Thompson Wood 17 August 2026

The vast open grassland with areas of broken hedgerows and scrub habitat was my intended destination at dawn on 17 August, and my reasons for covering the site this morning was to check for signs of migrant bird species.

My initial walk beside a long and well stocked hedgerow looked promising for migrant birds, especially given the fruit laden bushes within the hedgerow.  A couple of Robins were heard, then a single bird darted between cover, I managed a short view of the bird, a lovely juvenile Whitethroat.

A habitat I was particularly looking forward to visiting was a long broken hedgerow with lots of scrub growing between the breaks.  As I walked slowly along the hedge I detected movement and very soon after this I was rewarded with at least 3 Stonechats, 3+ Whitethroats, and a single Whinchat, all three species remained more or less together as they moved along the hedge and scrub. 

Whinchat

As I continued my walk I made my way to another area of hedgerow scrub, specifically bramble scrub, where I located at least a further 4 Whitethroats, a species I expected to see given the availability of fruit.

At least 3 Kestrels were seen together, a likely sign of local breeding success, the only other raptor species seen was Buzzard.

A few House Martins were seen distantly over houses in the village and at least 120 Swallows passed over.

A distant "korrp" call was heard, undoubtedly a Raven, the call was getting closer and then a single Raven passed over heading east.

As I approached the end of my walk a Little Owl was calling in a roadside Oak, this prompted a second Little Owl into calling in another roadside Oak.