Merry Christmas!

Have a good'un!

Back With the Shrike

With some free time back on Sunday for a bit of casual birding, and no particular desire to twitch a slightly weird looking Rock Pipit at some outer-London reservoir that everyone seems to be going mad about, I headed out on a crisp, quiet morning down the A3 for a day's worth of birding in the south of Surrey, the plan being to briefly stop off at Bookham Common first thing for Hawfinch, before spending some time with the long staying adult Great Grey Shrike at Thursley Common.

 

As expected, the first part of the plan didn't come together, and there were no Hawfinches to be found in their 'usual' spot behind Bookham train station. Luckily, the Shrike was more reliable, showing well; though distant, as it actively hunted throughout the aptly named 'Shrike Hill', perching only briefly to survey the area, before moving on again...

 

 

Highlight of the day came in the form of a pair of Dartford Warbler, both of which popped up from nowhere whilst photographing a bunch of Stonechats below Shrike Hill. This species was hit hard by a devastating fire on the Common a few years back, but 2012 has seen the return of a small, localised group of birds. Fingers crossed they make it through the winter.

 

 

Urban Owls

Lens and camera both safely back in hand, where better place to get back into the swing of things than the luscious, rolling countryside of Staines where no fewer than four Short-eared Owls have been kicking about at Staines Moor- real gem of a urban patch situated in the shadow of the roaring M25.

My only previous Short-eared Owl experience was a brief view of a dot about a mile away, over at QEII reservoir last year, so to watch four Owls confidently hunting in broad daylight was quite surreal...

Must have taken the wrong exit off the M25 at some point...

Patch Birding

Both the beloved camera and lens combo have been away from my grasp for about two weeks now, getting themselves serviced and checked after incidents involving mud on Scilly. On the upside, its forced me to do some proper local birding with a pair of binoculars (apparently birdwatchers are supposed to use them?) down at my local patch, Stoke's Field- a place so overlooked, that if you don't own a walkable dog within a mile radius, I can guarantee you wouldn't have heard of the place. Surrounded by the A308 on one side and a housing estate on the other, Stoke's Field basically consists of a few muddy paths trodden into a two or three hectares of woodland, with a small grassy hillside at the top- it's so small, you can quite easily walk the entire site in about 15 minutes.

 

I've think I've mentioned it just once before on this blog- a few years back- which considering the fact that it's not even a two minute walk away from my front door, gives a bit of a bad name to the idea of regular patch birding. Anyway, I've been visiting more frequently this year, and just the other week notched up a brief flock of 15 Crossbills making their way high over the hill (it doesn't have a name), as well as a Woodcock back in March, and a pair of Mandarins on a 'pit' of water, which I think might be a pond.

 

However, the real breakthrough came last week, when a pair of stocky finch dropped down into a large sycamore whilst I completed a normal circuit of the patch. Looking down at me were two stunning male Bullfinch, only my second in the London area, after a few isolated records in Bushy Park in the last couple of years...

 

 

Admittedly, they can be locally common birds, but to see them in such an urban setting, just minutes from my own back garden, in such a familiar setting, really highlighted what I've missed about patch birding... I won't ever abandon you again, my beloved little Stoke's Field.

Autumnal Chat

 

Just finished going through the last couple of images from Thursley Common, which included this smart late-autumn male Stonechat. A real poser, not afraid to fly up close and investigate an idiot walking around aimlessly after a Shrike. No fieldcraft needed for this one...

 

Woodlark

Wahey! The big 200th blog post, how's about a few shots of Woodlark (an unexpected surprise on a return visit back to Thursley Common) to celebrate it with.

These particular birds, under the Biodiversity Action Plan due to national declines in breeding range, were a nightmare to photograph, constantly feeding within the heather in small, extremely alert groups. I tried the classic approach of waiting for the birds to come to me, which they did on numerous occasions, but half the time all I could see in the viewfinder was part of a beak, or an eye, as they skulked about, extremely well camouflaged.

On rare occasions, when the flock moved on, one or two birds would occasionally fly up and perch on a nearby branch or vantage point, allowing for slightly better views, before dipping straight back down to feed...
 

 

After accepting the fact that the Woodlarks weren't going to play ball, I made my way back to the car park, bumping into the Great Grey Shrike along the way; which showed nicely for a while, as well as a distant Raven and several fly over Crossbills...

 

 

Shriking it Lucky

 

Day off work? Report of a Great Grey Shrike on Thursley Common back in the week? Yes please. 

 

In recent years, this heath has become one of the most reliable spots in England for holding wintering Shrikes, although for one reason of another I've never (until now) taken the small trek down the A3 to see one. This season's wintering bird has been reported on and off since late October, and on this occasion, was surprisingly hassle free to find when I headed down yesterday afternoon, flying across the bridleway and perching out in the open near the main boardwalk, a few paces from the car park. Beginner's luck?

 

For the next hour or so, it happily caught and ate a Wren in front of me, perching at close range for long periods of time whilst it digested the meal. Hard to believe these birds are about the size of a small Starling!

It was a remarkably efficient killer, at one point diving down into a bush, and re-emerging with a Wren. An hour later, it dived into a reedbed and came up with a vole...

The light was pretty rubbish, so the photos aren't all that. Will definitely have to return when the sun comes out, and when the wind decides to die down a bit.

More Scilly Stuff

It's not all about rare birds on Scilly... I turned down a Solitary Sandpiper on Bryher to spend an afternoon in the company of Turnstones down by St. Mary's harbour, and do I regret it? Yes, a lot. Not really. Below are some of the commoner species to hit the camera...

Rock Pipit...

White Wagtail...

Common Redstart, an exhausted migrant which gave very little notice to passers by on the coastal path to Porth Hellick...

Wheatear, 1 of 500,000,000,000 on the islands during my stay...

Song Thushes are ridiculously tame on Scilly for some reason. You could walk over one and it would carry on doing... well, whatever it is Song Thushes do...

Same goes for Blackbirds on the islands, this one catching some rays on St. Agnes...

Scilly Birding

Just starting to sort through some photos from last week's awesome trip to the Isles of Scilly. Never been to Scilly before, but with the chance of seeing a few rare birds in an amazing setting, it was surely something not to be missed.

For some reason, I never plan things in advance, so didn't book the trip till about a week before I was planning on going. Not surprisingly, most places on St. Mary's were booked up, but last minute I stumble upon a small, family run B+B, situated in the centre of the action, just a two minute walk back from Hugh Town- handy after a night on cornish ale. Only downside is that I didn't get out into the field until half nine every morning... fresh caught pollock, homemade sausages, and fresh baked fried bread; didn't want to leave the house. Seriously though, really friendly B+B, honest price, April Cottage is definitely one to try if your heading down this way.

Without a pager, I was pretty much reliant on the island grapevine, and the sightings called out at the Scillonian club bird log every night. The result was a more chilled approach, spending more time looking for birds, and less time running after birds. This seemed to be working surprisingly well, and day one already produced self-found Wryneck, Yellow-browed Warbler, and a co-found Buff-bellied Pipit.

I must admit, I have an undeniable love for waders. The problem is we're slightly wader deprived down here in London, so the next two days were pretty much just spent around St. Mary's, lying in mud, photographing any waders I could find. A Dotterel and a Buff-breasted Sandpiper happened to be sharing the same feeding space out on Peninnis Head (seriously, it's a real place, look it up) for most of the week, affording some brilliant views with a bit of patience...

St. Mary's airfield is a real magnet for scarcer waders and grassland birds, with the likes of Curlew Sandpiper and this smart juvenile American Golden Plover turning up during the week...

A piece of grass Richard's Pipit was on Peninnis Head all week, feeding with the huge Meadow Pipit flocks...

Buff-bellied Pipit was a chance find for the three of us who waited around on Peninnis Head to stake out the Buff-breasted Sandpiper in failing light. Initially heard in flight, we finally managed to pin it down along the coastal path, after a nervous period of time spent scanning a never-ending Meadow Pipit flock, for what seemed like a needle in a haystack!

Rose-coloured Starling, Hooded Crow and Yellow-browed Warbler made up an attractive supporting cast around the islands, but all eluded the camera. As is standard for any kind of birding holiday, the best birds turned up on the day I boarded the Scillonian back home, with a Blackpoll Warbler and Solitary Sandpiper both kicking about the same spots on Bryher that I had walked past the previous day.

Still a fantastic experience, and one I wouldn't hesitate on doing next spring/autumn. Bear with for some photos of the commoner stuff, as well as the excellent scenery.