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

Shalford patch diary, weeks six and seven

Wednesday 10th February

A largely uneventful visit in terms of birds, with only a couple of Teal, one each of Reed Bunting and Grey Wagtail, a calling male Tawny Owl, forty-four Pied Wagtails north and seven Egyptian Geese south of any real note. The rain shower that swept in shortly after I arrived at St Catherine's Lock, however, produced a sky that was more than worth the visit alone. 

Sunday 14th February

Another brief after-work visit with my girlfriend produced a similarly impressive sky and rather more in the way of birds. Five each of Common Gull and Cormorant flew north, while fourteen Egyptian Geese flew south-west. By St Catherine's Lock there were two Stonechats, three Grey Herons and two Kestrels. 

Cormorants

Thursday 18th February

Possibly my most enjoyable visit to the patch so far. It had been a gloriously sunny day, and the sunshine still had some warmth to it when I arrived at the meadows at about 4.20pm. As I walked past the allotments, enjoying the still numerous amount of birds singing, a Buzzard drifted south overhead. Meanwhile, a female Kestrel gave lovely views in the sunshine in an Oak near St Catherine's Lock. 

Kestrel

On St Catherine's Pool there were a Little Grebe and a dozen Teal, the latter of which all flew off before dusk. Other species flying to roost during my visit included Cormorant (one south/two north), thirty-two Pied Wagtails north, plus the usual massed Black-headed Gulls flying north with five Common Gulls and one each of Herring Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull amongst them. As the light was still good and there was hardly a breath of wind I lingered for a while in the very marshy area immediately north-east of the lock where a flushed Snipe set off a squealing Water Rail. It was then that I caught sight of a white shape out of the corner of my eye and over the course of the next few minutes I was treated to my best ever views of Barn Owl at this particular site, as it made several circuits of the area around where I was stood, occasionally getting dive-bombed by a couple of the local Magpies.  

Little Grebe

Barn Owl

Barn Owl

Barn Owl

Saturday 20th February

Right from the start this morning, two things were clear: there were lots of birds flying over the patch and lots of bird song. In addition to the usual gulls (of four species) and a high count of eight Cormorants I also recorded five species of raptor over the meadows today, but more on that later. The walk down to the meadows was soundtracked by the ever-present Song Thrush but also cheeping House Sparrows and wheezing Greenfinches, both of the latter increasingly scarce sights and sounds in this part of the world these days, so it's good to see they're still doing reasonably well here - for the time being at least. Passing the lock keeper's and heading out in to the meadows near St Catherine's Lock I heard a familiar sound but one I hadn't until then heard in 2016: a singing Reed Bunting. I think these guys get a bit of a hard time for their supposedly monotonous song. I rather like the lazy, relaxed 'dee-dee...deeeet', and it set the pace for a very pleasant morning on the patch. 

Reed Bunting

Before I'd even made it as far as the lock gates, I'd added the first three raptor species to the day list: Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and a male Peregrine that dashed north low and fast, its black executioners mask catching the light beautifully as it went - but too fast for a photo. I strolled over to check St Catherine's Pool where I found a Little Grebe, a pair of Teal, a pair of Mandarin, a drake Shoveler and two Grey Herons, although another check a little later added another two Teal and a Little Egret - my first one actually 'on the deck' here. Overhead, the first Buzzard of the day was now airborne to the south-west, while a Raven flew high north-east. A pair of Grey Wagtails made their presence very well known, as they called and sang and generally flitted about the various walls and ledges.

Further down the river there were fourteen Teal on the Railway Pool, at least fifteen Pied Wags in what I've named Horse Field (funnily enough it has a lot of horses in it..) and fifty-odd Redwings and two Mistle Thrush in the field immediate east of the railway line. 

Heading back to my car at around 11.30, the last bird of the morning was a Red Kite drifting south. A total of fifty-six species on the patch today - my highest day tally here to date.  

Shoveler

Little Egret

Grey Wagtail

Sunday 21st February

A rather blustery morning on the patch. I decided to wander a bit further south than usual where I found a pair of Stonechats near the bridge over the river just south-west of the Wey and Arun Junction. I hadn't seen any on yesterday's visit so wondered if this was the regular pair which had migrated a little further south. Clearly this wasn't the case, as upon returning to St Catherine's Lock a short time later I found another pair hopping around on the fence here, while further north still Richard Waters photographed a female in the meadow near the rowing club. Richard also photographed a Little Egret up there at almost the same time as I was looking at one tucked in the reeds by St Catherine's Pool, where there were also two Grey Herons but otherwise no birds to be found. Strangely there were also no Teal on the Railway Pool - my first ever Teal-less visit to the patch!

Little Egret - Richard Waters

Female Stonechat - Richard Waters

This week on the patch, 1st-7th February

Just three patch visits this week, and sadly minimal photos again as my camera is still out of action.

Tuesday 2nd February

The now regular after work visit to the patch this evening saw the water levels surprisingly high and access to the main meadows by the river was tricky, even in wellies. To be fair, there wasn't a huge amount waiting for me even when I did manage to get through, aside from ten Teal on the pool east of St Catherine's Lock - which I've decided I'll refer to as St Catherine's Pool from now on. Overhead, two each of Lesser Black-backed Gull and Egyptian Goose flew north and south-west, respectively, as the daylight dwindled, followed shortly by twenty Pied Wags heading towards Guildford. Walking back past the lock keeper's cottage and towards the board walk a dozen or so Canada Geese flew in to the marsh close by, presumably looking to roost and seemingly either not aware or not bothered about me being just yards away. Their arrival was followed closely by a Barn Owl gliding low over the path ahead of me and off through the trees at the south end of the meadows towards Broadford Marsh, flushing a few Snipe and Teal as it went.

Friday 5th February

Two visits today amounting to around five and half hours in total. Highlights of the morning visit included the 1st winter male Stonechat in the scrubby field immediately north-west of St Catherine's Lock, plus a pair of Reed Buntings lingering in a bush by the lock itself. There were Teal dotted about all over the place, with at least four on St Catherine's Pool, ten on the Railway Bridge Pool and a pair on Broadford Marsh viewed from the Railway Line Walk. The usual pair of Kestrels were out hunting, and a Raven flew north-east mid-morning. Two Meadow Pipits west over the river as I was on my way home were only my third record here this year.
The afternoon visit was a good opportunity to catch up with Francis Kelly but also produced the better birds of the day. On St Catherine's Pool there were a drake Teal and a pair of Shoveler. As we walked down the towpath near the lock keeper's cottage, a dozen Redpoll flew over our heads. Chiffchaffs were heard but not seen by the railway bridge towards Artington, and a little further north at the end of the alley that runs N/S adjacent to the railway. Returning to St Catherine's Lock we found a Little Grebe on the river - a patch tick for me. As we waited on the bridge by the lock, hoping for the Barn Owl to appear seven Egyptian Geese flew south-west to roost. We were also able to confirm the presence of three Kestrels on site, as we saw an adult male and adult female together, followed a little later by an immature male - although we never actually saw all three together. As the light faded and the wind increased, any owl action seemed unlikely so we headed for home, although a flyover Little Egret made for a nice end to the day. Also of note were at least twenty-six Magpies gathering to roost at the southern end of the meadows.

What happens if you drop your phone down the loo!