2012... in pictures

So, 2012 in the bag, and instead of writing one of those long, boring review of the year, I'm going to take the easy way out and just post a few photos from the different months, including a few never-before-seen images that hid themselves away on the SD card for much of the year (exciting stuff, eh?).

January (summed up in one photo)

Crow- somewhere boring

February

Fieldfare- Garden

Bushy Park sunset...

March

Reed Bunting- Richmond Park

Wheatear- Richmond Park

April

Ring Ouzel- Staines Moor

Redstart- Richmond Park

May...

Whinchat- Bushy Park

Grey Heron- Bushy Park

June

Small Elephant Hawk-moth- Garden

House Martin- Richmond Park

Tawny Owl- Bushy Park

June

Roesel's Bush Cricket- Thames Ditton

Red-belted Clearwing- Garden

August

Toadflax Brocade- Garden

Straw Belle- Box Hill

September

Little Owl- Richmond Park

Migrant Hawker- Stoke's Field

October

Evening fog over St Agnes- Isles of Scilly

Buff-breasted Sandpiper- Isles of Scilly

Wryneck- Isles of Scilly

American Golden Plover- Isles of Scilly

November

Stonechat- Thursley Common

Great Grey Shrike- Thursley Common

December

Short-eared Owl- Staines Moor

Great Grey Shrike- Thursley Common

Happy New Year!

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.