A busy month with a bit of time away meant less time for birding, but nonetheless there was some great variety and highlights in the best birding month of the year. Particularly exciting has been the increase in visible migration (aka vismig) of many diurnal migrant species, most notably House Martin, Meadow Pipit and Siskin. In this post I’ll give a detailed report on migration at Hastings Country Park first, followed by some other highlights from the wider 10k.

Hastings Country Park migration report

After few raptors in August, there was a bit more action this month at Hastings Country Park (HCP). This included a juvenile Marsh Harrier on the 4th, juvenile Honey Buzzard on the 15th (more on this in the dedicated post) and an Osprey on the 17th. The Osprey circled briefly over Warren Glen, mobbed by Jackdaws, before flying low east.

It’s always well worth pausing on the cliffs below the radar station to check the foreshore where gulls often gather in numbers. This month that yielded a couple of Yellow-legged Gull, with a 3CY fly-by on the 17th and an adult on the foreshore on the 30th. Groups of 3 Sandwich Tern were seen on the 8th and 15th.

There was a bit of Grey Heron passage through HCP in September, with the most notable movement being a flock of 10 flying west on the 8th. A novelty was a flock of 40 Rook on the 4th on Quarry Field, a species which I rarely see at this site.

This month saw big changes in passerine species composition, as Willow Warbler numbers dwindled (my last of the month on the 11th) and Common Chiffchaff became the default Phylloscopus warbler. Chiffs reached a crescendo at the end of the month with a crazy count of 145 over a 5km walk on the morning of the 30th.

In the Sylvia warbler department, Blackcap have taken over from the two Whitethroat species in abundance, with a peak count of 23 on the 30th. My first and last Reed Warbler of the month was in bracken in Warren Glen on the 4th. Also represented by singles were Spotted Flycatcher on the 5th and Common Redstart on the 15th. The Spot Fly was in the scrubby area east of North’s Seat car park, an interesting sheltered spot that I need to check more often.

Wheatear were present on most visits with high counts of 11 on the 8th and 10 on the 10th. There was an increase in Whinchat compared to August, with 2 present on the 4th and singles on the 8th and 30th. Stonechat numbers started to build with 11 on the 30th, presumably as migrants join local birds.

There were 2 Common Swift on the 4th, which I take to be my last of the year. Numbers of hirundine passing through increased this month, with peak counts of 424 House Martin on the 15th and 60 Barn Swallow on the 29th.

Meadow Pipit passage started in earnest in September, with the highest count of 179 on the 30th. A couple of Tree Pipits perched up in a sycamore were nice to see on 15th, and were my last of the month and probably autumn. Just a few Yellow Wagtail, all in the first half of the month, with 3 on the 4th and singles on the 8th, 11th and 15th. Other wagtail species started moving through with 2 Grey Wagtail on the 4th and one on the 15th. An uptick in alba Wagtail was noticeable at the end of the month with 3 on the 29th and 7 on the 30th.

Finch numbers remained steadfastly low overall, which I hope is just a consequence of the mild weather rather than population crashes. Flocks of Siskin were fairly regular however, with my highest count being 73 on the 17th. The first Redpoll of the autumn were 14 seen on the 30th. Probably the most exciting bit of passerine vismig of the month were two Crossbills on the 8th and 17th respectively. Not a species I expected to see in September, both were flying over Warren Glen giving their distinctive glip call.

Other highlights

I’ve started making more frequent visits to Pett Level which gets a bit more exciting at this time of year. On the 17th there were 2 Cattle Egret with the cattle near Toot Rock and a juvenile Arctic Skua harassing Sandwich Terns offshore. There were also 14 Turnstone on the foreshore, still largely in summer plumage but starting to moult.

At Pannel Valley there was an Osprey (probably the bird frequenting Rye Harbour) and a Great White Egret on the 4th. I made pilgrimage to Battle Water Treatment Works on the 16th were there were 7 Grey Wagtail on the filter beds.

My first visit to the Brede Valley near Doleham this autumn on the 16th was fairly quiet, with most of Doleham Marshes still obscured by dense vegetation, but a Hobby and Kingfisher near Troll Bridge were good to see.