Further adventures in micro-patching

Having always been a keen patch-watcher, I must admit to quite enjoying this spell of medically-enforced micro-patching - i.e. my garden and its immediate surroundings. On the eve of leaving Chilworth and the Surrey Hills behind, I feel like it's making me take time to appreciate my surroundings and look harder for things I may have missed. Indeed, since returning from hospital on Saturday afternoon I've notched up 56 bird species in, around or over the garden, although still yet to achieve the hoped-for 50 in a single day.

Dunnock

Yesterday's highlights included singles of Sand Martin and Swallow over, one Skylark east (the first garden record for a while), an adult Great Black-backed Gull east and ten Redpoll high north-west. It was also entertaining watching four Great Spotted Woodpeckers chasing each other from tree to tree on and off all morning. Butterfly numbers were lower than Sunday, as to be expected as the day was rather cooler and breezier, with just Comma and Holly Blue making an appearance. It's worth mentioning here that our back garden is a very open space and backs directly onto farmland. It can often be very breezy here when other places locally are calm - I've often equated it to being rather more like being by the coast than the Surrey Hills! Anyway, I've no doubt a dweller of a more sheltered garden would have done rather better for butterflies but, as it stands, my garden butterfly year list now stands at seven species.

Carder Bee

This morning started drizzly but mild and with relatively light winds. Normally the kind of morning I'd be scurrying off to the patch but not today. I'd barely finished my breakfast before I heard the sweetly drunken notes of a Willow Warbler singing through the open window; the first one from the garden this year. Not a bad start.

Willow Warbler - too mobile for a good photo!

I got my bins and camera out and before setting up for some more sedentary garden birding headed out for a gentle stroll up our road. I had half thought I might make it up to Blackheath but didn't get that far in the end. Anyway I hadn't walked far before I caught up with the Willow Warbler again, working its way through the roadside hedgerow, occasionally darting to the top of a taller tree when a car passed by. It was nice to spend some time watching it. Maybe I'm usually in too much of a rush to find something else.

A little further on I stumbled across a pair of Buzzards mating in a tree right on the edge of Blackheath, and my first Red Kite of the day drifted over. Down at ground level it was nice to see my first flowering Cow Parsley and Garlic Mustard of the year; some of the Hawthorns don't look like they'll be much longer either.

Blackthorn

Garlic Mustard

Cow Parsley

Forget-me-not species - probably garden escape

 Back home and into my sky watching position from where I could still hear occasional bursts of song from the Willow Warbler, plus at least one each of Chiffchaff and Blackcap behind the farm. A pair of Jackdaws foraged about nearby gathering nest material. Looking up I caught sight of three Ravens powering north together, sadly disappearing over the tree line before I could get a photo. Later on two Skylarks flew north-east. The hoped for low cloud and occasional drizzle sadly didn't bring down a Little Gull or any terns but single Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew south and south-west. As the day brightened a little mid-afternoon, raptors really got going with at least four Red Kites and nine Buzzards in the sky together at one point, seven of the latter kettling together and drifting north-east. Despite my best efforts I've not yet found any grounded passerines in the fields that back onto our garden but I'm certainly enjoying trying! The garden list remains on 88.

Buzzard

Pheasant

Cormorant - lots of these over the garden this week

Recuperation. Lazy birding at its best!

After being rushed to hospital on Friday evening to have my appendix removed I was told by the doctors to take a week to rest, but me being me I thought I'd turn my inability to get out birding on the patch or elsewhere into a little challenge and try for a few 'big days' from a comfy chair in the garden. Today was a particularly good day to do so, weather-wise, and I notched up a respectable 46 bird species.

The day got off to a good start as, no sooner had I got outside and set up my chair, the first garden Swallow for the year flew east, singing as it went.

A short while later an unmistakeable call alerted me to a Raven approaching from the direction of Blackheath. It then proceeded to soar over the garden for a couple of minutes along with the first Red Kite of the day before the two birds parted company and the Raven flew off high north. Only about my fifth garden record of this species.

Raven

Raven and Red Kite

The Red Kites kept coming throughout the day, with at least four birds involved, and two together chasing each other around low over the trees just after midday. Buzzards were up and about in good numbers too with a conservative count of six individuals seen during the day, including this strikingly pale bird.

Buzzard

Red Kite

Singles of Kestrel and Sparrowhawk completed the raptor tally for the day - sadly there wasn't to be another Osprey after the one which flew west yesterday afternoon!

Aside from a few Redpolls and Meadow Pipits over, things went rather quiet on the skywatching front in the middle of the day - not least because we were enjoying the company of some visiting family members - but my first garden Blackcap of the year was nice to hear. We were also treated to an unexpected flypast from two Apache gunships and a Chinook!

Incoming!

Pied Wagtail

As the sun began to go down a hot air balloon appeared from the west, causing much panic amongst the water birds on the large private lake across the fields from our house. Mandarin and Coot were heard and at least four Shoveler were flushed up and circled for several minutes. Tick! Number 88 on the garden bird list since August 2014. We'll likely be moving house before the summer is over but I'm still hopeful of reaching 90 at this rate before we leave.

Shoveler (honest!)

There was plenty of non-bird excitement too, with my first Holly Blue and Orange-tip for the year of particular note amongst regular flypasts of Brimstone, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and Red Admiral. A Bee-fly made a brief appearance in the herb border at one point as did Common Carder Bee and Tree Bumblebee.

All in all, not a bad day considering I spent most of it sitting in one spot and, as the saying goes, tomorrow is another day!

Shalford patch diary, late March

Well, what a few days it's been on the patch. The pair of Garganey stayed longer than expected and were enjoyed by at least 50 people. I met and chatted to visiting birders from West Sussex, London and all over Surrey, clearly enticed by some of the fantastic photos of the birds, a few of which I've included below.

Photo: Richard Waters

Photo: Dave Carlsson

Photo: Stevie Minhinnick

Photo: Richard Waters

Photo: Richard Waters

Photo: Richard Waters

Away from the main action on St Catherine's Pool, the first Blackcap (82) of the year was singing near the Dagley Lane allotments early on the 21st, before a more noticeable fall on the 30th when at least five singing males and a female were noted. Early on the 29th the first Willow Warbler of the year was singing by St Catherine's Pool. Chiffchaff numbers are steadily increasing, peaking at an impressive 17 males noted during a patch 'big day' on the 24th - but more on that later.

Chiffchaff - Richard Waters

Wildfowl numbers remain fairly decent with 27 Teal recorded on the 24th and two pairs of Gadwall on the 26th. There were also still two pairs of Shoveler present as of the 28th. There were three Egyptian Geese present in the Broadford area on the 24th, along with the usual numbers of Canada Geese and a single Greylag.

Teal - Richard Waters

Gadwall

Lingering winter visitors include singles of Redpoll over on the 24th, 25th and 27th and just a scattering of Redwing (4 on the 22nd, 3 on the 30th). Two Fieldfare flew west over the Horse Field on the 24th. Meadow Pipit passage is beginning to pick up now with several noted flying north on recent patch visits.

Back to the epic eight hour patch day on the 24th now which saw me notch up a patch record day list of 69 species, including my first Kingfisher (83) of the year, heard calling by the bridge where the Railway Line Walk crosses the river. Other highlights from the day included two Little Egrets flying north and a Firecrest in Mill Mead Meadow while an extended lunchtime skywatch from St Catherine's Hill produced 3 Red Kites, a male Crossbill flying east, an adult Great Black-backed Gull north and a Raven soaring high overhead before doing a couple of barrel rolls and flying west.

Buzzard - Richard Waters

The Little Owl in St Catherine's Meadow has been noticeably more vocal, giving its yelping call from one of the Oaks here both morning and evening on my recent visits.

After finding my first ever patch Red-legged Partridge on the 12th I've seen two together in the Horse Field/Broadford area a couple of times recently. The regular pair of Stonechat are still hanging around near St Catherine's Lock, while on the morning of the 30th a 'new' male was singing by Broadford Bridge.

The first patch Skylark of the year was heard singing to the west of Horse Field early on the 28th, while the first patch hirundine of the year was a Swallow seen by Kit Britten later the same day - exactly the same date as the first one in 2016.

The last week or so has seen a good emergence of the overwintering butterfly species, with Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock and Red Admiral noted in good numbers, plus a Small or Green-veined White seen briefly on the 26th in Mill Mead Meadow.

Small Tortoiseshell

As a final note on this post, thank you to Shaun Ferguson for producing this new map of the patch which you'll be able to find in 'The local patch' section of the blog, for reference.

Shalford patch diary, July and early August

It's been a quiet few weeks on the patch, hence the lack of blog posts, but there have been a few signs that autumn is on its way. It never makes me particularly popular with non-birding friends when I mention the A word at this time of year, but there's no denying the fact that the year is now turning.

Rainbow over Broadford Marsh

Aside from a steady south-westerly push of Swifts throughout the latter half of July, the first sure sign of return passage at Shalford came on the evening of the 12th when a Green Sandpiper dropped down onto Broadford Marsh during a rain shower. Only my second patch record this year after one in January. I really am hoping for something a bit rarer on this part of the patch at some point, if only it wouldn't keep drying out! At this point St Catherine's Pool is looking the best bet for a passing wader to drop in for a while.

Green Sandpiper (honest!)

 Fast forward a couple of weeks and I heard the first returning Willow Warbler 'huu-weet'-ing just downstream from Broadford Bridge on 2nd August, followed by another or the same one a little way south-west of the bridge the following evening, and at least a couple in the same area on the evening of the 10th. Also adding an autumnal feel to my visit on the 3rd was an eclipse drake Teal on St Catherine's Pool - my first patch Teal since 19th April, and a sure sign of colder days ahead, albeit a little way off yet.

Teal

As you'd expect for the time of year there are now juvenile birds all over the patch, from Moorhens to Kestrels to Green Woodpeckers. One unfortunate young Moorhen fell victim to a Sparrowhawk on 21st July. Also of note recently were the adult and two juvenile Peregrines noisily flying over the patch early on 11th July. Mute Swans have returned to the river after successfully breeding on Shalford village pond. There's a lone sub-adult bird now hanging around at St Catherine's while a family group of two adults and two young were just upstream of Broadford Bridge on 31st July. Sand Martins have been pretty much a constant sight right through the breeding season, albeit in small numbers, usually hawking over Broadford Marsh or St Catherine's Lock. I don't know of any local breeding sites so it would be interesting to know the origins of these birds.

Mute Swans

Kestrel, juvenile

I've been mainly visiting the patch early morning the past few weeks as it fits better around work etc, but have been trying to make at least one evening visit a week, especially now the days are getting shorter again. On one such visit on 5th July it was good to see one of the local Barn Owls out hunting over Broadford Marsh, the first one I've seen here for a while.

On 7th July lengthsman Rob Craig messaged to say he'd just heard a Grasshopper Warbler reeling a little way downstream from St Catherine's Lock. Unfortunately I wasn't able to catch up with it either that day or the next, but still a great record - the first record for the area since one Rob heard at Broadford Marsh three years ago.

Gulls and geese are starting to move again after a bit of a midsummer lull. Early on 10th August singles of Egyptian Goose and Greylag Goose flew south/south-west along with a couple of dozen Canadas. Hopefully the coming weeks will bring something a bit rarer.

A few more shots from the past few weeks:

Grey Herons

Buzzard

Swift

Speckled Wood

Small Copper

Red Admiral

Shalford patch diary, weeks twelve and thirteen

Monday 21st March

An after work visit tonight produced little in the way of migrants, aside from a single singing Chiffchaff, but there was a fair amount of other stuff around, most notably Buzzards which were very active and which I observed mating and carrying nesting material. The usual Kestrel pair were displaying still, while a male Linnet was singing away in Broom Meadow. Wildfowl numbers remain fairly stable with at least nine Shoveler and eighteen Teal scattered around the area. On the gull front, aside from the usual Black-headeds, ten Common and two Lesser Black-backed flew north while two single Herring Gulls flew south and west.

Kestrels

Tuesday 22nd March

A short and rather unremarkable stroll around the Broadford area after work tonight yielded just three Shoveler and two Teal of note on the deck, while two Buzzards and a single Grey Wagtail were the best of the flyovers along with an unsually high count of five Grey Herons south. 

Friday 25th March

The warmest day of the year so far and one in which there had been a fair amount of raptor vismig evident during my working day, so the patch was calling as the clock hit 4pm. Early on in my visit I clocked a Little Egret flying south, while eighteen Fieldfares heading north-east was the highest count I'd seen here for a while and presumably birds on the move. Gull numbers were noticeably lower than of late, with just four each of Common and Lesser Black-backed of any note. Wildfowl numbers again were reasonable with at least twenty-five Teal, five Shoveler and three Mandarin. The Little Owl was in its usual tree and it was entertaining to watch it chasing off a Grey Squirrel at one point. Raptors were represented by two Buzzards and singles of Kestrel and Red Kite.

Kestrel 

Monday 28th March

Dodging fallen trees and debris on the roads of Chilworth and Shalford, I headed to the patch mid-morning after the worst of 'Storm Katie' had died down and found the water levels the highest I had seen them to date.

Indeed, access via the Dagley Lane boardwalk end was completely out of the question so I headed north up the eastern side past the waterworks and through Shalford Park. I have been rather neglectful of the northern end of my patch so far this year so this was a good excuse to check it out. It was clear from the off there were a lot of Chiffchaffs around and I'd already heard at least four before I reached the waterworks. The total count was at least ten singing males. It was when I reached the waterworks that the first wave of Gulls moved into view from the north. I started going through them, expecting the usual Common and Black-headed but was surprised to find them almost entirely Herring Gulls. This theme continued throughout my visit and the final tally was 120 south - by far my highest count of this species here to date. These were interspersed with just a single Common Gull, nine Black-headeds and at least five Lesser Black-backed.
Also on the move overheard were two Greylag Geese north - only my second record of this species this year - and a few Meadow Pipits north, plus the always welcome sight of my first Swallow (80) of the year which flew west over St Catherine's Lock just after noon. Wildfowl were represented by at least nine Teal, a single drake Shoveler and at least three pairs of Mandarin, while of note on the raptor front were Peregrine, two each of Kestrel and Sparrowhawk and at least four Buzzards.

Mandarins - Richard Waters

Later in the day I had an Osprey drift high north over my garden in Chilworth, at the onset of a hail shower.

Tuesday 29th March

Just a quick after work visit tonight and the water levels were still too high to allow access to much of my usual route around the patch but a scan of Broadford Marsh produced at least seven Shoveler while the horse field in this area held a little mixed flock of Starlings and winter thrushes - the latter won't be with us much longer. Overhead there were at least four Buzzards around and a single Red Kite south.

Thursday 31st March

My last patch visit of March and, after an early shift vis-migging up Leith Hill, I had nowhere else particularly important to be so decided to make my visit a lengthy one.
Aside from the ever increasing numbers of Chiffchaffs and Monday's Swallow, it was looking like I'd end the month with disappointingly little in the way of migrants on my list. It was a very welcome sight then to watch a single Sand Martin (81) hawking over the meadows this morning before continuing its way north. The patch was ringing to the sound of Chiffchaff song, at least a dozen singing around the place, but sadly no other warblers yet. A scan of St Catherine's Pool produced little on the water, but I did hear the distinctive call of a Brambling (82) from somewhere overhead, although frustratingly wasn't able to clap eyes on it. Still, my second patch tick of the day really buoyed my enthusiasm and I continued my walk, excited for what my third could be - House Martin perhaps? Or Willow Warbler? I waded through the deepest of puddles and climbed the steps up to the Railway Line Walk and headed down the path to view the Broadford Marsh area, where I found the usual scattering of Shoveler, notably higher numbers of Coot, and a single drake Wigeon (83).

Shoveler and Wigeon on Broadford Marsh 

 Tick! This was a species I expected earlier in the year, given the amount of suitable habitat here, but better late than never. After a while it flew off with a group of Shoveler, which it broke off from in due course and came down on the other side of the river. A little later I saw four more fly from this area and back down into the marsh near Broadford Bridge. Three patch ticks in one day! This was just getting silly now...
Later, on another pool in the Broadford area I found a pair of Tufted Duck (84) - patch tick number four - and it was here I decided to sit and have my lunch. It was a glorious afternoon, and as I enjoyed my sandwiches a Chiffchaff sang in the Willows above my head, a Swallow flitted overhead and a Peacock butterfly fluttered past. Spring at last.
Also of note from today's visit were at least ten Linnet, four Reed Buntings. ten Buzzards, three Red Kites, one Sparrowhawk, one Little Owl, two Mandarin, and Jackdaws and Starlings gathering nesting material.

Mandarin - Richard Waters

Friday 1st April

An early and chilly start this morning saw the patch still rather frosty and misty but looking beautiful bathed in warming spring sunshine.

I didn't cover quite as much ground as yesterday but still clocked up at least ten singing Chiffchaffs - they really are everywhere now. As I made my way along the Railway Line Walk I also heard my first singing Blackcap of the year. St Catherine's Pool was rather more lively this morning with a patch high count of three Little Grebes jostling at the southern end, while a drake Gadwall (85) hanging out with a pair of Mallards was another very welcome addition to the patch list. 

Gadwall on St Catherine's Pool 

Starlings and Jackdaws were again flying around with nest material as I strolled down to check out Broadford Marsh. The water levels are still really high but I'm hoping they may drop enough to attract the odd passing wader in the next few weeks. Today though it was mainly Teal, with at least dozen scattered about the marsh and another ten on the Railway Pool. The marsh also held at least five each of Coot and Shoveler - numbers of the former have noticeably increased with the water levels this week.
Walking south along the navigation I stopped to check the usual Little Owl tree and, sure enough, found one basking in the sunshine. I set up my scope to get a better look and take a few phonescope pics. No sooner had I done so than a second bird appeared and promptly mounted the other and they mated for several seconds. What a magic moment.  

As usual there were a fair few Canada Geese around this morning, but one bird in particular caught my eye as it had an almost entirely white head. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a photo as I only saw it a couple of times briefly in flight but hopefully it'll turn up again at some point. 

By mid-morning the air had warmed sufficiently to produce the first raptors, with at least five Buzzards around and a pair of Sparrowhawks displaying over Broadford.

Buzzard - Richard Waters

As I was heading back to my car a Skylark (86) flew east over Broom Meadow; another new species for me here and my sixth patch tick in two days. I do love this time of year!

Later in the day Richard Waters paid the meadows a visit hoping for owls, which sadly didn't appear, but he did add a Little Egret to the day list. 

Little Egret - Richard Waters

Sunday 3rd April

Southerly winds and overnight rain prompted me to get out of bed extra early for my first pre-work patch visit of the year, although I only had time for a quick check of Broom Meadow, St Catherine's Pool and Broadford Marsh. 

Broadford Marsh

Plenty of singing Chiffchaffs around again plus at least two Blackcaps as I made my way past St Catherine's Lock to check the pool. I stopped to skywatch for a short while by the lock and noted a Little Egret flying north. Moving on, and I hadn't got much further before I stopped again to check I'd heard what I thought I'd just heard and, sure enough, from the bushes just across the river, the first drunken warblings of a Willow Warbler (87) - always lovely to hear.

On St Catherine's Pool itself I found the drake Gadwall still present along with four Coots noisily scrapping, plus four Teal and a pair of Little Grebe.

Heading along the navigation towards Broadford I briefly stopped to check the Little Owl tree which, sure enough, contained one very vocal Little Owl.

Little Owl - Richard Waters

There were at least ten Teal on the railway pool and at least another fifteen on Broadford Marsh along with half a dozen Shoveler. I headed further along the Railway Line Walk to check the horse field which produced little, but there were at least five Bullfinches down here.

A brief after work visit added Lesser Black-backed Gull and Herring Gull to the day list, with two and seven of each over, respectively. There were also six Swallows hawking over the meadows, and a single House Martin (88) - my first of the year - over Dagley Lane which then flew under the eaves of a house near the station. A nice end to a great week which has added nine species to my patch list, taking my Patchwork Challenge list to 88 species/94 points.

A few more pics from the past couple of weeks,

Horse interrupts Wheatear scanning session

The alien-looking Butterbur emerging near St Catherine's Lock

Hazel leaf buds bursting in the sunshine

Early Dog-violet

Kestrel - Richard Waters

Roe Deer