I've been wittering on about signs of the ending of the summer for a while now but this week's persistent rain and the sound of hunters' guns indicate that we are slipping into autumn proper. Conditions obviously haven't been conducive to extended birding but I have made a few sorties, mainly to the plains.
The stone curlews are still there with four flying around at the weekend, probably a family group. A few wheatears and whinchats can also be seen and the swallows are either feeding low over the fields or making their way determinedly southward, a few house martins mixed in with them.
I've seen two male hen harriers this week and a female sparrowhawk which sat in the middle of a ploughed field was perhaps eyeing up the wheatears.
Migrating passerines are feeding long the hedgerows and include willow warblers, blackcaps, common redstarts and pied flycatchers. Small groups of black redstarts and white wagtails are in the harvested fields. Turtle doves which were still around up to about a week ago have now probably moved south.
In the evenings tawny and little owls are calling but I've not seen or heard a barn owl for a while.
Gordon tells me that migrating white storks have been seen at Chasseneuil recently.
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