Coverage was a bit limited during October due to quite a bit of time away for work, but the transition into the final stages of autumn migration was apparent even so. Witnessing this was the focus of my birding, which was almost entirely at the coastal sites of West Hill and Hastings CP.

With many of our summer warblers now departed, roaming bands of tits brought life to the clifftop scrub, frequently accompanied by Common Chiffchaff for the first half of the month. As the month progressed, Chiffchaff numbers dwindled and increasing numbers of Firecrest and Goldcrest took their place. The rare phyllosc remained elusive for me but Yellow-browed Warbler were recorded at a few local sites over a string of dates early in the month: on the 2nd at Rye Harbour by David B, 6th at Fairlight by John G and 9th at Combe Valley CP by David C.

A few patch scarcities popped up at local sites, including a surprisingly showy Dartford Warbler at West Hill on the 30th and a Black Redstart at Ashburnhum Place on the 22nd with Christian C and David C. A Coot on Ecclesbourne Reservoir was a surprise ‘patch gold’ moment and my first for Hastings CP — though easy to find at the nearby Combe Valley and Pett Level, this is a hard species to catch up on the lakes and reservoirs of Hastings!

Though species composition changed dramatically over the course of the month, vismig showed no signs of tailing off. My last Tree Pipit of the autumn went through on the 4th while Meadow Pipit numbers remained high until the last week of the month. The latter were seen to be arriving in off the sea in numbers on a few occasions — a reminder that migration can be bidirectional on the south coast at this time of year. On the 11th a couple of Coal Tit dropped onto West Hill from on high, before heading off west.

The chirping of Skylark and alba Wagtail became regular sounds overhead, alongside large silent flocks of Stock Dove and Woodpigeon. Goldfinch were the dominant overhead passage migrant though, with smaller numbers of their finch congeners also evident. Eurasian Siskin showed a subtle spike in overhead movement late in the month, as predicted, as did Redpoll. Brambling were sporadic with five recorded on passage.

More notable was a marked passage of Hawfinch, due to an influx of birds into the UK from continental Europe. Five overhead at Ashburnhum Place on the 22nd with Christian C and David C kicked this off. David then had eight at Hastings CP on the 26th, and I had five there on the 27th – four that looked to be leaving a nearby roost and one feeding on yew in the churchyard. How long they will stick around is unclear but perhaps not long given that there is no beech or hornbeam mast this year.

The visible migration highlight was a beautiful Short-eared Owl at Hastings CP on the 29th. I’ve been waiting to catch up with this species locally since moving but it just hadn’t happened yet. I was standing at the edge of Barn Pond reflecting on how perfect it looked for one when, lo and behold, out of the corner of my eye I caught site of languorous, long-winged form moving towards the cliffs. It circled the fields a few times, disappearing out of view for a few minutes at a time and eventually dropping below the cliff line not to be seen again. On the same morning a juvenile Marsh Harrier flew in from the east along the cliffs before turning south and heading out into the channel. Migration magic!

Thrushes arrived in dynamic surges, particularly evident at first light as birds could still be seen moving through. My first Redwing were on the 4th at Hastings CP and first Fieldfare at Hastings Cemetery on the 31st. Just three Ring Ouzel for me this year, with two in a hedgerow near Barn Pond (Hastings CP) on the 5th and a male at West Hill on the 30th. The latter flew up from the castle grounds on a murky morning and seemed to consider heading out over the sea, before thinking better of it and turning east along the coast.

Though early winter gull passage had yet to properly get started, I noted a 1CY Caspian Gull passing south through Combe Valley on the 3rd. At that site the water levels are up again and wildfowl numbers are beginning to build on the floods, including 40 Northern Pintail for my WeBS count there on the 20th.