It's raining birds

Today started as a murky, overcast day with a gentle north-easterly wind. As the morning progressed it became murkier and murkier with a light drizzle and visibility fell to around half a mile. Given that migration is in swing, I took a late afternoon bicycle ride to Kongelunden on the south coast of Amager to see whether the weather had forced down any migrants. The first sign that it was going to be a good few hours came on the road down to the point where I heard several Yellow Wagtails flying overhead before circling and landing in a roadside field. Then, just a few hundred yards from the point I saw a Pied Flycatcher in a small oak. I stopped to watch and to my surprise there were 4 Pied Flycatchers in the same small oak! Every tree from that point to the coast seemed to be full of birds - mostly Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs but also good numbers of both Spotted and Pied Flycatchers, a few Redstarts, Garden Warblers, Blackcaps, Lesser Whitethroats, Common Whitethroats and even a Wood Warbler. At the point itself were 3 juvenile Red-backed Shrikes, 8 Tree Pipits, 150+ Yellow Wagtails plus several Whinchats and Wheatears. Incredibly, birds just seemed to continue to fall out of the sky as I watched with more Yellow Wagtails, Tree Pipits and Warblers descending on the bushes. On one occasion I looked at a small hawthorn bush and saw Willow Warbler, Red-backed Shrike, Tree Pipit and Lesser Whitethroat in the same field of view!

After scanning the bushes around the point and losing count of the Willow Warblers at about 250, I decided to have a mooch around the old fort that sits just inland from the point. The fort is now a deserted patchwork of concrete structures, mounds and lakes with quite a few shrubs and trees in the surrounding area. The whole area was teeming with birds - more Pied Flycatchers, Redstarts, Tree Pipits and then I spotted a slightly larger bird fly up to a branch and stop just long enough for me to get my binoculars onto it - a Wryneck. It was amazing to walk around seemingly surrounded by birds calling and feeding. I have never seen such a "fall" in the UK - the sheer number of birds was incredible.

I am not sure how common these "falls" are but it leaves me looking forward to the Autumn proper in September and October! The photos above are some of today's birds that posed for me. From top to bottom: Pied Flycatcher, Tree Pipit, Red-backed Shrike and a "proper" Willow Warbler!