Early May mixture

The first week of May has flown by, with a totally mixed bag of weather experienced, ranging from warm 'proper spring' sunshine and teasing easterlies, to monumental rainfall and cool northerlies. As a result, the birding has been similarly variable, but has included several decent bits on patch as spring migration climaxes.

Dartford Warbler.

Wednesday 1st

No birding today, though I did hear Cuckoo, Willow Warbler and Tree Pipit during an evening run around Thursley Common and village, with the latter representing a new territory for me for 2024.

Thursday 2nd

Yesterday's weather had it all – heavy morning mist burning off to warm spring sunshine, before afternoon rain. A mighty thunderstorm overnight added to the mix and, when I headed out to Tuesley this morning, it felt rare in the murky, muggy conditions.

This inclination proved accurate: a Sandwich Tern was sat on the buoys with some Black-headed Gulls! This species is notorious for being a brief visitor inland so had clearly come down in the small hours of the morning during the storm.

Sandwich Tern.

It seemed content, occasionally flying to another buoy. It got excited when two local Common Terns flew over, but re-landed, and it wasn't until an aggressive Herring Gull chased it that it took off properly – only to return five minutes later! It then sat for a good half-hour or more before finally heading off strongly north …

Sandwich Tern.

I gave Kit a heads up as he was at Unstead – and amazingly he connected with it about 10 minutes after it left Tuesley (though he only secured the ID later in the day, initially thinking it to be a Common Tern). An awesome link up and it's always satisfying to get others on a good bird.

However, extraordinarily enough, and having been gone for a good 20 minutes, it returned! Clearly it was very keen to move on but, upon getting high or far enough up, didn't fancy the murk, and reverted back to Tuesley. Amazingly enough it did this again one final time, powering east before returning five minutes later. Bonkers!

Sandwich Tern.

Sarnie is pretty mega locally and very hard to twitch. I only saw my first south-west Surrey bird at Tuesley on the similar date of 4 May 2022, but after two on 16 August 2023, it's now the third straight year I've scored local Sandwich Terns. Very cool – and what a ridiculous run Tuesley is on!

The rest of the session wasn't actually that lively, despite the optimum feeling conditions. That said, a Little Ringed Plover zipped through, calling – my first local record of 2024. 

Otherwise, modest hirundine numbers and two Lesser Black-backed Gulls were all there was to report.

Little Ringed Plover, Common Terns and Greylag Geese.

Prompted by the conditions, I had a look at Frensham Great Pond afterwards. It felt lively, with decent Sand Martin and Swallow numbers (though clearly this isn't a bumper spring for passage hirundines) and a handful of Swifts, plus four Common Terns. 

Cetti's and Reed Warblers were in song, as were Firecrest and a distant Tree Pipit towards Frensham Common, but I could pick out nothing rarer.

Frensham Great Pond.

Passing Tilford on the way home I noted an Egyptian Goose pair with eight small goslings.

Friday 3rd

An overnight switch to a westerly, coupled with drizzly showers, meant it actually felt OK during a pre-work wander around the 1-km. 

I had a bit of a late start and began at Eashing Farm, where a Swift and double figures of Swallows had collected over the reservoir. An immature Mute Swan on the water was likely the same bird I had over Eashing Fields on Monday.

Swallows.

Two each of Red-legged Partridge and Lesser Black-backed Gull were noted, plus single male Kestrel and Sparrowhawk. Skylarks and Whitethroats were in song as well.

Red-legged Partridges.

I then walked along the river. A notably belated first Garden Warbler of the year uttered some brief song near Bramble Bank, with two Whitethroats and 10 Blackcaps also in tune. A late Siskin flew over, too. Ultimately though, it was a steady morning.

Saturday 4th

We've not had too many splendid spring mornings this year but today was one – warm and sunny, with a gentle southerly airflow. Bliss. I had a quick look at Tuesley first and, despite the flying nature of my visit, I did score a Little Ringed Plover as it zoomed over calling. 

I then headed to Shackleford for a big session. It was lovely just being outdoors on such a morning, but the birding made it even better, with my three-hour stint featuring some quality stuff was well as stacks of signs of breeding among common species.

Pick of the bunch was a quite remarkable – and brief – encounter with a Corn Bunting. I was taking some photos of a female Wheatear in the ploughed field when two birds alighted nearby. One was a Skylark and I was expecting the other to be one, too … but it wasn't! It sat for about 30 seconds before taking off and disappearing high to the south.

Corn Bunting.

Despite three hours on site, I didn't see it again. The birds I found at this very site in January 2023 didn't return last winter and I suspect this bird is unrelated. Corn Buntings are generally sedentary but do move a bit in winter – perhaps it was dispersing back from wintering grounds to wherever it's going to breed, and dropped in for a short time here while on 'migration'? If it was an unpaired male roving around looking for a territory, surely it would have stopped and sang a bit … and it'd have to be some roving given the nearest sites for Corn Bunting are 20 km or so away.

Corn Bunting.

There's no kidding that Corn Bunting is mega rare in Surrey these days, with it being extinct in the county as a breeding bird since the early 1990s (which is also when the last south-west Surrey records were). The three I discovered in January 2023 were the first twitchable ones since 2010. So the magnitude of the rarity wasn't lost on me – even if I secretly wished it had been an Ortolan Bunting this time! A freaky record indeed …

Similarly freaky, but not quite as much, was a Fieldfare that flew over near the end of my visit. My latest British record by 15 days, and my first in May, it was an astonishing sight as it whizzed through north. I've seen this species breeding in Poland in late April before, so what this individual was doing I don't know!

Fieldfare.

Another late mover was a Meadow Pipit north, a species I only occasionally get May records of locally. Two Yellow Wagtails flew north, too, and a Little Egret headed west – a site rare, and only my fourth for 'the shack'.

Wheatear and Little Egret.

While not as rare as Little Egret, Tufted Duck is a site scarcity so a pair on the farm pond were good value. Sadly it seems like the Coot pair have lost their chicks, only days after I first saw them, with the female sitting again. A Little Grebe was still present too – it remains to be seen whether they will nest here.

Tufted Duck.

Other bits and pieces from a fun spring session included three Red-legged Partridges, an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, more than 30 Skylarks, at least six Whitethroats and a flyover Raven. I only noted one male Stonechat – it may well be that two different females are now sitting.

Linnet, Skylark, Buzzard and Red Kite.

It was veritably summer-like by early evening, when I walked around Witley Common. My first Hobby of the year hawking high overhead was a very welcome sight, with a couple of northbound Swifts also detected in the skies.

Hobby.

Two Garden Warblers were in song, too, along with three Willow Warblers and a Tree Pipit. A couple of Siskins over were presumably local breeders.

Sunday 5th

Fog was forecast this morning so the chances of the dreaded 'Thursley mist' were high when I headed there early on. And that's exactly what I got, with visibility ranging from pea-souper to murky before it eventually burned off to warm sunshine after 7 am. Still, a pleasant – though steady – spring session was enjoyed, with 12 km walked and a fine total of 63 species accrued.

I covered virtually all of the site, with the purpose of marking down territories of three species: Redstart, Willow Warbler and Tree Pipit. I tallied an impressive 17 of the former, with 12 wilwas and six tripits. 

These are pretty standard modern-day numbers, I'd wager, and Redstart are arguably stable over the longer-term – in 1994, 30 years ago, 16 singing males were counted. However, in 1994 at least 20 Willow Warblers and a whopping 22 Tree Pipits territories were counted. There's no doubt these species are declining in the south of England..

Pudmore provided a drake Teal, and some brief song from the male Curlew, but was otherwise quiet. A Water Rail called at Birchy Pond and decent numbers of Woodlark (14) and Stonechat (18) were made across the site.

Stonechat and Dartford Warbler.

Other bits of note included Garden Warbler, Swift, Mute Swan (I'm beginning to think the same second-year bird here is the same as recently in the Eashing area), Firecrest, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel, plus a Canada Goose pair with three small goslings.

Monday 6th

It felt rare this morning – murky, with fairly persistent drizzle/rain and a north-easterly wind. This called for a Tuesley visit but, in an hour and 15 minutes, it was really quiet. 

Indeed, a singing Firecrest – only my third here – was the highlight, with passage limited to a handful of Swallows and Sand Martins and a Swift. A few more Black-headed Gulls were sitting on nests and the Canada Goose pair had two young goslings in tow, but that was it.

I wasn't too sure where to head next, so when Shaun messaged with news of a tame Dunlin at Frensham Great Pond, my decision was made. I wasn't expecting it to be as showy as it was, though – literally down to inches and running between the feet of the ever increasing number of outdoor swimmers gathered there (all of whom were inquisitive and understand of the large lenses on show!).

Interestingly, the bird was missing its right eye – exactly the same as a bird I had as part of a small group at Tuesley in July 2020 and on its own in May 2021. The same individual? It has to be possible – how many one-eyed Dunlin pass through south-west Surrey? 

Whatever the case, a very cool encounter with a species that I've had a number of close experiences with locally down the years, including in Sainsbury's Godalming car park and at Shackleford!

Dunlin.

Other things noted included a few Swifts over the water, along with some hirundines, and Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting and Redstart in song.

Tuesday 7th

After yesterday's extraordinary volume of rain, it was warm and sunny this morning. I snuck in an hour and a bit on the Lammas Lands before work, noting 41 species in total.

Lammas Lands.

Amazingly, the Coot pair on the Overgone pool have managed to breed successfully, with the female sitting and one small chick seen swimming around (there may have been others). This is quite amazing really, given the species' scarcity at the Lammas Lands – and it shows how much rain we've had this year, as the pool would normally be dry by now.

Coot.

On Catteshall Meadow, the male Sedge Warbler had been joined by a female. They were getting down to business today, seemingly prospecting suitable nest areas. I didn't however note the Reed Warbler that Adrian and Susan had on Friday back at the Phillips Memorial Park.

Sedge Warblers.

Otherwise it was fairly steady – Reed Buntings were taking carrying food on both meadows, a few Swifts and House Martins were over towards Farncombe and five Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew over.

Canada and Greylag Geese.

During the day, which was wonderfully warm, I heard Swift, Bullfinch and Firecrest from my study window.