Friday 5 October 2007

Migration

Signs of bird migration are frequent this week, and there have been reports of large flocks of Goldfinches today, including 1,076 over Sandwich Bay. This charm numbered about 30, feeding on thistleheads on the cliff side.


There have been interesting sightings of various migrants on Thanet, so I strolled around the George VI park in Ramsgate, which has the advantage of being one of the few areas of trees on the Thanet cliff-edge (and so should provide a good resting and feeding place for birds flying onto or along the east coast).

I found chiffchaffs, a willow warbler and a redwing, along with a possible (but unphotographed) yellow-browed warbler, and also this strangely-plumaged blackbird - is it a young male gradually developing its grown-up plumage, or just an aberration?


Kestrel

A Common Redstart was a pleasing sight, as it tends to be considerably less common on the East Kent coast than the Black version.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I've got a blackbird in my garden that looks like this, with a brown head. In fact, I think there are two of them. Could be the way they moult.