Millichen

I was reliably informed at the weekend that Millichen Flood had actually flooded a few weeks ago and attracted good numbers of Wigeon and Teal. I therefore visited today in the feint hope that some water would still be present. Yet again, there was a puddle!

Millichen Flood - 29 October 2012

 

So, I concentrated on finding finches and tits rather than ducks and geese, although 12 Pink-footed Geese did fly over head.

 

There were good numbers of Reed Bunting (25+) as well as Yellowhammer, Tree Sparrow, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Greenfinch to be seen, most being found in an un-harvested field between West Millichen and Millichen Steadings.

 

Reed Bunting at Millichen - 29 October 2012

 

On the tit front there were the usual Great and Blue Tits plus a flock of 9 Long-tailed Tits (a Millichen year tick!). Other 'Millichen Year' ticks were Raven and Mistle Thrush.

 

In total, I saw 31 bird species, making it 58 for the year at Millichen. The most spectacular record for the day, however, was a count of 135 Collared Doves and there may have been more!

 

See link for a map of the Millichen area https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=55.917829,-4.283338&spn=0.014333,0.052314&t=h&z=15&vpsrc=6