NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

At some point during the past week, Summer yawned, had a stretch, and turned into early Autumn. There were signs in the flowers that were in bloom - Red Bartsia, Hemp-agrimony, Common Toadflax, Common Fleabane, Harebell - all pointers to the season coming to its long goodbye. And as if to confirm such suspicions, today we launched into August. To most birders August is, without doubt, the autumn. My short walk to Priest Hill this morning was taken with a little bit more of a spring in my step, buoyed by the burgeoning season. I would have been happy with a passage Willow Warbler, but as it happened there was a modest movement of Common Swifts to count. I say modest, but over the two and a half hours I was present a noteworthy 633 moved south-westwards. They took their time, a slow, circuitous meander through the air space, only a few making a dash for it. This afternoon up at Walton Downs was quieter, with a few Common Swifts loafing about, and a scruffy adult Willow Warbler calling aw...

After yesterday's biblical deluge, this morning at Canons Farm was spent in a visually and aurally muffled arena, the oppressive air weighted, and not a breath of wind. A low, pearly, soapy sky added to the feeling of claustrophobia. I hadn't visited here for a few weeks, so it was good to be back. The footpaths and 'public' areas have never looked so choked with vegetation. Although a bit too early to expect passerine migrants, it was still worth checking the tit flocks that I came across, as it has been known for the odd goody - such as a Wood Warbler - to put in a late-July appearance. Bird-wise, highlights were a minimum of 130 Common Swifts wheeling above the farmland, plus three Sand Martins that moved quickly through. The late-summer build up of Wood Pigeons has started, with 500+ already haunting the fields. The next few weeks should see things pick up here - it is always worth my while checking the crop edges for warblers, and the hedgerows for chats. Easy, lai...

In all honesty it started three autumns ago. My fellow birders were picking up Tree Pipit calls and I was failing to do so. This was unusual, as I had quite a good ear and had never had any trouble picking Tree Pipits up before. I began to get a little concerned when, whilst standing next to somebody who picked up a couple of birds calling overhead in quick succession, I hadn’t heard a thing. Last autumn I partook in a lot of vismigging and was surprised that the Redwing flocks were not calling as they passed through. I was even more surprised when they were not calling at night, even at times when others were reporting heavy nocturnal passage with much calling being heard. I wondered why the skies above my house remained silent, but deep down my suspicions were being aroused. So far this year I have seen plenty of Swifts, enjoying their flocks racing overhead in numbers that have been up on recent years. Funny thing is, none of them have been calling... This afternoon we visited...

Epsom Downs is less than a mile - south-west - from our house. I have spent more time here looking at the flora rather than the birds, although ornithologically it does come up with the odd highlight. Being at height, it commands rather fine views looking northwards, taking in the Chiltern Hills and, especially, London (see above). It looks ripe for being a worthwhile vismig spot. Much to my shame I have not really given it a fair go in this department, although I have experienced a few days of good hirundine and pipit passage while sitting in the 'lookout' car park, and during the Honey Buzzard autumn of 2000 saw a group of four birds pass overhead. This morning, with Common Swifts having been recorded passing west of me, I decided to get myself up there and give it another go. Epsom Downs is a large site, but even so has remarkably few places that afford clear, unbroken views - the heavy undulations in the landscape are the reason for this. However, the 'lookout'...

A new month, a new challenge. As I am still not comfortable with travelling far from home, and prefer to travel on foot, I looked at the Ordnance Survey maps last night to identify a 2km square which would act as the focus of my natural history efforts for the month of June. Our house is bang on the southern edge of TQ2261, and within this 2km square can be found Priest and Howell Hills, both SWT reserves and good for plants and butterflies, if not so much birds. Given that spring is almost over, and my attention does tend to switch away from ornithology for the summer months, this seemed like a good square to bash, particularly as the farmland close to Howell Hill has been allowed to run wild in places, and so holds the potential for some surprising plants to pop up. After a morning of painting the garden fence, I walked from home and first of all checked the farm paddocks attached to NESCOT, as a flock of Starlings has been building here - after all, a few Rose-coloured versions...

I have to ask the question, and not because I disbelieve that there are Pallid Swifts in our skies. It seems that for the past few years, any lone swift seen above our fair country in the late autumn has as much chance of being a Pallid as a Common. Are there Pallid Swifts in our skies much earlier in the autumn that are just not being picked up, mostly because there are plenty of Commons about? Are birders not conditioned to look for them earlier in the autumn? Does a lone, late autumn swift get grilled all the more  and so any Pallids present are not getting missed? And what about all of those late swifts from yesteryear? How many of those, that were passed off as Common, were in fact Pallid? A few years ago, on November 28th, I was walking along a street in Sutton on a mild, heavily overcast day. I happened to look up just as a swift came into view, very low. It passed directly over me and I saw it very well. I was more than aware that there was a very good chance that it could ...