15th March

When late news of a long-staying Little Bunting in the county emerged yesterday evening, I wasn't sure how to react. Surrey megas are few and far between - normally I'd try to get to the site as quickly as realistically possible, but of all the rarities to turn up, Little Bunting was a bit different. With the last record in 1995, Matt Phelps and I recently submitted a description for one that flew over the Ridge, at Thorncombe Street, calling, on October 24th last year. In our minds it was this species, but its status means we await the verdict from the rarities committee.

Showy, but still out of my photography skills range

As a result, after fair deliberation, I decided to go for it. If I missed the boat, and our record then got rejected, it'd be too good an opportunity missed. The information was odd - it had been present for 9 days but only conclusively identified on Sunday (13th), with news going out late on Monday. No photographs, but apparently regular behaviour meant Surrey listers would be out in force the following day. I chose to wait until news, and head over after work.

The site was Lady Place Farm, just north of Pyrford, where it was in with a big flock of Reed Buntings. Birders were there from dawn today, but it wasn't until 09:30 when it was seen, for no less more than 40 seconds. Mark Elsoffer and Steve Minhinnick were among the birders who reported it, but it's elusive nature was emphatic - 40 seconds of viewing in 4 hours. A further no sign notification flashed up around half one, but by this point I'd decided to go and meet Kevin 'Kojak' Guest, and later Matt, there.

When I arrived at 15:15 there were 6 birders on site, massively down from the 40 present first thing. It seemed the birds were also lower in number. Bramblings, Redpolls and 60+ Reed Buntings had been seen earlier but this wasn't the case by late afternoon. Linnets were prominent, and a few Buzzards were up, but there wasn't much else initially. I spotted Koje on the opposite side of the field the Bunting had been seen in, away from the other birders, and headed over to meet him, a confiding male Stonechat flitting around on the way.

Last men standing - a Little Bunting no show

With 227 Surrey birds on his list Kojak was hesitant about coming out for this one, and had already given the hedgerow of about 30 Reed Buntings a good going over since arriving at 12:30. The size of the site had surprised me - it was vast - and there were clearly birds moving around the patchwork of fields. 3 Lesser Redpoll were noted, and two each of Meadow Pipits, Red Kites and Egyptian Geese, but there was no sign of the Bunting. I picked out a female Reed Bunting with the intention of showing Kojak how their variable plumage could be misleading. By Matt's arrival at about 16:45 we'd completed a circuit, walked over the road, and weren't hopeful.

Another hour went by before we decided to call it a day. A bit of a needle in a haystack job, and there's no reason why it couldn't have simply moved from the regular site, and be re-found tomorrow. Time will tell, and Little Bunting remains very much in the balance for me.

With a bit of light left Matt and I decided to check out nearby Papercourt water meadows, as we were so close. A couple of singing Skylark were pleasing, and it wasn't long before I picked out a Short-eared Owl hunting distantly towards Papercourt Lock. Matt then got on it, and it seemed like a second bird was around, but we couldn't be sure. No Barn Owls, but we did have 2 calling Little Owls and a Water Rail. Best of all? A stunning murmuration of at least 2,500 Starlings. What do lists matter when you have spectacles like that in front of you?

Thorncombe Street

A flying visit earlier yielded a Peregrine SW over Allden's Cover, mobbed by a Jackdaw, a singing Skylark at the usual site near Selhurst Common and several Buzzards.