The cold night seemed to have triggered a bit more activity in the garden and the beautiful but chilly morning made breakfast on the balcony a real treat! A male and female Blackcap were chasing each other through the hedgerow but unlikely that there was any amorous intentions involved. A Chiffchaff sang somewhere from the back of the garden, it’s thought that this autumn singing may be young birds practising for the breeding season next year. Two Chaffinches visited the feeders while two more were sitting in a tree in a neighbouring garden, very close to a Great Spotted Woodpecker. A Nuthatch was regularly to the feeder along with three species of Tit. A Mistle Thrush rattled loudly from a few gardens up the road. Three Meadow Pipits flew over, a sign that autumn migration is underway and like others in Henfield, we’ve been enjoying the sight and sounds of the Greylag Geese flying over the house. However, the star of the morning was non-avian as I first looked out the window and there was a Roe Deer up the back of the garden, a definite first for us!

Yesterday, we took Lesley’s granddaughter down to Rye Farm which meant trying to watch birds a bit fragmented, but I did manage to record three Kestrels hunting over the fields. There were a number of House Martins feeding over the fields as well and I did manage to pick out one Sand Martin amongst them.