A wintry start to November

The first nine days of November have felt rather wintry for the most part, with a few frosty mornings and birds flocking up. Things have been steady rather than spectacular locally, but this month has a knack for delivering and, pleasingly, the last few days have provided the belief that autumn still has a bit left in the tank, before winter proper moves in.

Woodpigeon movement in the High Weald: perfect local birding in late autumn.

Monday 1st

An ambitious plan to undertake a long-distance twitch in an electric car resulted in a slog of a journey to the top of Scotland. Observations en route included 60 Golden Plovers in a field by Penrith and a skein of 150 or more Pink-footed Geese over the M6 near Gretna. News then broke of the reappearing Eyebrowed Thrush at Kincraig but our slow journey meant we only had 20 or so minutes to try our luck before we needed to push on. We dipped, with a couple of Bramblings noted amid the hundreds of Redwings, but hoped we'd have time for another go on the way home …

Tuesday 2nd

The ferry arrived at Papa Westray about an hour after first light, by which point we were already feeling nervy that the Varied Thrush had left overnight. Our fears were confirmed upon getting to its favoured garden after a thorough search yielded no bird – a dip of the highest order. I was gutted, but didn't take long to see the positive side, namely that I had several hours on a mega island I've always wanted to visit. So, I decided to make the most of the day and challenged myself to a mini Papa Westray big day.

During the next five hours I managed some 54 species, which I was pretty pleased with. This included a super showy first-winter Grey Phalarope on a small pool near Knap of Howar – it was awesome to be alone with such a bird and in such a setting. Other migrants included a female Hawfinch and a flyover Lapland Bunting, while a line-up of non-Surrey exotica featured a flock of Twite, Long-tailed Duck, Whooper Swans, Black Guillemots, Hooded Crows, Red-throated and Great Northern Divers and a ringtail Hen Harrier. 

Grey Phalarope.

We had a couple of hours to kill on the Orkney mainland before our return ferry so checked some sites I visited when I was here in transit to North Ronaldsay in 2019. Both Echna Loch and Loch of Ayre held a few Long-tailed Duck, Gadwall and Goldeneye, and a Slavonian Grebe was in Weddell Sound. Rain began to fall as we scanned Loch of Kirbister, where a wonderful flock of 300 or more Twite were feeding in winter crops. A couple of Bramblings were among them and two Whooper Swans were on the water.

Slavonian Grebe and Twite.

We then commenced our big journey home, and I pondered if I'd ever want to do a twitch of this scale again (it's easily the furthest I've ever gone for a bird). And no, we didn't get the Eyebrowed Thrush on the way back; my 400th British bird will have to wait …

Wednesday 3rd

No birding today. 

Thursday 4th

It felt wintry at Tuesley this morning, with leaden grey skies and a chilly north-westerly breeze. Two Green Sandpipers flushed upon my arrival, but the real surprise was a Rock Pipit – the second record here of the autumn but only the 11th ever in south-west Surrey! There were hardly any Meadow Pipits about and you'd think this was a new bird to the two that were here from 10-19 October.

Friday 5th

Another week, another quiet visit to Thursley, this time in wonderfully wintry conditions as a hard frost coated the ground under bright skies. Hoped for vis-mig never happened, though a few Woodpigeon flocks and a group of 45 Fieldfares flew west. Other bits included two Water Rails on Ockley, a late Chiffchaff in Woodpigeon Wood and a Sparrowhawk.

Saturday 6th

On the way to Shackleford, an impressive and unusual sight was a flock of 40 Mandarin over the A3 near Eashing – presumably birds disturbed from roost along the Wey. It was grey and cool at the Love Shack, where some notable vis-mig overhead mainly involved Redwings and Woodpigeons, with a few hundred of each species detected. A single flock of 35 Fieldfares also moved west

Things were generally steady, but two farmland species were of note: Yellowhammer and Lapwing. The Yellowhammers – two of them – briefly dropped into Cuckoo Corner, while the lone Lapwing landed in the northern fields after arriving from a great height. I spent a while watching the latter, which is a real favourite of mine and in steep decline locally. Having pondered the status of both species I was inspired to write a dedicated post to avoid clogging this one up – you can read it here.

Lonely Lapwing.

Afterwards, I tried my luck looking for Bittern at Frensham Little Pond with a thermal imager. I didn't have any joy, but I reckon this method may eventually prove successful in locating what is perhaps south-west Surrey's most elusive wintering species. Singles of Water Rail and Kingfisher were noted, while the Great Pond held three Pochard, another Kingfisher and an impressive raft of 76 Coot.

Sunday 7th

No sightings of note today.

Monday 8th

It was a crisp autumn morning as I took up a position on the southern slope of The Hurtwood for an overdue vis-mig session. This birding niche was a staple when I patched Thorncombe Street but I've found myself doing it less during the last couple of years. I think you need a consistent watchpoint to make it worthwhile (and to be fair it was the best form of birding at Thorncombe Street!), but it's something I love doing, so I'm going to be sure to weave it into my autumn 2022 birding ... A bit more about Surrey vis-mig can be read here.

Anyway, the hour-long watch was fairly quiet, save a decent westerly push of Woodpigeons that totalled some 3,280 birds. It was intense early on, but by 8 am had fizzled out. Chaffinches, Redwings and Starlings were also moving, while Greylag Goose (two) and Cormorant (three) were novel records for The Hurtwood. A Yellowhammer and some 65 Linnets were in the cover crop below my watchpoint.

Redwings.

Up on the hill itself I was pleased to – eventually – locate a Dartford Warbler. This species colonised the new clear fell area as recently as last year, but the sole pair were very tricky customers this summer and this was my first sighting since 30 April. Some seven finch species included at least 11 Bramblings knocking about; there are some good stands of Beech on the north side so maybe a small flock will linger here this winter. A male Stonechat and good numbers of Jay, a theme of autumn 2021, were also noted.

Tuesday 9th

It was much milder this morning. A walk along the Lammas Lands was fairly quiet, though a flyover Brambling was a nice surprise and a first for me at this site (it's a rare bird along the Wey near Godalming). Flocks of Fieldfare and Redwing pushed west, a large group of Siskins worked the towpath alders and seven Snipe – my first along the river since 27 April – were counted.