Something is better than nothing

The hedgerows are bursting with promise and autumn has finally arrived:

A movement of gold caught my eye through the hedge. An exceptionally early Yellow-browed Warbler? Dream on. Examination of the other side of hedge proved otherwise. A helium balloon. A waste of precious helium and plastic dropped into the environment too. I love being a grumpy old man. There is so much to be angry about. 

The first migrant of the afternoon, was this splendid male Migrant Hawker dragonfly. There were quite a few around the hedgerows today:

In the fields, all too quickly, the stubble is gone. Bad news for the seed-eating finches and buntings, but a freshly ploughed field in mid-September? Surely there should be something out there?

It took a while, but then searching for small brown birds in a large brown field is not easy. Eventually something moved. And then perched. A Whinchat:

Which then flew and landed next to... 2 Wheatears. All three birds are pictured here, the Whinchat to the right, 2 Wheatears on the left:

At last some scarce migrant bird species, after a full month of regular coverage this autumn. Scarce is, of course, a relative term.  Next, something really good please. 

89 species for the year.