Through the gloom

Limited birding this weekend, seemingly well-timed given the miserable gloom that hanged in the air on both days. Those types of days are the worst – poor visibility from dawn till dusk, damp and dull. I had time to briefly do the water bodies on Saturday (nada), before observing my first feeding Common Gull flock of the winter at Bonhurst Farm. Distant, but just about visible through the murk, was a single first-winter with ten adults, one of which seemed a touch bigger with darker upperparts and more extensive black in the wingtips. But no, I’m not going to try and dig out a (pretty much non-existent) key to the Heinei Pandora’s Box.

Common Gulls, Bonhurst Farm, 24/11/2018.

Patch time was again at a premium on Sunday. I visited The Ridge for the first time in a while: dreary weather, few birds and incessant gunfire had me descending faster than you can say Russian Common Gull. The female Red-crested Pochard (and hybrid offspring) were on Mill Pond but the day’s highlight was a notable count of Egyptian Geese throughout. Seven, to be precise, and clear evidence of a very quiet weekend.

In the afternoon – as we were passing – I stopped fleetingly at Tice’s Meadow. According to my notes it was my first visit since 8 September 2016. A lot has changed there and wading through the Blackwater before scrambling up the mound was no longer in order – a smart footbridge and path system, with an excellent shelter on Horton’s Mound, were all new to me. Much credit must go to the Tice’s crew for their persistent work; unfortunately, I dipped them all during my half-hour vigil.

I couldn’t pick out the Little Stint that’s been present since last week but a nice selection of gulls – including a brutish second-winter Yellow-legged – made up for that, as did a big flock of Lapwings and several whistling Wigeon. The view from Horton’s Mound looks over a seriously impressive wetland habitat. You get the feeling that, in a Surrey sense, a really big one is due there.