May making up

In the end May made up for April this spring, with all my good birds this passage season coming this month (save a couple in March). It's been a weird spring with a strong Jekyll and Hyde theme; long periods of doldrums but short bursts of real quality. In all, combined with the fair weather, it's been enjoyable. And maybe I'm calling it too early as well, for June can easily turn up something special …

A showy, summer-plumage Turnstone: a strong contender for local bird of the year.

Tuesday 10th

There was a brisk south-westerly with cloud (and even the odd bit of drizzle) at Tuesley this morning, which was enough to force two Dunlin down low enough to be seen as they zipped through north – a fleeting encounter indeed. I expect to encounter Dunlin annually in south-west Surrey but they can prove to be slippery customers sometimes (i.e. one record last year).

Dunlin.

Two Swifts also moved north, a Common Sandpiper was foraging on the shore and a bright female Greenland Wheatear dropped in during the heaviest of the rain.

Wheatear.

A message from Shaun had me racing down to Frensham after work: two Arctic Terns at the Great Pond. The birds were amid a passage flock of some 12 Common Terns in breezy, muggy conditions, and I spent an enjoyable half-hour watching them pick insects off the surface of the water. Always a quality species to see locally and side-by-side comparison with their Common congeners was an added bonus.

Arctic Terns.

The biggest numbers of hirundines (200 or more) and Swifts (at least 50) I've seen this spring were also zipping about, and the Cetti's Warbler was heard singing in the eastern reedbed.

Wednesday 11th

An afternoon of breezy westerlies and rain felt very good for waterbodies, but I couldn't get to Tuesley until after work, by which point the wind had abated and the sun was out. An initial scan seemed to confirm that nothing was doing – but then I picked up a stonking male Turnstone on the north shore!

Initial views of the Turnstone ...

The bird, in full breeding regalia, looked glorious in the early evening sunshine and I was treated to a magical couple of hours with the bird. It spent time feeding on the shore, favouring the outflow area, but occasionally flew around calling, often trying to land on buoys or rafts occupied by other birds. It looked most incongruous at times – but absolutely gorgeous, with the rusty orange plumage with shocks of white and black quite stunning.

Turnstone photodump.

Needless to say it was a south-west Surrey lifer. In fact, Turnstone is pretty mega, with the last south-west Surrey record in 2012 (four flyovers at Tuesley). You have to go back to 1999 for one prior to that and in total there have only been 11 records. Simply a monster bird in every way!

To cap things off a flock of five Dunlin circled and flew off south. You have to be lucky to cash in on inland wader passage as it can be so fleeting, especially around here – but when your luck is in it's often thrilling. 

Dunlin.

Thursday 12th

It was bright and fresh a Thursley this morning. A two-and-a-half hour session seemed like it was going to be quiet until a whirlwind few minutes typical of this site out on Ockley Common. First, a Snipe began drumming overhead – wonderful stuff. Then, I heard the Meadow Pipit for the first time since 1st, surely confirming it’s not just a late winterer.

Drumming Snipe.

This was soon followed by an Osprey flying low north in the direction of Birchy Pond. Presumably it had roosted in one of the pines on Ockley and was disturbed; I didn’t see it fly off so I guess it re-landed somewhere out of view. My third local Osprey of the spring – a species that always requires a large element of luck to encounter.

Other bits of note included two Water Rails, four Lapwings, Curlew, a Dartford Warbler carrying food and a few juvenile Stonechats and Woodlarks.

Friday 13th

Two Swifts were over Eashing Fields late afternoon.

Saturday 14th

There was a lazy summer feel to my early morning walk around the Lammas Lands, with recently fledged Great Tits and Starlings noted as well as Linnets and Reed Buntings carrying food. Both male Sedge Warblers were still in song and four noisy Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew over.

I then headed to Shackleford, where three late Wheatears – seemingly all second-year birds – were pottering around. In fact these birds mark my latest ever spring record in Surrey. A drake Mandarin over was of note – only my second record here! It was good to confirm breeding success of the Stonechats too, with both adults feeding noisy chicks.

Wheatears.

A Spotted Flycatcher and two Garden Warblers were along the river at Eashing later in the morning.

Sunday 15th

No birding.

Monday 16th

Late news of a Wood Warbler near Hambledon yesterday had me there early on this morning, which was rather grey and misty after a night of thundery showers. Alas there was no sign of the warbler, with a Marsh Tit and two Firecrests the consolation.

A decent passage of Swifts was taking place over Shackleford in the early evening, with perhaps 100 birds involved. The Stonechat pair were still busily feeding young but it was otherwise quiet.

Tuesday 17th

It was warm and hazy at Thursley this morning, with a session that had an end of season feel to it yielding 49 species. Three Little Egrets low over West Bog was perhaps the most notable observation, Snipe and Lapwing were displaying and a male Kestrel caught a Slowworm on High Ground. 

Wednesday 18th

No birding.