I struck it lucky today as Billinge Hill delivered 3 good quality scarce migrants.
It was quite windy but with a couple of days of easterly winds and the east coast having already had many, many migrants I was rather hopeful.
On the way up not long after I spotted a family of grey partidge I heard a shrill, slightly drawn-out pipitty call from overhead, to me it recalled a quieter less harsh Richard's pipit, I thought the most likely candidate was a tree pipit given the location and time of year. Upon a frantic search of xeno-canta I confirmed that to my ears it was indeed a tree pipit.
As mentioned it was quite windy so I decided to stick to the westerly side of the hill and look for sheltered spots. The "raspberry" patch near to the bench and tarmacked road produced a tit flock containing blue, great, long-tailed and willow tit. It also carried a chiffchaff .... though was I too optimistic in hoping for a yellow-browed warbler? Keeping me entertained a blackcap tacked away whilst a whitethroat scolded me but no rare warbler.
I skirted the edge of the beacon and headed for the far side of the hill past the pine copse where the sun came out and I was out of the wind, this looked like a likely spot .... then a goldcrest called or was it? then I heard a willow warbler or was it? i found neither bird but locked onto a grey-brown, friendly faced, beady-eyed, tail-flicking bird and it was making the willow warbler noise! I was confident I knew what it was and then a flash of orange-red from the rear confirmed a female redstart. This was my 2nd for the hill in two years though the other was a spring bird.
A good find and I nice little icing on the cake would be that goldcrest (one of my faves) that was calling but then a familiar in-and-out flight caught my eye, sitting where the redstart had just been was a spotted flycatcher! I watched both birds occupy this little sheltered spot for a while with the redstart favouring the fence and feeding on the floor whilst the flycatcher caught insects in the air from its favoured branch.
A robin flitted about too but then another suspiciously redstart/flycatcher bird was tantalisingly out of sight and seen only briefly ... it was like being on the east coast!
Running out of time I headed down the hill but not before checking out one of the local little owls, where I also saw and heard a bright, super-fresh willow warbler as yellow as a canary!
The winds are still easterly so tomorrow could hold one or two more, maybe even one of the much more vaunted east coast regular easterly migrants could be found on our patch? Wryneck, red-backed shrike or barred warbler anyone?
Paul B
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