Greg and Russ,
Further to your posts (thanks
), I arrived at Baumber just after 11.00 this morning. I parked at the entrance to Baumber Farm, intending to walk past the Rectory and across the field to the Churchyard. There was a car parked on the road at the entrance to the Rectory and as I passed, the driver, who had noticed my binoculars, opened his door and said, "Are you looking for the Spotted Flycatchers? If so, there are 5 right in front, including young birds. I've been watching them." Sure enough, at and around the entrance to the Rectory there were instantly visible one or two adult SpotFlys flitting around the outside of the hedge and I later saw a juvenile perched on an iron railing in the hedge.After 5 or 10 minutes, the action lessened - perhaps they had gone to the other side of the hedge..... I entered the field in front of the Rectory and immediately noticed further Flycatcher movement. I stayed just by the Rectory ha-ha (ditch) for about an hour and by my reckoning there were in the Rectory front garden sheltered area (to the left of the house) 2 or 3 juveniles and 3 or 4 adults, with constant action as one or another flew out from the bushes/low trees. The juveniles were feeding themselves and I didn't see any adults feeding them.
So, clearly Russ and Greg's group had moved from the Churchyard - which I later visited briefly but there were no SpotFlys there in the strong wind vigorously moving the tree branches - to the sunny and sheltered area of the Rectory front garden.
On my way back to my car at c. 12.20, I again saw a juvenile perched on the same railing (and flying out after insects) and also an adult flycatching nearby along the road .......a good 50 yards or so from the main group.
My provisional total, then, would be at least 7.....3 juveniles and 4 adults, although one or two more could well have been around the area.
Freddy