Yarmouth

I haven't been birding since February (mostly due to the escalating and extortionate cost of petrol, and my 'patch' isn't the best), when I went over to Titchfield Haven, so, as today was a fairly sunny and mild October day, I decided to pack my camera, 400mm lens and binoculars and go over to Yarmouth. My choice of Yarmouth was for two reasons, firstly Bearded Tits (Bearded Reedlings) were reported there yesterday and, secondly, I had to do some work which would take me through Yarmouth in any case.
I couldn't get over to see the Beardies when they were reported yesterday but, needless to say, they'd scarpered by today, as there wasn't a sign of them. There wasn't so much as a moustache peeking through the reeds. Just now, I made the mistake of going to Derek Hale's page, where I found this infuriating photo. Why couldn't the little buggers have stuck around today as well?!
However, Beardies often turn up at Yarmouth, although they are more regularly found on the mainland than over here (there are quite a lot of birds which are common, or at least regular, just over the water in Hampshire yet scarce on the Island; birds such as Nuthatch, Kingfisher, Bearded Tit, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, etc. Is the Solent really that much of a barrier?) and I have seen them at Titchfield Haven but never on the IoW.

There were Cetti's Warblers, Reed Buntings, the usual common birds, plus Curlews, a solitary Little Egret and the winter ducks, including Teal (below), which have began arriving.

I took a few okayish, if not particularly good, photos. Click on each picture for a larger one.

Teal

The usual Mallards were about

The first of the Brent Geese have arrived

Curlew

I'm back among the job hunting, the tourist scene has gone quiet for another year and I now need a new job, preferably a permanent one in an office (or factory) as I have no intention of doing this job for a third summer, pleasant though it is, simply because it is far too costly in fuel. Adding one hour a day to the timesheet is wholly inadequate to cover the costs of the fuel consumed by a 1.6 petrol engine during the course of the working day.

I am not sure how bird numbers in the garden are going to fare this winter. We had a mimosa tree which the birds loved to perch in but it fell victim to two consecutive harsh winters and died so it was cut down a few weeks ago. The feeders have been put up on a metal feeder pole and the birds are still coming, but not in so many numbers. However, the garden is bordered to the north by oak trees so all is not lost.