BARTON HILLS
Search for autumn migrants on the Chiltern Hills
Set among the Barton Hills NNR on the north- eastern flank of the Chilterns, this circular walk encompasses classic chalk downland habitat around the summit along with patches of scattered scrub, arable farmland, a copse and a spring bubbling up from the chalk below. Panoramic viewpoints offer good viz-migging opportunities in late autumn. Declining farmland birds such as Grey Partridge and Corn Bunting are present in small numbers, while Red Kites are famously well established.
WHERE TO WATCH
1 Check the trees in and around the churchyard for passage Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap and the chance of a Spotted Flycatcher perched on tombstones or Firecrest in the Yews. Common residents abound, typically Great Spotted Woodpecker, Mistle Thrush, Goldcrest, Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Jay, and Tawny Owl at dusk. The nearby springs can attract birds in a dry period including
Grey Wagtail. 2
A panoramic viewpoint to scan for raptors such as Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Buzzard, Red Kite, plus possible migrant Hobby and Honey Buzzard. Visible migration around dawn in early autumn should yield a trickle of hirundines, Meadow and Tree Pipits, Pied, Yellow and Grey Wagtails, and by late autumn, Sky Lark, Song Thrush, Redwing, Fieldfare, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Siskin, redpoll and maybe Brambling. Check the scattered scrub for tit and finch flocks including Bullfinch, Linnet and Yellowhammer, plus a chance of a migrant Redstart, Ring Ouzel, Whinchat, Wheatear, Firecrest, Lesser Whitethroat and Whitethroat.
3
A good point to scan open arable land for flocks of Lapwing and maybe Golden Plovers, plus Red-legged and Grey Partridges, Stock Dove, Kestrel, Buzzard, Rook, Jackdaw, Sky Lark, Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail. Check for passage Wheatear or Yellow Wagtail, plus a chance of Whinchat, Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroats in hedgerows along with Stonechat, Linnet, Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting, and Little Owl in dead trees. Freshly ploughed fields can lure in flocks of corvids, gulls and even Red Kites and Buzzards on occasions.
4
The copse harbours a range of common woodland species, and Tawny Owl at dusk and a chance of a flushed Woodcock. Blackcap and Chiffchaff should also be present, while flocks of Chaffinches, Goldfinches and Linnets haunt weedy marginal patches.