344 THE ESSEX NATURALIST
11th. Yellow Wagtails catching flies around the feet and noses of the
grazing cows., I saw an unusual bird at 7 a.m. flying north away from
the river, and although I have never seen one before, I am sure it was
an Osprey! 12th. Large numbers of Swallows and Martins moving south-
ward during the evening. 15th. Chiffchaffs still in song here. 17th. A
solitary Willow-Warbler. 19th. At least 500 Swallows resting on the
H.T. 'wires. 24th. Six Yellow Wagtails. 27th. Swallows still feeding
fledgelings in a few nests.
October 1st, Warblers are conspicuous by their absence. Usually they
are still plentiful at this time of year. Perhaps the early southward move-
ment was related to the long spell of dry, sunny weather. 8th. A fledgeling
Swallow seemed unable to find its way out of the shed, so I caught it and,
waiting for the parent bird to come back, I threw it into the air. The
old bird immediately led it to the rest of the brood on the telephone wires
300 yards away. 9th. 13 Swallows still here feeding on the masses of
insecta in perfect weather with a temperature of 85 in the sun. 15th. Six
Swallows and six House-Martins in one group. 19th. Seven Swallow's on
the wires. 21st. Approximately three inches of rain in three days! 22nd.
Five Swallows and three Fieldfares seen today. A Kingfisher flew up
from the marsh. 26th. Nine House-Martins and four Swallows. 28th.
About 200 Lapwing resting on the fields. 29th. A single Swallow dashing
sonth. 12 Grey Geese flying south at a great height, glided south-east
towards the shore. Saw the first Peregrine Falcon of the winter today.
31st. Redwing passing over at midnight.
November 3rd. About 100 Lapwing on the fields. 5th. A Peregrine Falcon
flew past towards the fresh-water marshes. 10th. Many Fieldfares and
Redwings about. 12th. A Goldcrest was working the Poplars. 15th. Heard
the first Widgeon in the marsh at night. 27th. Long-tailed Tits appeared
today, the first since the summer broods. Many thousands of Starling
flying south. Big arrivals of Widgeon and Teal. They were very talkative
in the marsh at night. 30th. A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker working the tops
of the tall Elms.
December 2nd. The marsh was alive with duck at 1 a.m. 3rd. I flushed
a Snipe from the high-tide line. 6th. A nice group of Goldfinches feeding
on the Teazel heads. 11th. I estimated that there were anything up to
12,000 various duck in the marsh and river area. 25th. A perfect mild day.
A Lark was singing. Redwings and Fieldfares were feeding happily in all
the fields, and the Rooks were cawing around their old nests. 53° at night!
3l6t. Colder weather and a very sharp frost at night closed the year.
No Wrynecks, Pied Flycatchers or Redstarts were seen; for other species
it has been a normal year.