Rain, rain, and more rain, but search for migrants goes on.

 Today, the 24th August, saw poor weather conditions, full cloud cover and persistent rain, some heavy, remained throughout the day.  Light was poor but visibility was good. A light SW wind.

I had a couple of locations on my patch in mind to visit today in the hope of finding migrant species. Weather plays an important factor with migrating birds and todays persistent rain may have forced passage birds to the ground and into cover until fine weather allows a continuation of passage.

My first visit was to an area of rough grassland with scattered Elders near Bodney.  A search of the Elder bushes did not produce signs of migrants, however, the rough grassland held a male Stonechat.  Nearby a calling Grey Wagtail was present.  This was a quiet visit so I decided to move onto my next location in the Watton Brook valley at Little Cressingham.

I arrived in the Watton Brook valley with persistent rain becoming heavier.  My first stop was to overview a close section of Watton Brook where thick reeds in the brook and heavy growth of Rosebay Willowherb are the dominant plant species.

Whilst checking cover I noticed a slight movement of a blade of reed, then, a small brown bird flew into Rosebay Willowherb, it was a migrant Reed Warbler, a very neat looking bird.  The bird moved about cover, including reeds, it also flew into a roadside hedge where an agitation call was heard, a short, sharp "trr" or "trret" 

Despite the poor conditions I was pleased with my migrant find.

Also noted was a light westerly passage of Swallows.

Migrant Reed Warbler in the Watton Brook Valley 24 August

Reed Warbler in the Watton Brook Valley 24 August