31-10-10, Alrewas GP.

There may have been an extra hour in bed during the night but my body clock doesn't work like that and I was up before dawn. In fact I was at Alrewas gravel pit as dawn broke. It was very nice but rather gloomy. I had my bike with me with all of my camera gear and I was looking forward to a full on birding and photography morning. Birds noted here were Pied Wagtail, Coot, Mute Swan, Mallard, Chaffinch, Wren, Wood Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Black-headed Gull, Robin, fieldfare, Long-tailed Tit, Starling, Tufted Duck, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Dunnock, Pochard, Wigeon, Collared Dove, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Pheasant, Moorhen, Reed Bunting, Great Crested Grebe, Meadow Pipit, Cormorant, Green Woodpecker, Magpie, Teal, gadwall, Stock Dove, Chiffchaff yes I know but I have had these winter here, Redwing and Buzzard. A great list for this site and a great start to the day. I also had a small raptor high over head, flew with three wing beats then a glide. On speaking to someone it was thought to be a Sparrowhawk.

I did have a go at digi-scoping. The Meadow Pipits were showing really well and stood for about an hour to get a good photo without success. I finally tried to photograph a Pied Wagtail but it was just too gloomy and dark. Bit of a waste but good fun watching the Mipits.

31-10-10, National Arboretum.

Through the tunnel and I was in the arboretum grounds and a steady walk provided me with Carrion Crow, Wood Pigeon, Black-headed Gull, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Stock Dove, Wren, Pied Wagtail, Redwing, Great Tit, Mallard, Black-headed Gull, Kingfisher, Cormorant, Goldfinch, Teal, Green Woodpecker, Jay, Greenshank flew over from Croxall, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Skylark, Pheasant, Reed Bunting, Moorhen, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Goldcrest and Bullfinch.

31-10-10, Junction Pit.

As it was still early I was hoping for a few birds on here. On arrival I was in for a shock, there was no water. Junction pit is basically a rectangulr pool with a line of trees through the middle making two squares. As you view with the river to your back, the left hand pool is usually half water and half sand/silt. This pool attracts waders and gull. the other half is all water attracting ducks and geese. Today, all that was attracted were Moorhen, Canada Geese, Mallard, Teal, Black-headed Gull, Snipe overhead, Redwing and Coot. Rubbish.

31-10-10, Whitemoor Haye.

Last site for me today as I am chilling out for the rest of the afternoon. I took a casual walk around Whitemoor. First birds were seen as I biked up the lane - Carrion Crow, Robin, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Goldfinch and Magpie. Then it was on to the pool. I noted 28 Mallard, 4 Great Crested Grebe, 49 Pochard, 14 Tufted Duck, 12 Wigeon, 8 Teal, 4 Goldeneye, 2 Ruddy Duck, Wren, a single Mute Swan, Long-tailed Tit, Blackbird and Wood Pigeon. From here it was a steady walk around the lanes and I added Dunnock, Starling, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Buzzard, Lapwing, 14 Golden Plover, Blue Tit, Grey Partridge, a single Whooper Swan in amongst 176 Mute Swans, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Pheasant, yellowhammer, Fieldfare, Mistle Thrush, Greylag Geese, Greenfinch, Tree Sparrow, Great Tit, Kestrel and Jackdaw. A nice couple of hours around here and a nice list.

The Whooper Swan at Whitemoor Haye.As I was heading home, I saw these Grey Partridge in the field opposite the national Arboretum entrance. Nice.