Shalford patch diary and local round-up, mid-March

7th March

Fairly standard fare from this evening's patch visit, though most notable was the presence of a vocal pair of Stonechats in St Catherine's Meadow, the male even uttering a few phrases of song at dusk; not something I've heard on patch before. My discovery last June of a very young juvenile had led Steve Chastell to suggest they may have bred very locally - perhaps they are looking to do so again.

9th March

Another after work patch visit at the end of one of the first truly warm days of the year so far (top temperature 19c) and arrived to find the meadows still ringing with bird song. A flock of c.200 Common Gulls flew north together in a tight flock; one of my largest counts of this species here. A Carrion Crow was carrying nesting material to one of the 'Little Owl Oaks' in St Catherine's Meadow. On St Catherine's Pool there were the usual pair of Gadwall, 3 Little Grebes and 4 Coots. 50+ Linnets flew into roost in Broom Meadow; a record count for this species here.  

11th March

A late afternoon visit with my girlfriend produced the first singing Chiffchaff of the year in Mill Meadow Meadow, along with a pair of Gadwall in the same area. St Catherine's Pool held a pair of Gadwall, 2 Grey Herons, 4 Teal and 3 Little Grebes.

12th March

WeBS day and first stop was Winkworth Arboretum with Ed Stubbs. Rowe's Flashe Lake held 11 Tufted Ducks (highest count so far here this year), 2 Little Grebes, 3 Mandarin Ducks and a Bar-headed Goose (!) while a Water Rail squealed as we crossed the Phillimore Wetland boardwalk. At least 3 Chiffchaffs were singing while near the boathouse we heard a Firecrest.

Next it was on to Shalford for my most thorough exploration of the patch for a couple of weeks which produced a year tick and a patch lifer for me.

After finding little on the outflow stream from Broadford Marsh I headed past Horse Field along the Railway Line Walk. There were the usual scattering of Pheasants in the field but one instantly jumped out as being different -  a Red-legged Partridge! My first ever on the patch and only the third documented record here (previous records in 2004 and 2007). Hardly a surprise given the amount of shooting estates around here but a nice addition to the year list nonetheless. Typically for this species it sprinted off and disappeared into the bushes before I could even reach for my camera.

Moving down the river to the St Catherine's area I found my second year tick of the morning: a drake Tufted Duck (79) on St Catherine's Pool. Not a particularly regular sight here given the rather unsuitable habitat. Just the previous day the Leith Hill guys and I had been chatting about this species' migratory habits and, as I mentioned earlier, Ed and I had noted a clear increase in numbers at Winkworth earlier in the day. Clearly some movement of this species had occurred overnight.

Away from the water birds the highlights of this morning's visit were two singing Chiffchaffs and at least six singing Reed Buntings.

Tufted Duck

Gadwall

14th March

The first pre-work sky watch of the year from St Catherine's Hill and the first one I've done in co-ordination with Ed who was positioned  a few miles south on his Allden's Hill watchpoint.

As we exchanged texts throughout the session it initially seemed like there was little correlation between what we were both seeing - '22 Black-headed Gulls south'.... '0 BHGs!' - but gradually things started to fall into place as I picked up the trickle of Meadow Pipits Ed had reported heading my way, followed by a heard-only Redpoll (Ed had five north a little while earlier) and most notably a full adult monster of a Great Black-backed Gull which cruised over my watchpoint around 14 minutes after Ed saw it flying north over Thorncombe Park.

Full totals as follows (in order of appearance):

Little Egret - 1 north but likely only local movement
Chiffchaff - 2 singing by watch point
Canada Goose - 9 east
Herring Gull - c60 north/2 south
Pied Wagtail - 1 south
Black-headed Gull - 88 south/4 north
Starling - 20 high north-east/6 east
Grey Heron - 1 north
Cormorant - 1 south
Greylag Goose - 1 south/2 west
Common Gull - 4 south
Egyptian Goose - 1 south-west
Meadow Pipit - 1 south/6 north
Redwing - 3 north-west
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 2 north
Gadwall - 1 drake flew past low with Mallards
Great Black-backed Gull - 1 north
Redpoll - heard going north
Mute Swan - 1 immature north

Greylag Goose

Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Herring Gulls

Grey Heron

16th March

Ed and I had planned another co-ordinated sky watch this morning but, after waking up to pretty thick fog, I decided instead to just do a little pre-work circuit of the mid-patch (Broadford-St Catherine's). There were now at least half a dozen Chiffchaffs singing and a similar number of Reed Buntings. The winter species are still hanging on though with at least a dozen each of Teal and Redwing still around this morning. A pair of Cormorants on the navigation at St Catherine's Lock was quite an unusual sight, this species usually seen either perched in trees or flying over in this area, while the regular pair of Gadwall were still on St Catherine's Pool.

In other local birding news, I saw my first Sand Martins of the year today, with four flying west along the Tillingbourne seen from the hill behind my house in Chilworth. The fields in this area were still holding a scattering of Redwings as of this morning also. I'm seeing Red Kites all over the place at the moment, with at least three over the Clandon Downs this afternoon then four together low over the rooftops of Chilworth. Marsh Tits and Skylarks were singing on the Downs despite the brisk westerly wind.

Fingers crossed migrants will really start arriving in numbers in the next couple of weeks, although looking at the forecast for this coming week doesn't exactly fill me with optimism!

Leith Hill, 11th March

After finding Surrey's first Wheatear of 2017 at my work in West Clandon yesterday and with a dry day with a light south-easterly forecast I was optimistic for my second tower watch of the season this morning.

Unfortunately the weather had other ideas and I and the assembled team of David Campbell, Stuart Cossey, Paul Stevenson, David Stubbs, Robin Stride and Phil Wallace were enshrouded in the familiar Leith Hill blanket of fog for much of the morning after our dawn start. Still, the conversation was flowing well and spirits remained high - occasional Redpoll, Meadow Pipit and Crossbill calls in the murk reassuring us that there were at least some birds out there somewhere!

"Guys, I think I can see a bird!" - David Stubbs scans the foggy scene

By the time the fog did eventually begin to clear late morning the occasional Mipit calls had increased to a rather more steady trickle, with a total of at least 30 birds over (some heard only so may have been more than singles) - mostly heading north - the first pronounced movement of this species here this spring. As the sun warmed both the birders and birds the local Buzzards took to the air, with at least 20 thermalling within our field of view at their peak, joined at one point by a Sparrowhawk. A Kestrel gave a fly-by, as did an eleventh hour Red Kite as we began our descent of the hill. Gulls were on the move, with a high altitude V-formation flock of 26 Black-headed Gulls going north the most notable - not a terribly common sight from the tower. A Woodlark was seen distantly over Duke's Warren while some of the guys got on a probable Hawfinch flying over this area before promptly vanishing into the trees.

The scores on the doors

A little influx of Sand Martins and Garganey inspired me to check out my Shalford patch late afternoon which unfortunately produced neither of the aforementioned, although it was good to hear the first singing Chiffchaff in Mill Mead Meadow and to see the pair of Gadwall still present on St Catherine's Pool along with three Little Grebe and four Teal.

St Catherine's Hill, 10th November

Another of my now regular pre-work watches from St Catherine's this morning (0645-0745) proved very productive with loads of birds moving. The cloud cover perhaps slowed down the gulls a bit which didn't get going until well after 7, with Herrings and Commons leading the charge followed by Black-headeds later. Most notable were the Bramblings and Crossbills, all moving west at some altitude, the former often mixed in with flocks of Redpoll and Chaffinch.

Pied/alba Wagtail - 15 south

Mallard - 15 north

Redwing - 6 north/21 south/15 west-northwest 

Chaffinch - 5 south/2 east/9+ west

Common Gull - 30+ south

Black-headed Gull - 520 south

Fieldfare - 44 north/11 west/6 south

Siskin - 5 east only ones seen but heard almost constantly throughout 

Brambling- 12+ west

Redpoll - 2+ west

Rook - 11 west

Egyptian Goose - 4 north

Herring Gull - 23 south

Meadow Pipit - 1 west

Bullfinch - 1 northwest/1 east/2 north

Crossbill - 3 west 

Goldfinch - 4 south

Cormorant - 1 north

Canada Goose - 6 south with 1 Canada x Greylag

Shalford patch diary and local round-up, October & early November

What with the dwindling daylight hours and a week away chasing rarities on Shetland the patch has been somewhat neglected recently although I've still managed a dozen or so visits since the last one of these diary/round-up posts, including several migration watches from St Catherine's Hill, but more on that later. 

The most notable thing about Shalford Water Meadows at the moment is the distinct lack of water. It's hard to believe we're over a week into November when this muddy puddle represents one of the largest areas of standing water on the patch.

St Catherine's Pool, in need of a top-up!

Still, there's enough water left for a few wildfowl, with Teal numbers peaking so far at 16 on the 18th. I've seen the odd Snipe recently but clearly the habitat is not nearly wet enough at present for good numbers. Lapwing have proved to be just a flyover species for me so far at Shalford, usually in small numbers, so I was glad when Sean Foote picked up 26 flying over distantly on 8th October during a little pre-Shetland walk; by far my highest count of this species locally. On 6th November a Green Sandpiper flew high over Broadford Marsh mid-morning heading south-west and seemingly dropped down somewhere on the patch, although I lost the bird in the glare of the sun and couldn't relocate it. It was also good to see the first returning Little Egret of this winter on the same morning, when one flew up from the marsh and disappeared over the trees to the north.  

The first patch year tick since August came on 29th October when I heard the unmistakable call of Crossbill from/over Shalford Park, but the combination of wind and road noise from the A281 made it impossible to locate the bird(s). Stonechats are again a regular feature with three present on 30th October and 5th November, while Siskin numbers are building, with at least 50 around on the 29th.

Stonechat (male)

Stonechat (male)

Stonechat (female)

Redpoll numbers still seem low, with just single figures seen so far this autumn, the first being one west over St Catherine's Hill on 5th October.  The same migration watch session also produced the first Redwings of the season with at least 8 over while bigger numbers arrived a few days later, with at least 60 over on the 8th. The first Fieldfares, meanwhile, were two flying north on 29th October, again with larger numbers arriving a week or so later when at least 35 flew over on 8th November. Decent numbers of Chaffinches have been moving recently too, with a couple of dozen over on the 8th bringing with them at least one Brambling which was heard only so I couldn't confirm numbers.

Despite a bumper autumn for Yellow-browed Warblers in Surrey and the UK as a whole, many a hopeful trawl through the tit flocks on the patch has yet to deliver the goods, but there have been plenty of Chiffchaffs, with at least 5 present on 5th November, seemingly all just regular collybitas although presumably of more northern origin this late in the year. 

Chiffchaff

Going back to the St Catherine's Hill migration watches, and I'd hoped that my newly-found patch vantage point would provide some Woodpigeon magic in the past week or so. 690 south-west in an hour on the 2nd was a decent count but it seems like maybe they just haven't got going in massive numbers yet this autumn, at least not in Surrey anyway. Black-headed Gulls on the other hand have been streaming over in recent days, with 1035 south (and 1 north!) in 50 minutes early on the 8th interspersed with smaller numbers of Herrings, Commons and Lesser Black-backeds. These are presumably birds coming out of roost from the reservoirs nearer London and following the Wey down to feeding grounds on the fields around here. Still, quite a spectacle and I'm hoping there may be a rarer gull in tow with them at some point.

St Catherine's Hill, early morning

Away from the patch and there's been a few local bits of note recently. My Chilworth garden list got an unexpected addition on the 30th when a Great White Egret flew east at dusk, followed closely by a Little Egret for comparison. I had just earlier the same day been pondering the lack of local Little Egrets so far this winter! Unfortunately a last light scan of the ponds in Albury - a favourite roosting spot for Little Egrets - produced nothing although I did note Mandarin Duck numbers are again increasing on Postford Pond with 45 present. I also heard a Firecrest calling by Waterloo Pond on the 29th. The garden excitement didn't stop with the GWE as the following morning there was a Ring Ouzel in with the Redwings in the big holly and hawthorn hedge behind our house. My garden list now stands on 86 after 26 months. 

Popular beauty spot Newlands Corner is on my route to work so I've been popping in occasionally of late, particularly towards the end of October when I was hoping to find a Ring Ouzel or two lurking in the Whitebeams and Rowans. Sadly no joy but I did have a decent morning on the 20th with 2 Redpoll, 2 Brambling and a Crossbill over and at least 70 Redwings around.

On 5th November I visited the old sandpit and now filled-in landfill site in Albury to carry out the first of many bird surveys at the request of the management company Suez. Fellow surveyors John, Dave and I had a decent couple of hours on site, with two Ravens the most notable species, although it was also good to see at least 4 Skylarks, 20 Meadow Pipits and a modest flock of Linnets using the site, currently best described as a scrubby, grassy hill. Over time we hope to build up a better picture of what birds are using the site and offer advice as to how best proceed with the habitat restoration. 

Looking west along the hill in Albury Sandpit

The view north from the sandpit towards the North Downs

 

Shalford patch diary and local round-up, late September

Now we're past the autumn equinox it's getting to that time of year where patch birding is soon to become a weekend affair, with usable daylight before and after work fading rapidly. Nonetheless, recent early and late visits to Shalford Water Meadows have produced the odd spark of interest as well as treating me to some pretty spectacular sunrises and sunsets.

Heading back to my car after a pretty quiet post-work visit on the 20th something caught my eye flying down from a tree near the Dagley Lane railway bridge. Looking over the side of the bridge I saw a Kestrel that had clearly just caught something in the vegetation beside the railway line - a Slow-worm! I managed to film some of its struggle with the unfortunate reptile.

 

I also noticed the bird was sporting a blue leg ring. Knowing he rings lots of Kestrels in this part of the world I sent the video to Jeremy Gates who was able to confirm this was the only sighting to date of a female he ringed in Worplesdon back in May 2014.

The other big bit of news recently has been the rain. After an extended spell of hot and dry weather to start the month the first substantial rainfall in what seemed like ages came on the 16th and it was a joy to head out to the patch the following morning to find some of the pools filling up again. Out on Broadford Marsh there were at least four Grey Wagtails plus the first three Snipe of winter. Wildfowl numbers will hopefully start to build now that there's actually some habitat for them again - on the 25th there were at least ten Teal and a dozen Shoveler around.

Grey Wagtail

Greylag Geese

As I mentioned in my previous blog post the hirundines are now well and truly gathering to leave us for the winter. The House Martin nests on Kings Road in Shalford were all empty by the 18th and there have been some pretty impressive numbers of them over the patch recently (see further down this blog post for more on that).

House Martin nest on Kings Road

After the remarkable passage of Yellow Wagtails on the 8th I decided it was high time (no pun intended) I sought out a decent visible migration watch-point within the patch boundaries, so I checked out St Catherine's Hill to the north-west of St Catherine's Lock and discovered the vantage point to be excellent, looking right out across much of the water meadows, with a clear view north to Guildford and beyond, south towards Bramley and Godalming and east towards Pewley Down and the Chantries.

Looking east from St Catherine's Hill

Sunrise from St Catherine's Hill

  I'm actually slightly annoyed with myself for not exploring the hill sooner to be honest as the first few watches I've done in the past fortnight have proved productive. A drizzly hour on the 17th yielded at least 400 each of House Martin and Swallow west/north-west plus an adult Great Black-backed Gull south-west. The following Saturday (24th) was all about the House Martins with wave after wave of them following the ridge west from the Chantries (c.860 the final morning's tally) plus two Red Kites west together right over Guildford town centre and a Yellow Wagtail oddly flying purposefully north.
Towards the end of the month Meadow Pipit passage really picked up and I had 185 south in an hour early on the 30th, although there were probably many more I missed as I could hear them calling around me before it was light enough to pick them out. Also of note the same morning were the first Common Gull and Siskins of winter with one and seven south respectively, an impressive flock of 17 Cormorants south in V formation plus a Song Thrush high west and a Barnacle x Canada Goose over with five each of Canada and Greylag. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what else this viewpoint produces in the coming weeks.

Black-headed Gulls streaming south

Cormorants

Peregrine over St Catherine's Hill

Away from the patch there's been bird-based excitement both at home and work. In the evening on the 21st I had a Woodlark over my Chilworth garden while I was keeping a hopeful eye out for the Osprey that Ed Stubbs had just had flying east low over Godalming town centre - sadly the latter never materialised for me despite two previous garden records including one which lingered for several days in August 2014.
At my workplace in West Clandon, meanwhile, there's been plenty of autumn migrant action, with two Wheatears and a Whinchat dropping in in September plus several flyover Yellow Wags, a Tree Pipit on the 20th and a vocal flock of around forty Golden Plover south in drizzly conditions on the 27th. Check out my work blog for more of the wildlife goings-on there.

Whinchat

Leith Hill tower migration watch, 14th April

Every once in a while the hours of standing around in the biting cold northerlies at 1000ft seeing disappointingly few birds pays off, the wind changes, the air feels warmer and the birders gathered atop Leith Hill tower are treated to some quality birds. 

Today was one of those days. 

Robin scanning for approaching hirundines

A gorgeous dawn which saw the land below the hill largely shrouded in mist and barely a breath of wind set the scene for a tower watch which, six hours later, we agreed was one for the ages.

Robin Stride, David Stubbs, Stuart Cossey and I ascended the tower a little after 6am and quickly noted Siskins and Linnets flitting about locally along with a couple of singing Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps. Other summer songsters were notably absent though, especially Willow Warbler and Cuckoo, both of which we'd have expected by now. No matter, as there were clearly birds on the move above and around us. The first Swallow flew through fairly early on, followed by more and then later the House Martins arrived. Not the enormous flocks of autumn, perhaps, but a steady trickle nonetheless, and we speculated how far some of these birds might continue to travel before they reached their breeding grounds. 

The City skyline rising up above the mist

Finches were moving too, with a few Chaffinches, Redpolls and Goldfinches seemingly going further than just a short distance as they powered past, plus small groups of Meadow Pipits, often at considerably greater altitude than our lofty viewpoint. Raptors weren't in a mood to be left out and the first Red Kite of the day flew low east relatively early on, followed by another late morning. Meanwhile, as the air warmed, ever increasing numbers of Buzzards took to the skies; a 360 scan mid morning produced a conservative count of twenty-five. There were also at least three Sparrowhawks around, and fly bys from singles of Raven and Peregrine. 

By about 8 am a slight lull descended, giving us chance for refreshments. This was merely the calm before the storm though as just before 8.30 another flurry of activity occurred, with a small party of Goldfinches north and at least three Great Spotted Woodpeckers squabbling and flying around near the tower. Shortly after this I looked up to see a bird flying more or less directly overhead, quite low. It was clearly a finch, but large and flying with perceptible power, and as it opened its wings the sunlight revealed bold white wing flashes just a second or two before it dropped down into the trees just to the east of us. Hawfinch! My first in Surrey since the large flock at Box Hill in 2013. As is now traditional David Stubbs broke out his stash of orange Club biscuits in celebration!

The Dorking Gap, looking more like a river in the fog

Stuart had to leave us at 9am as he was off to tutor some NT volunteers on how to do a butterfly transect, but the tower watch team numbers were soon boosted again by the arrival of Wes Attridge at 10. Wes and I met down at the tea hatch, while Robin and David called out some new additions to the day list from the roof - 'Kestrel!...Mute Swan!' 

Very nice but not really worth sprinting back up for, especially with sausage rolls warming in the oven.

Hot air balloon - one of two up today. None of us had seen any here before
 so clearly a very good day for it

Back up the tower and things really kicked off after 11. By now there were raptors everywhere and we pointed out passing Swallows to some visitors. Just before 11.30 Wes picked up an interesting gull to the south-west, moving with four Lesser Black-backeds which were clearly at least twice the size of the bird in question. We all got on it and, as it slowly came closer, were able to make out the black head, black underwings and buoyant, tern-like flight. LITTLE GULL! Orange clubs all round again. An outrageous tick from a dry inland site, although only a while earlier I had speculated that some of the numbers of this species that had turned up at water bodies in the county recently must travel overland, even if they were 1500-odd foot up and still climbing as this one was.

By 12.30 things had started to really quieten down a bit, and after enjoying an adult Great Black-backed Gull drift high overhead and another little group of House Martins racing north, we decided to call it a day. 

An absolutely superb morning's local birding in great company. Roll on the next one!

Leith Hill - first tower watch of 2016 and goodbye Sam Bayley

It's been two years now since National Trust ranger Sam Bayley first mooted the idea of a visible migration watch at his work place of Leith Hill near Dorking - the highest point in south-east England. Indeed, standing atop the tower you are looking down on The Shard and, if you were to go east, the next highest point is in the Ural Mountains, as Sam always used to love to tell visitors up the tower. So on 5th April 2014 the first group of birders gathered (in a sea of fog, mind!) and since then almost 400 hours of 'vis-migging' have been carried out up the tower, producing well over a hundred species - quite a remarkable feat when you consider the observers remain largely static on the roof which is just a few metres square.

Leith Hill Tower panorama - photo by David Campbell

After a rather late start to the first migration watching season in 2014, in 2015 we opted to begin on 1st March and this year we decided on an even earlier date - 23rd February - mainly because Sam is upping sticks and moving to Ireland. It's no exaggeration to say that Sam has totally put Leith Hill on the map with his ringing and birding efforts up there, not to mention of course the tower watches. He will be missed but we will do our best to carry on his legacy!

Sam Bayley with Buzzard

So it was that four of us - David Stubbs, Robin Stride, Sam and I - convened at first light on Tuesday and made our way up to the tower, where we were soon joined by Wes Attridge and David Campbell, who'd unfortunately got held up en route. 

It was a frosty morning and there was a chilly breeze blowing in from the North Downs, and it's fair to say that none of us were exactly expecting fireworks on the migration side of things. 

Looking south-east from Leith Hill towards Gatwick

We'd soon added plenty of common species to the day list - including at least two hooting male Tawny Owls - before we spotted a Woodlark displaying over Duke's Warren to the north-east; the hill's largest area of open heathland. Throughout the course of the morning we recorded at least four displaying birds, their 'too-lueet' calls occasionally reaching us on the breeze. It was quite something to watch them hanging in the air in front of the London skyline, as Robin so perfectly described later on Twitter. 

Apart from being a great sight in their own right, the Woodlarks proved useful in helping us find other birds, as it was while watching them that Wes picked up three Golden Plover heading north-west distantly over the downs. Unfortunately not everyone got on the birds but as it was a new species for Leith Hill it meant it was time for David S to break out the now traditional orange Club biscuits in celebration!

Other species on the move included quite a few Rooks - not a particularly common sight up the hill - and lots of Herring Gulls, the odd Lesser Black-backed and Black-headed amongst them. Other than 210 Starlings east in two flocks, passerines were fairly thin on the ground with just a few Siskins, Chaffinches, Greenfinches and Goldfinches past, plus two Fieldfare east, one Brambling west and two Meadows Pipits and a Grey Wagtail south. 

David Stubbs unfortunately had to leave us mid-morning which we joked would mean all the best birds would appear. The sun was out by now and the air was perceptibly warming, and by 10:30 there were good numbers of raptors in the sky including at least a dozen Buzzards. Just after 10:40 Wes and David S picked up a Sparrowhawk to the north-east. David Campbell thought he'd got on the same bird but quickly realised this bird was no Sparrowhawk. Soon we'd all got on it, and over the course of the next half hour were treated to phenomenal views of the young female Goshawk as it thermalled around the tower at close range, before drifting powerfully south/south-east at 11:12. David Campbell managed to capture some excellent phone-scope footage of it.

In all we recorded 55 species in almost six hours. Not a bad start to the 2016 Leith Hill vis-mig season and a very fitting send-off for Mr Bayley. Roll on the next tower watch!

Results of tower watch on Trektellen