Phew, well it really has been a while since I last posted on here, partly due to other commitments and not wanting to spend fine evenings sat at a computer, but also because it's been a rather quiet few weeks on the local patch. Nonetheless I've been plugging away making regular visits to the meadows in the hope of some autumnal magic. On 22nd August a Lesser Whitethroat in Broom Meadow gave me my only patch year tick (105) of August and offered some reassurance that the migration season was underway. This was followed by two together in the same area on the 26th. I didn't manage any photos of them unfortunately but the Common Whitethroats have been rather more obliging.
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| Common Whitethroat |
Phylloscopus warblers have remained present in good numbers through
recent weeks, my most thorough count of the whole recording area on 13th
August yielding a conservative estimate of 50 Chiffchaffs and 5 Willow
Warblers. By early September many of the Chiffchaffs were giving their
distinctive two-note song once more, albeit rather more half-heartedly
than in the spring. On the 3rd I also heard a Blackcap singing weakly
along the Railway Line Walk. Also on the same morning there was a Sedge
Warbler with the Whitethroats in Broom Meadow; the first I've seen here
for a while so quite likely a migrant. Another species notable by its absence or
at least silence of late has been Reed Warbler so I was surprised
to stumble across a family group by St Catherine's Pool on 25th August.
Aside from the juvenile during the summer the first returning Stonechat
of autumn was present in Broadford Meadow from 22nd August while the
first (and so far only) returning Spotted Flycatcher was flycatching
from Hawthorns near Broadford Marsh on the 26th.
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| Stonechat |
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| Spotted Flycatcher |
Early on 8th September
while walking the footpath across the now very dry Broadford Marsh I
heard the unmistakeable call of a
Yellow Wagtail and looked up to see
one flying south overhead - 'Great', I thought, 'the first of Autumn'.
Just a few minutes later another four went over heading the same way and
these were then followed in dribs and drabs by a further 17 over the course
of the next hour or so! One of my highest totals of this species in a
single sitting, certainly in Surrey anyway, and bolstered I'm sure by
the presence of cattle in some areas of the water meadows. Clearly an
excellent day for movement of this species with flyover records coming
from at least half a dozen sites across Surrey including 7 seen by Ed
Stubbs over the Thorncombe Street Ridge just a couple of miles south of
Shalford later in the morning. Interestingly there were also notably
boosted numbers along the Sussex coast the following day, with
80+ at Medmerry alone. Hirundine numbers are now typically swelling, with
over 300, mostly
House Martins, drifting west/north-west early on the
9th of this month. The last
Swift of the year meanwhile was among a
mixed hirundine flock over Broadford Marsh on 31st August. Gull numbers
are increasing now, with the Black-headeds in particular noticeably
resuming their winter commuting route south-west early morning then back
north-east in the evening. Fingers crossed they bring in something a
bit rarer in the coming weeks.
Teal numbers were growing fairly steadily
until most of the pools in the recording area finally dried up at the
end of August. My highest count before the drought was 11 on 26th
August, while the first
Shoveler returned on 4th September.
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| Teal |
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| Lesser Black-backed Gulls |
The lack of
rain has rather scuppered my hopes of getting a wader dropping in,
although my second Curlew of the year was a nice surprise on 21st
August, flying south-west mid-morning. Raptors have been largely
represented by the usual trio of Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel,
although singles of Hobby were seen on 13th August and 12th September, and Peregrines on 22nd and 26th August, while
on 14th August there were six Red Kites in the patch airspace, with one
north closely followed by five circling together in the direction of
Loseley Park; my highest count to date of this species here. It was also nice recently to stumble across a Buzzard nest in an area of the meadows were I had suspected breeding earlier in the year.
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| Buzzard nest |
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| Buzzard feathers beneath the nest |
A few more photos from recent weeks:
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| Nodding Bur-marigold |
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| Dewy dawn in Broom Meadow |
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| Painted Lady |
