the Monument. Elsewhere in the area was a Common Snipe, three Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 12 Stonechats, a Cetti's Warbler, 13 Blackcaps, 46 Chiffchaffs and 18 Goldcrests.
Only eight Ring Ouzels today although six were probably new as they were all in bushes right on the clifftop.
Bird of the day was a Woodlark flying W over Hope Point.
 

8th October

Overcast with light SW winds

Highlights today included 15 Ring Ouzels including  groups of five in the Paddock and six at Hope Point and a new Yellow-browed Warbler at the Gun Emplacement, along with yesterday's two birds still together at Kingsdown. Still lots of Song Thrushes around with around 70 counted  and Robins again seemed numerous with 25 in the Paddock (after which I forgot to count them!).  16 Stonechats included nine together adjacent to the Golf Course and a single Wheatear (Freedown). The Cetti's Warbler remained for its 5th day

Other birds of note:
    51 Chiffchaffs  plus 25 around Oldstairs ( as per Richard) and
   15 Blackcaps were counted.
    Single Firecrests were in the Farm Wood and Kingsdown.
    Three Bramblings
    250 House Martings
    45 Swallows
    Eight Grey partridge
 

7th October

Light SW winds, overcast with no rain.  Still plenty of Chifffchaffs around with 52 at Bockhill and a further 16 in the Oldstairs/Otty Bottom area where two Yellow-browed Warblers were seen, presumably including one of Richard's birds from yesterday. Blackcaps numbered 14 in total. Goldcrests seemed more vocal with 21 and a further 14 in the Kingsdown area.

Song Thrushes continued to be numerous in the hedges and thickets and at least 85 were counted today along with five Ring Ouzels and a single Redwing. 35 Robins were counted but it is likely that many more were present. Some early overhead movement produced 33 alba Wagtails, six Reed Buntings, four Siskins, plus four Great Spotted Woodpeckers. Several groups of Blue Tits were encounted mostly moving north along the coast, with 37 counted.  12 Stonechats were spread across the area and there were single Whinchats at the Gun Emplacement and on the clifftop.

The Cetti's Warbler is still at Hope Point

Brendan & Jack

At least 85 Song Thrushes were seen today 

6th October

A good day frustrated at times by heavy rain especially early morning. The first few hours saw a good arrival of Song Thrushes (140) plus a few Redwing and seven Mistle Thrushes. Later two Ring Ouzels were located on the clifftop and another on The Rough. Early movements also included at least two Bramblings, a Redpoll, several alba and one Grey Wagtails.  Also during this period two Merlins were seen coming in off, chasing a Swallow en route.

There were six Stonechats on the clifftop and  Whinchats were seen in three locations.

A steady movement of hirundines included a late Sand Martin and a late Swift.

No systematic count was made of Chiffs or Blackcaps but the Cetti's Warbler was still at Hope Point much to the relief of Nigel and a Lesser Whitethroat was near the Bluebird cafe. Richard had a Yellow-browed Warbler near his house in Kingsdown on his way home. Goldcrests were not counted but seemed to have increased, a Firecrest was also in Kingsdown.

A Nightingale was heard in the Freedown but failed to show in spite of a concerted search.

Phil, Nigel, Brendan, Richard & Jack

Cetti's Warbler (Nigel Jarman)

5th October

A good turn out of birders but unfortunately the birds hadn't read the script. All in all a disappointing day although one or two interesting records including a single Goosander flying down channel, two late Yellow Wagtails, 11 Rock Pipits  and a Redpoll overhead, a Common Treecreeper, 15 Stonechats and a Wheatear. Yesterday's Cetti's Warbler was still present at Hope Point but Chiffchaffs (26) and Blackcaps (9) were well down. There were a further 20 Chiffs and 35 Blackcaps at the Kingsdown end of the recording area. Goldcrests increased to 25 and two Firecrests were encountered.

Jack, Phil, Gerald, Brendan, Richard plus Steve Clinch & Julian Russell

15 Stonechats seen today including 12 on clifftop between Hope Point & the Monument (BR)

4th October

A Cetti's Warbler performed quite well at Hope Point this morning, singing and showing occasionally. This is only the second Cetti's for Bockhill, the first being in October 2000. Other than that it was very quiet in a brisk SW wind. Chiffchaffs again dominated with around 64 seen, along with 26 Blackcaps, seven Goldcrests and  single Lesser Whitethroat and Firecrest. There was a reasonable movement south of hirundines but sadly we didn't count them

Jack, Richard and Brendan

3rd October

Light SW winds made viewing much easier this morning but didn't improve the birding significantly. Bird of the day was a Short-eared Owl over the Freedown from where a Common Snipe was flushed. Plenty of Chiffchaffs remain in the area with 76 at Bockhill and a further 15 seen by Richard at the Kingsdown end. Blackcaps on the other hand seem to have had a mass clear out with only six this morning. Goldcrest numbers have remained fairly constant in recent days with eight recorded today, plus another 10 in Kingsdown. 12 Stonechats were seen including six together n the Freedown.

There was a little overhead movement this morning with eight Siskins, seven Reed Buntings and around 250 hirundines, almost all Swallows. the first good numbers of "alba" Wagtails were recorded (43) with about 25 grounded near Hope Point which included several showing characteristic of White Wagtails. two Grey Wagtails flew over.

2nd October 2019

A colder start to the day with a moderate NW. Brendan had the first Ring Ouzel of the Autumn in The Paddock. Elsewhere around Bockhill were a Common and Lesser Whitethroat in The Freedown, three Redwings over, a Tree Pipit, a Grey Wagtail, four ‘alba’ Wagtails, a Lapwing, a Curlew, seven Goldcrests, 47 Chiffchaffs, 28 Blackcaps and five Stonechats. Walking up from Kingsdown I had a further 10 Goldcrests, 25 Chiffchaffs, 12 Blackcaps and three Coal Tits.

1st October 2019

The early morning was spent dodging rain showers, which gave way to more pleasant conditions later with a SW wind. Still plenty of warblers but they were concentrated at Hope Point, The Farm Wood, The Rough and along Granville Road in Kingsdown. 100 each of Chiffchaff and Blackcap, seven Stonechats, 20 Goldcrests, 25 Yellowhammers and nine Grey Partridge.