NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

Now that there are a number of birders self-isolating, whether enforced or otherwise, several projects have sprung up to feed the collective ornithological soul. One of them stems from Italy, a country in widely enforced lock-down. The hashtag 'BWKM0' has been created by ornithologists as a means of both collecting data and fostering camaraderie (usefully explained by Paul Tout in a tweet): This hashtag is now being adopted across the world, as a sign of solidarity with our European neighbours and as a recognition that we, in the UK, should also be reducing our own birding footprint to help lessen the possible spread of Corvid19. I have started my own #BWKM0 list and will be tweeting out some sightings over the coming weeks. As much as a balcony, garden or window is, to some, a poor substitute for a sea-scape or headland, concentrated or regular observations from anywhere can be productive. My own garden has provided me with big thrush and hirundine movements, Spoonbil...

You could be forgiven for assuming that I have recently forsaken 'actual birding' to delve through old dusty diaries and notebooks - I have been doing both, it's just that the birding has been slow. My visits to Priest Hill have been ongoing, with most of the time spent scanning empty fields and bushes. However, a few Chiffchaffs and Meadow Pipits have passed through and both Tawny and Little Owls are on site. My hopes are high for a little bit of spring magic in the coming weeks. Back home I was entertained by a gaggle of House Sparrows that were loafing around in a neighbour's pyracantha bush (no, I don't know which species). We are still blessed with good numbers around here, for which I am grateful. Now, back to those diaries...

The humble House Sparrow, once thought of as not really worth the bother of looking at (unless you were James Denis Summers-Smith). Now it is a species that has declined, alarmingly so in some areas. I've been lucky in the part of Banstead where I live, as these characterful birds have hung on, with at least two roosts (of 20-40 birds) within 400m of home. They breed in neighbouring properties and are a frequent visitor to the garden bird bath, as this male from today illustrates. But although I still see them - and in number, each day - my notebooks from down the years does show a decline. Within the ND&B uber patch, my highest counts are of 400 at Beddington SF on 11 July 1980, 200 at Beddington SF on 7 September 1975 and 200 at Seears Park, Cheam on 6 November 1983. These are now at least 30 years old. In recent years my highest counts have come from Canons Farm, with 80 on both 23 August 2014 and 8 September 2016. My highest count anywhere was of 900 at Dungeness on 19...