A tawny pipit was seen at Hope Point, just north of Dover, at the weekend. It was in a stubble field beside the golf course, and may still be flitting around. It is a bird of sandy heaths and dunes in southern and eastern Europe, and is a fairly regular vagrant in Britain, often on cliff tops, though it has never bred here. It is a large, sandy-coloured pipit, quite different from our small, streaky meadow and tree pipits, and easily seen when it stands or runs about in open spaces. It likes to stop and look around, holding itself upright, then run and pounce when it sees an insect it wants. It also wags its long tail up and down, and can look more like a wagtail than a pipit. At present, the meadow and tree pipits (“mipits” and “tripits” in birders’ jargon) are also on the move. Tree pipits are summer visitors here, and are slowly moving south, often staying around for a while in parks and other places where they were not seen in summer. Meadow pipits, which are resident British birds, are spreading out on to farmland from the heaths and moors where they nested. In September and October, coastal watchers also see enormous numbers from northern Europe flocking south on migration.