Oct 14th

No work today so I thought id better make the most of it and count migrants on the Corton patch. 2 Great-grey Shrikes were present in the Radar Lodge/Broadland Sands area. A very smart Siberian Chiffchaff was located at Corton disused railway line, very pale and grey and giving off the unmistakale "lost chick" peep, showed brilliantly low down. A good comparison could be made with the 2 abientinus type and 12 Collybita type Chiffchaffs also present. The Lesser Whitethroat from yesterday was still present but again I struggled to get clear views of it. However it probably was an eastern type, with very pale brown back and white outer tail feathers. No chance of a photo to clinch it tho. 9 Blackcaps were noted in the Corton area. In the morning 4 very robust Crossbills flew south over the railtrack, so large looking I had to double check if they had wingbars in case they were Hawfinches before they called! They called pretty deep...another one that gets away... In the alders of the plantation 4 large looking pale Redpolls kept flying over and calling, I couldnt get a perched view unfortunately but they were quite probably Mealies. A good Goldfinch (50+) and Siskin (40+)and Chaffinch (20+) passage south occured early doors with the bonus of 6 fine Bramblings with one stopping to linger along the track. 3 Fieldfare, 20+ Blackbird, 20+ Redwing and 30+ Song Thrush also went over. Good numbers of Song Thrush flushed out of the usual spots and there had been a noticable increase in grounded Blackbirds. The Lapland Bunting was still present in the stubble. When flushed out it flew round a bit then perched on the perimeter fence. The bird was distant and the sun was right above it making it look like a sillhouette. I took a few shots tho although seemingly impossible by shooting at crazy exposure then a mega crop I was able to just about get an identifiable image: