Having a quail of a time

June is normally the quietest birding month for me, more often than not spent watching an international football tournament and not getting in the field much. However, 2020 has been different, and much to be surprise I've actually managed two additions to my south-west Surrey big year in the past few days.

The best of these two came yesterday morning at Shackleford, a site I’ve been telling everyone all spring looks good for Quail. After the big alfalfa field was cut in mid-May – to both my and the resident Skylarks horror – spells of rain since have meant it’s come roaring back. The larks are back breeding in the same numbers too. It’s a particularly favoured walk and run site for my partner, and she fancied doing a circuit before breakfast.

Inevitably no photos of the Quail, so here's a view of the alfalfa field at Shackleford.

As we pulled up on the track, I thought I heard a distant snatch of Quail from the car, something my girlfriend commented on too. I immediately opened the door and heard it loud and clear – a Quail singing from the alfalfa crop. Excellent stuff. We roughly located it and had a listen before I put the news out. It wasn’t long before Kit and Sam arrived and, by the end of the day, it seems there was a steady flow of visitors – perhaps unsurprising for what was apparently the first twitchable Quail in Surrey for nine years.

It seemed to favour the centre of the alfalfa. As masters of ventriloquism, often it would sound like multiple birds were singing from different spots, but the reality is the wind direction and speed combined with the biological design of the species’ song (which needs to carry long distances in big, wide landscapes) were behind this. Check out a poor quality (thanks to the wind) recording here and read a little more about this apparent 'Quail year' here.

To boot, it was a Surrey lifer – number 213 and hot on the heels of the Horley Rosy Starling. As many as 120 Common Starlings have been collecting at Shackleford recently and are one reason why I’ve persisted with visiting during the quiet summer period … nothing pink yet, though. So, Shackleford delivers yet again, this wonderful site less than 10 minutes from home coughing up its second county rarity in little more than a year of watching.

Raven family hanging out in the June sunshine.

The other big bonus from early June has been Grasshopper Warbler, a bird that has surprisingly revealed itself to be, apparently, an annual breeder locally. Having found a reeling male on Saturday I was rather astonished to locate a juvenile a few days later! The site was used last year but, with no sign all spring, it seemed there was no birds this year.

However, what seems the most plausible theory is that both the male and female returned at similar times in April and the male sang for perhaps a day or two only, before they got down to breeding. Presumably now, with the first brood fledged, the female is sitting on clutch number two. All rather exciting – it’s extraordinary how some birds can be present right under our noses without us knowing.

Yellowish underparts, light throat streaking and an obvious gape line indicate this bird is a first-year.

In terms of the year list, then, I now stand on 143, at pretty much the halfway point of the year. Ring Ouzel seems the only likely addition from hereon in, but there are a handful of other entirely possible species (Golden Plover, Dunlin etc) that could rock up. These two recent June bonuses could end up making all the difference …

Otherwise, things have been steady locally. A couple of walks around the Loxhill countryside recently have yielded proof of Nightingale breeding (rather curiously in a young conifer plantation) and the successful fledging of five juvenile Ravens. At Unstead SF, a third male Reed Warbler has turned up – sadly no Blyth’s Reed or Marsh for me, but not for lack of trying. The Stonechat pair are still in South Meadow too.

Avocet on Ferry Pool, Sidlesham.

On 6th I met up with David C at Pagham Harbour. We mainly caught up and birding was a bit of a sideshow in very breezy conditions. Nevertheless, it was nice to see breeding Little and Sandwich Terns for the year, as well as Little Ringed Plover and 22 Avocets among 64 species.