Nothing Much

Have not written anything for a couple of weeks now, largely because not much has happened.
After the Snipe twitch, had a few things to do on my week off, luckily the bird news  meant I did not miss much. Hoped for something last weekend but it remained quiet so I ended up at Amwell on the Saturday watching not a lot. It was warm, still and dry and there was absolutely nothing happening at all. About the nearest thing to a good bird was the Barnacle Goose-my first this year.
Sunday was a bit more interesting as I went up to Coombe Road. Most of the fields have been harvested and were full of corvids. The odd thing was the number of Mistle Thrush-maybe 30 or more. Hard to say as the slope hid many birds and some were flying in and out of the trees, but a bit unexpected to see that many. Two Kites and a few Buzzards as usual and as i left two Fallow Deer emerged-one pure white individual.
Yesterday I went with Sarah and Ed to an apple event at Perry Green near Much Hadham at St Elizabeths School. Seemed to be poorly organised as we arrived to find no signs and no indication of anything happening. We left and tried another entrance-this one did have a sign so we parked and joined a couple of others looking rather lost. We eventually found someone who pointed us in the right direction and after walking through some of the buildings we got to the orchard. There were a few stalls selling local produce and a display of apple varieties from a local enthusiast but the main reason was being able to pick your own selection of around 30 varieties.
Unbelievably we had to have a health and safety briefing first and hard hats were supposed to be worn just in case an apple fell on us. Most did not bother of course. One Speckled Wood, one Comma, a few Migrant Hawkers and a late Southern Hawker were seen as we made our way round the trees. The only birds were a couple of singing Chiffchaffs.

Today went down to Amwell. With the constant easterlies over the last few days most were expecting the east coast to be heaving with migrants but it seemed to fizzle out yesterday with only Yellow Browed warblers and one or two other species being reported.
Birds were moving at Amwell-the first Redwings were seen and there was a trickle of pipits larks and Swallows all morning. The plastic Barnacle is still present as is a Hobby. One of the Cetti's warblers has started to sing in front of the watch point, and a couple of Chiffchaffs were also singing. One Comma, several Migrant Hawkers and a few Dark Bush Crickets were seen.