Shalford patch diary, weeks ten and eleven

Monday 7th March

After an enjoyable but rather quiet morning vis migging at Leith Hill I headed down to the patch for an extended afternoon visit. Entering from the Broadford Bridge end I had barely walked more than a few metres before I noticed a few gulls drifting over. Nothing particularly unusual there, except that was for one which even with the naked eye stood out with its pure white primaries gleaming in the sunshine. A quick look through bins confirmed my suspicions that it was an adult Mediterranean Gull. Unfortunately no sooner had I got my camera out and ready the bird had gained height and was disappearing fast to the north-east. Still a great addition to the patch list and a great start to the afternoon! It proved to be quite a gull-filled visit, with over 170 Common Gulls north later in the day, amongst the usual hundreds of Black-headeds, at least twenty Herring and five Lesser Black-backed.

Lots of Gulls!

On the Railway Pool there were four Teal and a Little Egret, while St Catherine's Pool held eight Teal and a pair of Shoveler. Just north of St Catherine's Lock I flushed a Water Rail from the reeds as I passed. The usual pair of Kestrels were still around, while two single Red Kites flew over (or possibly the same bird) - one north-east followed by one west a while later. Other raptors were at least two Buzzards and a male Sparrowhawk which flew over carrying prey. Meanwhile a Raven drifted into the patch airspace from the west for a moment before turning and heading back the same way. There were at least fifteen Rooks around, including a pair mating in St Catherine's Meadow, west of the lock (I'll put an annotated map on here one of these days). All in all not a bad afternoon - patch birding at its best!

Kestrel

Friday 11th March

The best thing about this time of year is surely the ever-lengthening evenings and, thanks to still being on winter working hours, I can now easily get in a couple of hours' birding after work. After one of the mildest days of the year so far, the patch was still thronging with birdsong when I arrived.

Blackbird singing

The rain earlier in the week had had a noticeable impact on the water levels, with the southern end of the meadows mostly flooded again although thankfully not enough to prevent access via the boardwalk. Indeed, amongst the first birds I saw this evening were a few Teal out on the flood here, along with two on the Railway Pool and at least fifteen on Broadford Marsh, viewed from Railway Line Walk. Other wildfowl of note were at least five Shoveler, and two Mandarin which flew over St Catherine's Pool and two more (or possibly the same two) which flew down into Broadford Marsh a while later. Pausing a while at St Catherine's Lock I noted a singing male Grey Wagtail and a Little Egret, the latter perched in a tree a little way along the river towards Guildford. Meanwhile there was a Little Owl in the usual tree just upstream from St Catherine's Lock on the west side of the navigation.

Grey Wagtail - Richard Waters 

Cuckooflower - considerably ahead of its avian namesake

Saturday 12th March

A well-timed late morning visit after the early fog had cleared saw the meadows bathed in warming sunshine, and the birds were clearly responding in kind: Reed Buntings were singing, along with a few of the many Redwings gathering along the Railway Line Walk, and a Carrion Crow was building a nest in an Oak along the eastern boundary. The Chiffchaff I'd earlier seen skulking through the undergrowth by the river when I first arrived was singing away at the top of a Willow as I walked back to my car. Always a sound to lift the spirits at this time of year, even though this species is increasingly overwintering in Britain and isn't quite the harbinger of spring it once was. The other surprise this morning was another patch tick in the form of a male Rose-ringed Parakeet along the river just north-east of St Catherine's Lock. After a few minutes of nibbling at the buds in this Ash it flew off south, screeching as it went.

Rose-ringed Parakeet

I was unfortunately not quick enough with my camera to capture the leucistic Goldfinch I stumbled across feeding on Burdock seedheads along the Railway Line Walk. Had it not been with a small flock of Goldfinches it would have really had me stumped. Indeed, when I first caught sight of it, all black and white with a gleaming white head, thoughts of recent UK occurrences of Northern Long-tailed Tit flashed into my head! Other highlights from today's visit included Little Egret, Firecrest, Red Kite, Sparrowhawk, two Buzzard, a flyover Redpoll and at least twenty Teal.

Goldfinch

Red Kite

Sunday 13th March

Just a flying post-work visit tonight produced at least three Reed Buntings, two Buzzards, the usual Kestrel pair, five Cormorants north and a single Egyptian Goose south. Richard Waters arrived around about the time I was heading home and manged to photograph a Barn Owl.

Cormorant (and Common Gull)

Barn Owl - Richard Waters

Monday 14th March

The north-easterly really had some bite to it when I arrived on the patch after work this evening and unsurprisingly there wasn't a huge amount of bird activity going on, most things sensibly hunkered down out of the wind. Of note though were a couple of Mandarin and a high count of fourteen Shoveler at Broadford, plus a couple of Buzzards lingering over the trees near the railway line and getting mobbed by the local corvids.

Treecreeper - Richard Waters

Thursday 17th March

Having enjoyed the sunshine all day at work and seen my first Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell of the year earlier in the day, I was feeling decidedly optimistic and full of the joys of spring when I arrived at Shalford. Entering the gate into Broom Meadow one of the first bird sounds I heard was Linnet, a common enough species but one which has thus far been only an occasional flyover for me here, so it was a surprise to find a little 'fall' of sorts, with at least half a dozen or so flitting about the gorse and broom bushes, and a couple of singing males perched higher in the trees. It struck me then that I hadn't seen any sign of a Stonechat here for a couple of weeks - sometimes migration is as evident by that which is no longer present as that which has newly arrived.

Looking south towards St Catherine's Lock

Other species of note from this evening's visit were four Teal, two Mandarin, two Shoveler, two Little Grebe and the now usual Little Owl in its favourite Oak between the navigation and the railway. Moving overhead were at least sixteen Common Gulls, two Lesser Black-backed Gulls and four Cormorants north and two Egyptian Geese south. As I returned to my car via the boardwalk I counted at least twenty-three Magpies gathering to roost at the southern end of the meadows. I'm not sure the nursery rhyme goes up to twenty-three?!

Magpie

Friday 18th March

A very, very, very, very cold Leith Hill tower migration watch kick-started the day, with only twenty or so Crossbills of any real note amongst the murk and drizzle. Slowly regaining sensation in our toes and fingers, Ed Stubbs and I decided to head for our respective patches, beginning with a couple of hours at Shalford. Amongst the first birds we saw was a showy Firecrest in the line of hollies along the eastern boundary. Out in Broom Meadow there were three Kestrels and at least two singing Reed Buntings, while our first Little Egret of the day flew south-west over St Catherine's Hill. We later noted another in the ditch running under the railway bridge and a probable third towards the back of the Railway Pool. The regular Little Owl was again in its usual tree, while wildfowl of note were at least twenty Teal, a dozen Shoveler and two Mandarin.

Drake Mandarin

Saturday 19th March

The twelfth straight day of north-easterlies and hope for a sudden fall of migrants was at a particularly low ebb as I made my way to the patch this morning. My optimism was buoyed somewhat though as I entered the gate into the meadows only to be greeted by the sight of a Chiffchaff flitting about in an Oak here, singing occasionally. I later noted another doing the same further west near the Riff Raff weir. Spring is proving slow to spring again this year but at least it's getting there!

Chiffchaff

Other highlights from this morning included at least fifty Redwings out in the horse field along the Railway Line Walk, the usual Little Owl, twenty-five Common Gulls and a Red Kite north and at least eighteen Teal and four Mandarin about the place.

Pheasant walking the line

Sunday 20th March

The first day of spring unfortunately brought no break in the weather as the cold wind continued to keep the temperatures down. It was a decent morning on the patch though, in spite of the unwelcoming conditions. There were again two Chiffchaffs singing occasionally, and there was a great deal of chatter from the assembled four dozen or more Redwings down the Railway Line Walk - they won't be with us much longer now. Common Gulls were drifting north almost continuously during my visit, interspersed only occasionally with a Black-headed. Teal numbers were particularly high, with at least nineteen on St Catherine's Pool alone, bringing the site total to at least thirty-four - by far my highest count of this species here to date.

Drake Teal

The Little Owl was showing well in its usual tree for me, but Richard Waters later managed to get a photo of two together which was great to see, especially as lengthsman Rob tells me they haven't bred here for a number of years. Richard also had a flyover Little Egret during his visit. Raptors were represented by at least one Sparrowhawk, four Buzzards and a female Kestrel. Gulls aside, there was just the slightest hint of some visible migration going on overhead, with a single Meadow Pipit north, two Linnets east and two Lapwing south - the latter a very welcome patch tick.

Kestrel 

Little Egret - Richard Waters

Little Owl - Richard Waters

Little Owls - Richard Waters

Little Owl - Richard Waters

Shalford patch diary, weeks eight and nine

Tuesday 23rd February

Buoyed by a great morning at Leith Hill, I headed out again for an afternoon session on the patch. Right from the start there were lots of gulls moving overhead, with the usual several hundred Black-heads rivalled only in number by Common Gull, of which at least 150 flew north during my visit. Clearly at least some of these birds are the ones that spend the day down in the fields around Thorncombe Park and Wintershall, but where are they all going to roost? There were also at least 25 Herring Gulls heading the same way, plus a single Lesser Black-backed which flew east. There have been quite a few Med Gulls around the county recently and I'm hoping one will turn up in one of these flocks one of these days, or perhaps something even rarer, particularly with spring now just around the corner.

St Catherine's Pool was rather empty, with just a couple of Teal of note, while there were five on the railway pool. Raptors were represented by Sparrowhawk, Peregrine, a pair of displaying Kestrels and two single Red Kites which both flew north-west. There was a lone female Stonechat in the meadow beside St Catherine's Lock.

Stonechat (female) - Richard Waters

Teal on Railway Pool

Thursday 25th February

Another gloriously sunny late winter (is it too early to say early spring?) day and another afternoon visit to the patch. St Catherine's Pool was a little more lively today with at least six Teal and a Little Grebe present. The usual pair of Kestrels were again displaying near St Catherine's Lock, with a third bird also frequenting the area, while a single Buzzard soared overhead. Not quite as much in the way of gull movement tonight - 'only' 50 Common Gulls north amongst the usual Black-heads. Also a single Cormorant north-west.

Common Alder catkins

Friday 26th February

An early morning visit before a day's local birding with Ed Stubbs and, after Saturday's first singing Reed Bunting of the season, this morning there was something of a schoeniclus symphony going on out in the meadows! There were at least seven singing males in the area, most of them congregated quite close together in Broom Meadow near St Catherine's Lock. 

Reed Bunting

Teal were also present in better numbers than of late, with eight on St Catherine's Pool and at least eighteen on the railway pool. Up in the sky both Kestrels and Sparrowhawks were displaying,

Richard Waters paid the meadows an evening visit and got some nice shots of Mandarin and Kingfisher, the latter of which I have still yet to see on this new patch - not that I'm jealous!

Mandarin - Richard Waters 

Kingfisher - Richard Waters

Monday 29th February

It was good to meet up with Rob Craig, the NT lengthsman for this area, after work who showed me some of the rather more hidden corners of the Shalford/Broadford area and gave me a potted history of the area and his bird sightings from over the years as we walked around. The bird highlights of our stroll were a pair of Shoveler, a drake Teal, and a Woodcock which flew up from near the railway line. 

Wednesday 2nd March 

The first patch visit of meteorological spring, although you wouldn't think it going by the weather. After a day of sleet and hail showers there was still a stiff north-westerly blowing when I got to the meadows and it proved to be the first time I have actually felt properly cold out there this year. Suffice to say I didn't stand still for long! Black-headed Gulls were streaming north as usual, many now wearing their summer heads, although it was interesting to note the odd group moving south - some signs of seasonal movement rather than birds heading to roost sites perhaps? Common Gulls were still firmly heading north though; at least 65 in the 90 minutes I was present. Another sign of spring was provided by the local pair of Kestrels mating, while a third bird again remained in the area. On St Catherine's Pool there were three Teal, two pairs of Shoveler, two Grey Herons and a Little Grebe, while further downstream Robin Stride reported a Little Egret just south of Guildford Rowing Club. 

Common Gulls gathering above Shalford

Sunday 6th March

Another bracing morning out in the water meadows, but little sign of it affecting the spring feelings amongst the local birdlife, with at least two Reed Buntings singing, four Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming and two male Kestrels displaying. Other highlights included a Little Egret which briefly dropped in on the Artington side of the railway line before flying off north over St Catherine's Hill. Five Buzzards were up and soaring by mid-morning plus a Red Kite which drifted in from the south-east. There were still at least two Stonechats in the vicinity of St Catherine's Lock, plus a third male just south of Broadford Bridge. Wildfowl were represented by Teal (fifteen on Railway Pool, four on St Catherine's Pool and a pair on Broadford Marsh), Shoveler (two pairs on St Catherine's Pool) and a pair of Mandarin on St Catherine's Pool. I had one Little Grebe on the river by St Catherine's Pool while Richard Waters later noted two on the navigation by the lock. Gull numbers were fairly low with just a few sum-plum Black-headeds north, one adult Lesser Black-backed north and a first winter Herring Gull west. 

It's now been over two weeks since I had a patch tick, with my year list well and truly stalled on 76 species (81 points for Patchwork Challenge) - bring on the spring migrants!

Here's a few more pictures from the past couple of weeks.

Stonechat (male) - Richard Waters

Kestrel (female) - Richard Waters 

Redwing

*

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