Meadow Pipit - Freiston Shore

And so into the 'embers of 2013 we go.

The first day of autumn if you are meteorologist, you have another three weeks of summer if you like to go by equinoxes and solstices.

The feel of autumn was in the air down at Freiston Shore today. Plenty of migration going on. The air had a cool feel to it, but the sun is still shining, and there was enough warmth to make it a pleasant afternoons birding.

I walked down to the Avocet lagoon, as the hide lagoon looked quiet. I made the right choice. There was an excellent number of waders on there. The usual suspects in the form of Knots and Black-Tailed Godwits were there, along with a couple of Ruff and Green Sandpipers. The stars of the show were two Little Stints that came feeding quite close to the screen I was standing behind. These diminutive pretty little waders were going to be my blip, but I really like the composition of this one of the Meadow Pipit. He (or she) was feeding in amongst a small group of Pied Wagtails, which was made up of both adult and juvenile birds. One wagtail looked different from all the rest, a quick scan of my Collins Bird Guide IDed it as a juvenile Yellow Wagtail. This was a first for me, I had seen the adult bird when I was down this way last time.

I spent an hour learning my bird ID using my Collins Guide and pair of binoculars. It's about time I got a little better at my waders. They are still a tough group for me to ID with an confidence in front of people, but I am getting much, much better at it.

Back home to Wales tomorrow. We are going to call into Frampton on the way, where I hope to pick up a couple of the migrants I missed on the spring migration. A nice Pied Flycatcher or even a Wheatear would finish what has been bird trip that has been the best I have had. The year list looks a little healthier now! 142 species seen according to Bird Track. That's now just ten off last years total.

145 is a nice round number isn't it?