Lade - cool, cloudy, dry, E 3 - After a weekend seeing very little during our Ted walks around New Romney (apart from my first two Bramblings of autumn and a steady passage of Chaffinches on Saturday) this morning it was off to the local patch to count wildfowl. Migrant wise it was very quiet with just a few Goldfinches, Siskins, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks trickling overhead, plus a couple of grounded Chiffchaffs and a Wheatear to break the monotony. And then news came through on the local Whatsapp group that Owen L had heard and briefly seen a treecreeper of the Short-toed variety (based on its distinctive Coal Tit-like call) at the top end of the Trapping Area. As we were just over the road, so`s to speak, we sauntered across in perfect time as the bird settled into a strategically erected mist net. It was then processed at the Obs confirming its identity by a combination of bare part biometrics and plumage details, including the brownish flanks, pale lower mandible and even pattern of the zig-zag markings on the wing bar edge, as depicted below. Thanks are in order to David Walker for explaining such and to the finder Owen Leyshon.
As we walked back through the Trapping Area the warmth from the sun delivered a flush of butterflies onto the wing, mostly Small Coppers and Red Admirals; and for one eagle-eyed observer a Long-tailed Blue (JTM).
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