Three Green Sandpipers flew low south-west over the garden at 7 this morning, calling as they went.
These are my first for Firle, and a reminder that autumn migration is well underway for some northerly species. It’s also a wee bit depressing, seeing as we don’t seem to have had much of a summer here yet.
The sandpiper sighting follows that of a couple of Sand Martins, which were hunting and settling on wires with forty or so (mainly juvenile) House Martins and a few Swallows on Sunday morning. In inland areas without much open water, early autumn gatherings of hirundines seem to provide the best chance of seeing Sand Martins.
Aside from the migrants, yesterday a Little Owl sat out in the open enjoying the sun, around the farm buildings on the right side of the Bostal Road just south of the village, and a Linnet sang from the allotments.
Today, both Sparrowhawk (over the village) and Buzzard (over the escarpment) were up early to hunt.
