NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

This post is a bit of a round-up, covering the last few days - those images that didn't quite fit into previous posts, those snippets of information that fell through the cracks in the blogging floor... to begin with, I've been visiting the 'Station field' on an almost daily basis, which is a recently cut meadow that is but a ten minute stroll from my front door. The bales of hay have been left in place, which has meant that any chats present are easy to see as they perch up, sentinel like, surveying all before them. Whinchats have only been present on one visit, although Wheatears (below) have been seen on each occasion, peaking (so far) at four last Sunday. The freshly exposed stubble has enticed up the three Red Kites (above) and six Common Buzzards to search for food. As previously mentioned, this site looks very good for sky-watching, being on proven fly lines. I await a chance to test the theory. After 33 'blank' years, the migrant tortrix Cydia amplana tu...

We are now getting to the time of year when, here in Banstead, we see a marked increase in raptor movement, primarily Common Buzzards (with a few Red Kites thrown in for good measure). For a number of years now the Buzzards have been a feature of spring, with the local breeders sharing the skies with their congeners that are passing through. Last year saw plenty of time to keep an eye on the local sky thanks to lockdown, so I was in a good position to monitor this phenomenon.  Between March 21st - May 9th, 145 Common Buzzards and 45 Red Kites passed over the garden, mostly moving through in an easterly direction. The Buzzards tended to slowly drift through the air-space, with the Kites far more direct. I was careful not to count the local birds. I can see two resident pairs from the garden, or at least can see them when they indulge in a bit of extra-limital displaying. Any benign day in late-March to early May will provide a bit of movement, with the highest number of birds in one...

Even though Red Kites have been a virtual daily occurrence over the garden since the beginning of March, they have started to ramp up their appearances elsewhere, with southern coastal counties enjoying a rush of these delightful raptors today. It has become an annual event, this late-Spring wandering of the Kites, seemingly meandering between Kent and Cornwall in ever increasing numbers. I had six over Banstead today, each and every one showing wing moult, missing their innermost primaries. Apparently second calendar-year birds moult their flight feathers earlier than adults. The birds pictured here can be aged as 2CY on plumage alone, but the question is, are all - or most - of the birds on the move at the moment youngsters?  I must read up on it.

I was going to start this post by mentioning that us birders in land-locked Surrey cannot obviously indulge in the ornithological pastime of sea watching, but then remembered that this is not strictly true - I took the photograph above from the top of Leith Hill a few years ago that clearly shows the sea, believed to be at Shoreham. It would, however, take a fantastic telescope, plenty of imagination and an awful lot of fabrication to come up with any meaningful observations... Instead, us inlanders can use the sky. As a surrogate sea this is quite a good compromise. The same rules apply - find a clear view, take up position and wait. The birds come to you. There is the need for good flight identification (like the sea), it can be weather dependent (again, like the sea) and can throw up the unexpected. In addition - and unlike the sea - bird calls are an important component of the birder's armoury. Sky watching has the advantage of being able to be participated in from almos...

An 'up and down' wander along the open slopes of Denbigh's Hillside and White Down was the order of today. The sun couldn't decide whether to come out or stay in, and a persistent westerly wind didn't make for ideal conditions to watch butterflies in, but it remained warm and there was plenty to observe. The Denbigh's sward shimmered with the milky blue of at least 400 Chalkhill Blues (above), with a couple of pristine male Adonis and 80+ Common thrown in for good measure. White Down was where the Silver-spotted Skipper action was taking place (above), at least 20 being found. They did not want to settle, and I was lead on a merry dance several times trying to follow them in flight, which I find difficult to do - they often seem to disappear into thin air! There were Red Kites on view throughout my four hours on site, including a group of three that gave close views, including one bird that, obviously curious as to what I was, circled around me s...

I needed a change of scene - all of this dry inland patch bashing might be terribly worthy, but it's a hard slog. But, being obstinate, instead of rushing to a coastal hotspot I ambled down to the most coastal of inland sites - Pulborough Brooks. During a wet winter it resembles an inland sea, but today it was largely dry. The hedgerows and copses that run down the hill from the visitor centre towards the flood plain were alive with warbler song - mainly Blackcaps, Whitethroats and Chiffchaffs, but also 5 Lesser Whitethroat, 3 Willow Warbler and 2 Garden Warbler. A special mention must be made for that Pulborough icon, the Nightingale. Being the middle of the day, they were not at their most vocal, although three birds did deign to have a bit of a sing-song. Little Egret (6), Common Buzzard (15), Red Kite (2), Hobby (2), Lapwing (30), Redshank, Cuckoo, Sedge Warbler and Raven were additional highlights. A visit to this RSPB reserve is never a chore, always a pleasure, and th...

With frequent rain and a few chores to be getting on with at home, I sneaked out during a dry period in the late morning and made a stealth visit to Priest Hill. Highlight was a Red Kite, that came in lazily from the SW, then drifted north before making a sudden U-turn and purposefully left southwards. A couple of what can only be described as 'record shots' are presented above. A Cormorant east was the only other unexpected sighting.

At times you can thrash a patch for little reward. My mid-day/early afternoon visit to Canons Farm had seen me yomp across fields, crash through woodland and march up and down hollows - and all I could ascertain was that it was quiet - very quiet indeed. As I approached Canons Farmhouse I did consider cutting my losses and moving on, but instead resolved to stand by the 'watchpoint' and just see what would come to me - and as it happened, quite a bit did. First up were two Red Kites, which meandered their way westwards (cue dodgy record shot of the leading bird). At least four Common Buzzards were in the vicinity, with one pair indulging in a wrestling match on Broadfield, being watched, and then joined, by two Carrion Crows. Scanning the tree-line of Lambert's Shaw was rewarded with the constant too-ing and fro-ing of a large mixed thrush flock, comprising 125 Redwing and 50 Fieldfare. Turning my back on all of this activity then revealed 50+ Skylark and c40 Linnets play...

There were Red Kites to the north of us, west of us and east of us. At one point there were two of them between me at the observatory and the Dungeness new lighthouse, but I somehow conspired to miss them. Mark H and I decided that the best place to see one would be at either Boulderwall (short stop was a negative) or the viewing ramp at Dengemarsh (almost the first bird we saw!) A bit of a tatty individual, but who's complaining? A long overdue 'Dungeness tick'. Now, where's that Spoonbill...?

Sometimes it just takes a bit of sun and some unassuming local birds to make the world a better place. Today followed that recipe, although the cold NE wind did try to reduce the joy somewhat. First up were a pair of Siskin and a female Blackcap on the back garden feeders; then a modest passage of Chaffinches overhead; followed by a Red Kite languidly flying over Epsom racecourse; all topped off by a huge finch flock at Canons Farm which comprised 1,100 Chaffinch, 150 Linnet and 3 Brambling. Oh, and four of these...

Back in the late 1970s I sometimes teamed up with Ian Brown, a birder from the Woking area, who had a passion for Watford Football Club. Back then they were a Fourth Division team (that's League Two in today's money), but they were on an upwards curve, being managed by a bright young man called Graham Taylor (who was to become England boss - "Do I not like that!") We went on many birding trips together (sometimes in the company of Charlie Daly and Ian McVeigh) which normally involved a weekend away, dossing in the car or staying in a Youth Hostel, to places as diverse as The New Forest, mid-Wales, the Suffolk Coast and Breckland. But, during the winter of 1978, Ian somehow managed to persuade us to add on the attendance of a Watford match to our birding itinerary... 7 January 1978 West Ham 1 Watford 0 (FA Cup third round) 36, 475 On arrival in the east end of London, we ensured that Ian's Watford car sticker was removed from the car windscreen and walked to...

Locally, there seems to be a bit more avian action, although I have only managed to add House and Sand Martin to the year list, both birds accompanying 2 Swallows as they moved rapidly northwards across fields at Mogador - a neatly packaged collection of hirundines. My only other observation of note was a Red Kite at Colley Hill. It alighted on the steep slope and picked up a dark object which, at first, I could not identify. Then the kite gained height before dropping said object and then catching it, repeating this process several times. What was it? A tied plastic bag that I would guess was full of dog mess... STOP PRESS: an evening visit to Priest Hill, Ewell revealed eight Northern Wheatear together in the largest paddock, plus a my first Common Whitethroat of the year close by (no. 84)

I was on site at 06.00hrs - not a breath of wind nor a cloud in the sky. Chiffchaffs were already proclaiming their place at the edges of the woodland, with at least eight birds present. Quite a few of them were moving through, singing briefly from a tree top before flitting on and repeating the process. I wouldn't mind betting that most of them are nowhere near Canons Farm this evening. A couple of Redpolls passed overhead, but little else was moving this early. It was not until 10.00hrs that things picked up. I bumped into David Campbell and we took up position at the watchpoint close to Canons Farmhouse barns. Almost immediately two Common Buzzards flew purposely through northwards, followed by a Red Kite, then possibly another, although we couldn't rule out that it was our original bird. 15 minutes later an undoubted second bird appeared from the east and headed westwards. A trickle of Meadow Pipits overhead went undetected save for the odd call and the flock of 200 Li...

I can thank two fellow naturalists for inspiring me to get out this afternoon, for both tweeted or blogged about their own successes which, in turn, led to my own. Firstly, Graeme Lyons posted about his exploits whilst beating some Juniper in Sussex which had provided him with Juniper Shieldbug. I have a good population of this tree at nearby Walton Downs, so I took myself off this afternoon with a tray and beating stick - and within ten minutes had seen at least half a dozen (above). What a smart insect. That marking on the corium reminds me of a carved antique chair arm. Shortly after this success I was watching two Red Kites lazily circling over the valley between here and Headley Village, but they were just the ornithological starters... local birder Ian Jones had found a Barn Owl on Epsom Downs that he had seen hunting in the same spot on two consecutive evenings. Would it put on a show for a third? Thankfully it did, and I was treated to close views as it quartered along a g...

The weather men (and women) were all at it yesterday - dire warnings of the change in temperature after the rain had swept through - get out the winter woolies - make sure that the 100 tog duvet is on the bed - batten down the hatches - find the snow shovel... Well, the rain did sweep through and, admittedly, it was a little nippy first thing, but by late morning I was at Canons Farm, standing in a t-shirt, enjoying a warm and pleasant day. As far as I could tell it was still summer. There were plenty of butterflies on the wing to underline how warm it was, even if most of them were Red Admirals hell bent on heading south. As for the birds it was a case of a few quick bursts of excitement with long periods of quiet. The blue skies allowed good visibility and up to 12 Common Buzzards and a single Red Kite drifted north (although I suspect that some of the buzzards were not really moving); this great autumn for Stonechats continued with at least seven being present (and how many h...

Yesterday afternoon saw me (as a neutral spectator) at the Reading v Fulham game at the Madejski Stadium - a fine, modern ground where watching the game is a real pleasure, with comfortable seating, clean facilities, clear views of all the pitch and Red Kites! Yes, even though I was wrapped up in the Royals demolition of the 10-man Cottagers, there was still time for birding. Half way through the first 45 minutes a Red Kite appeared above the 18,000 spectators, wheeled around a bit, then carried on (possibly to Swindon Town). This is by far the best species that I have seen during a professional football match. White Hart Lane still holds the record for number of species of butterfly (2) observed during a match...

With work being done on the house, I had need to be at home these past two days. When the fog burnt off on each morning, I took advantage of the clear skies and warm temperature and sat in the garden with my binoculars. Yesterday a flock of 4 Common Buzzards moved through, all spiralling directly above me before picking up an airflow to their liking and purposefully heading eastwards, as if on a conveyor belt. Today I had three Common Buzzards for company for most of the middle part of the day, with much displaying and calling. What wasn't hanging around however was a superb Red Kite, that seemed to pick up the same air flow as yesterday's Buzzards, heading off eastwards with little ceremony. Not that many years ago such sightings in the south-east of England, let alone my garden, would have seemed highly fanciful.

They are commoner than Kestrels at the moment. At 15.40 a Red Kite flew onto the garden list here in Banstead. I even had time to rouse the family to enjoy it as it circled above the house and then drifted westwards. David Campbell was watching another at about the same time over at Canons Farm (maybe a mile and a half away as the kite flies), and a further two went through at Beddington. Whether or not these are genuine continental migrants or wanderers from the re-introduction programmes doesn't really matter - they are stunning to watch. Garden MV update: only Brindled Pug added to the year list over the past two nights.

It was one of those 'good to be alive' days, with unbroken sunshine, unseasonable warmth and more butterflies than I can remember for so early in the year. I was at Beddington SF during the morning - early afternoon and recorded the following: Small Tortoiseshell (26), Small White (7), Peacock (8), Brimstone (2), Red Admiral (1), Comma (1), Orange-tip (1) and Speckled Wood (1). The latter two species were my earliest ever. Birds didn't miss out on the celebration as a Red Kite flew north-westwards and the wintering Cetti's Warbler was in good voice. It's hard to think that we will most probably have a few more wintery days to come before we can safely put away the gloves and turn off the central heating.