Something old, something new

"I must go down to Beddington again, to the pungent mud and the sky,
And all I ask is a Green Sandpiper and a glass to watch her by"

With profuse apologies to the living descendants of John Masefield

Yes, I've been up to my old tricks, that of flirting once again with my original patch, the place where I cut my ornithological teeth, Beddington Sewage Farm (or Farmlands as it has been rebranded recently). My presence has been noted there three times in the past 10 days, and I can see it becoming a regular haunt again - I say again, as I have made more comebacks at the sewage farm than Frank Sinatra did in his career. So why the sudden interest?

Well, for a start, my perverse adherence to the north Surrey 'dry' downland has taken its toll, or rather this awful autumn has. Plenty of birding has taken place and plenty of disappointment has come my way. I craved wildfowl and waders, something that are rare treats on the downs. And, it must be admitted, a few good birds that have recently been found at Beddington has put it firmly back on my radar. And then there is the widespread habitat creation that has been gathering pace - some may say about time to - but this post is not going to that controversial place. Having not been on site since before lockdown, I have been thrilled with what I have seen. Two large wet-grassland areas are being created. The landfill mounds have been landscaped and sown with seed. Old-fashioned settling beds are being maintained, and without effluent being pumped into them are having to be man-managed to keep them wet and attractive to birds. Here are a few images to get an idea of what is going on:

Wet grassland in preparation, on Parkside. A virtual inland estuary from the air. Roll on next spring!

Old-fashioned settling bed. 8 Green Sandpipers and 2 Water Pipits were today's haul from here.

100 Acre. A series of similar beds held over 300 Teal, plus 12-15 Green Sandpipers

I spent this morning with Steve Thomas, and we covered most of the farm. Our final totals include a minimum of 20 Green Sandpipers, eight Little Egrets, 320 Teal, 114 Shoveler, 87 Gadwall, four Water Pipits, eight Stonechats and 1300 Jackdaws heading south from their overnight roost. Cetti's Warblers sang from all four corners of the site. It was a most agreeable place to be - a mixture of the old farm that meant so much to me, and the brave new world of the current upgrades. There have been losers along the road to get to this point, but I've a feeling that there will be plenty of winners too, including the birder typing this. It was quite an emotional feeling walking across 100 Acre, with hardly anything changed since I first did so 47 years ago. There were plenty of ghosts keeping me company, whispering of good times, great birds and a feeling of privilege to still be able to call this place a birding home.