Greenfinch seen and heard calling from tree by the bridge over the stream with tuneful backing from an unseen Willow Warbler. Then very close to the above junction 3 Swifts flew low and silently over the field for a minute or two.

Pair of Bullfinches in shrub above cafe 1245 Weds also my first Swift of the year doing a solo flight above said cafe (which is open) at 1300 hrs.

Only a pair of Robins collecting mainly centipedes together as I turned my allotment yesterday and today. The new thing for me was that they were communicating with tiny squeaks: in all my (many) years of gardening and birdwatching I have never come across(or noticed) this before.

Tawny Owl hooting briefly small hours of Tuesday morning from beside railway.

Kestrel hovering over Marcros. Green Woodpecker flying west to nearby St. Donats and then heard calling. 1 Yellowhammer heard near Frampton and 4 Greenfinch and 6 Chiffchaff heard on the cycle ride.

Red Kite over house 1000 Hrs. Also Blue Tits bringing nesting material into nest box.

Single Redwing feasting on Ivy berries 1700 hrs. Earlier (1430) Kestrel over Boverton / Eglwys Brewis traffic light junction.

Watched a Firecrest for about 15 secs. as it worked its way through the ivy-covered hawthorn at the bottom of the garden. I often see a pair of Goldcrests in the same location.

On a walk from Boverton to Llanmaes and then through fields to Frampton this afternoon saw the following:-

Pair of Bullfinch beside the B4265 – the male was hovering above a Hawthorn / Ivy / Bramble branch dropping down now and then to apparently pick things off the tops of the leaves – at one time he was doing a good imitation of a Hummingbird as it picked things off the side of said branch.

Flock of 21 Skylarks disturbed in a stubble field, also 1 Reed Bunting and 2 Yellowhammers and a few House Sparrows in a nearby hedge.

Single Redwing feeding in a grass field- I have never come across one completely alone before.

On return journey 1 Little Egret flying west and later a single one stood in the Colhugh (?) stream just S of Llanmaes.

Barn Owl seen hunting two nights running (Sunday and Monday) about 2100 hrs. in the vicinity of the roundabout junction of B4265 and the new road to Aston Martin.

Pair of Bullfinches, 2 pairs Yellowhammer, single Little Egret flying over, single Fieldfare, single female Reed Bunting, single female Stonechat.

Came across a flock of 12 confiding Siskins, mostly females, feeding just above our heads, in the Alders by the river 1430.

Same location as post of 18th and over a period of no more than 5 minutes :- 1 female G.S. Woodpecker, 1 fem. Bullfinch, 1 m Chaffinch, 3 fem. Chaffinch, 1 Robin, 1 Dunnock, 2 Great Tits, 2 Coal Tits, about 10 Blue Tits, 2 Goldcrests, 4 fem. Blackbirds, I Pigeon, 2 Magpies and a few Herring Gulls over.

Another first from my garden: Treecreeper finding plenty of insects in one of the ivy-covered Hawthorns along the railway 10am.

Sunday afternoon – lone male Yellowhammer and lone male Stonechat ( a first for me in that area) and a Grey Wagtail on the Colhugh near Eglwys Brewis railway bridge.

This morning a Raven cronking overhead accompanied, as it were, by a Chiffchaff singing heartily from the hedgerow ( I have often heard one of the latter in September but never October – and so often this year) This afternoon a lone male Bullfinch in the hedge, although it was calling.

1pm.Whilst watching and listening to Willow Warblers, Chiff Chaffs, Coal/Blue and Great Tits working their way along the Ivy and Hawthorn hedge along the railway, I became aware of a different, higher-pitched call -and there it was – a Spotted Flycatcher- which proceeded to preen itself and occasionally do a bit of fly catching before, I presume, flying South. Also 5 Swallows flying south. House Martins last seen 29th September. The Nuthatch, which has been vociferous for about a month, has either gone silent or, just gone.

Had a short, curtailed break in Oxwich Monday/Tuesday this week. Monday evening a Tawny Owl was calling from woods to the North of the beach. Over breakfast in the morning gloom on Tuesday I had the pleasure of watching two species of Woodpecker from our holiday chalet at the same time. I was watching a GreenW/P in a cherry tree not very far away when I noticed a “Great Tit” on a feeder beyond.However when it turned I saw it had a long beak and the face markings of a Spotted W/P. Before I could do any better it flew off low over the lawn. I realise the chances are it was a Great W/P but could it have been a Lesser?

Female Wheatear just east of Tresillian bay and 2 pairs Stonechat between there and Llantwit beach early afternoon.

Spent a pleasant hour (while my car was in the nearby Toyota Garage)in the company of a Dipper. It was on the opposite side of the Ogmore amongst the large boulders just upstream of the footbridge between Wild Mill and the A4063.It seemed to be enjoying an unlimited supply of food that it was pecking off the surface of the water and hardly moved more than a few yards during that time. It was still enjoying itself there when I left. Sometime during the hour a couple of Grey Wagtails flew downstream between us.