This lockdown is certainly frustrating, but what can beat lying in bed, coffee beside me, and binoculars in hand? Our house faces due south and overlooks the Severn Valley. For the last week, and maximally this first clear frosty morning, there has been what I believe is a passage of Woodpigeons. There is no doubt that it is a bumper year for the local birds, with local, low-flying flocks on the move, and feeding on a huge crop of acorns, and the late-cut maize.
However what I have observed is flocks at greater altitude and numbering between 80 and 150 purposefully heading west or south west. This morning, I would estimate over 3000 birds. I hope birders in Montgomery, Newtown and Caersws areas can pick these up, as it will add weight to my thoughts that these are genuine migrants, perhaps on the way to Ireland, and not just birds on the way to feed. I have not seen any returning flocks in the evenings.
Also this morning a high altitude skein of 22 geese were probably Pinkfeet.
It's interesting Chris that flocks of westbound Woodpigeons are a regular feature of your autumn observations. Here in Middletown they are often in flocks but in random directions.
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