BIRDS AT NORTH FAMBRIDGE IN 1957 127
August 3rd. Warblers passing south all day. 5th. Lesser Whitethroats
working the plum trees and a pair of Nightingales on the cinder track gave
me a close view. A family party of Spotted Flycatchers well-grown in the
poplars. The parents' plumage is faded and they have nearly white breasts.
We are fortunate to have so many of them this year as only two nests are
on record in the area of the South Essex N.H.S. from Thames to Crouch.
7th. Several Warblers, including two Wood-Warblers passing through. 11th.
Swallows beginning to mass. Groups of thirty or more on the H.T. wires.
Small flights of Mallard passing low over the farm. 13th. Turtle-Doves
numerous along the railway, A Wheatear at Shotgate. 14th. Numerous
Spotted Flycatchers on the wing round the elm trees. Many Swifts on the
farm. 17th. Whimbrel and Oyster Catchers in the marsh. A Kingfisher
flew over the orchard towards the flooded marsh. Several Willow-Warblers
in the top thicket. I watched six Kestrels in flight together, playing and
crying out noisily over West Wick. 18th. Several Turtle-Doves on the
move. 20th. Our Postman brought me a House-Martin with a broken wing;
a parasite, the usual crab-like creature, dropped off it. A Sedge-Warbler
singing in the swampy iris patch. Turtle-Doves numerous. 25th. The young
Spotted Flycatchers flew from the nest on the elm today. 27th. Several
Oyster Catchers and Greenshanks calling in Stow Creek. 28th. A Chiffchaff
singing in the poplars. Eight Yellow Wagtails catching flies on the high
tideline. A few Swifts and Willow-Warblers today. 31st. Three Turtle-
Doves and several Willow-Warblers.
September 1st. One Swift overhead. A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker at
work on dead ash twigs. Lesser Whitethroats, Willow-Warblers and Chiff-
chaffs in the orchard. Four Spotted Flycatchers hawking flies from the roof
at dusk. 2nd. A Spotted Flycatcher and a Robin on the roof this evening.
The Robin imitates the Flycatcher in flight and in its call. 3rd. Saw a
Cuckoo at Battlesbridge Station. 7th. Chiffchaff singing in the garden.
Lesser Whitethroats in the orchard. Large numbers of Swallows and House-
Martins. 8th. Two Spotted Flycatchers on the barbed wire near the boat
shed and with them, catching flies, an Icterine Warbler, very yellow and
large. Chiffchaffs and Willow-Warblers in the garden. 16th. Hundreds of
Swallows and House-Martins fly-catching over the whole district. At one time
circling like Swifts in a tight cone-shaped group. 18th. A Spotted Flycatcher
and a Willow-Warbler in the orchard and a Tree-Creeper in the glade.
Several hundred Swallows and House-Martins in a wide-spread flock at
6.30 p.m., very high up.
21st. A Swift flying high over the farm for two hours. A Turtle-Dove
and a Lesser Whitethroat. One Lesser Woodpecker and several Green
Woodpeckers are regularly on the farm. To my surprise a Fieldfare was
drifting high-up, it was flying alone and I am certain of its identity. 26th.
About fifty Redwings flying south-west. A Lesser Whitethroat in the orchard.
30th. Twenty-five Swallows and House-Martins on the wing at the station
and about a dozen round the farm.
October 2nd. Several Goldcrests, very talkative and tame, in the
conifers. 3rd. Fifteen Swallows on the farm and four House-Martins at
the station. 4th. A pair of House-Martins still feeding young in the nest
at the station. 6th. Several hundred Curlew on the marsh. 8th. About
forty Swallows and House-Martins in flight at sunset. 9th. Twenty Swallows
over the farm all day. 14th. A single Swallow and one House-Martin on
the H.T. wires at 8 a.m. 16th. One Swallow today. 20th. At 2.30 p.m. I
saw a Warbler on a peach branch within four feet of the window, I watched
it through my binoculars and give the following brief description:—shortish
tail, long yellow eye-stripe, a dark stripe through the eye, two lemon or off-
white wing-bars. I watched it for thirty minutes—it was a Yellow-browed