Midsummer. A rare opportunity to switch off a little, whether you're a devout patchbirder or a 'drop-it-all-and-go' big-lister. I've been taking it easy these past 10 days, but the birds haven't, and I've had several local reminders in the wader department that migration never stops, from late-dashing Arctic-bound individuals to early failed breeders heading back south. And we've not even had the solstice yet!
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| Reed Bunting. |
Tuesday 11th
During a brief, cloudy and cool late morning stroll around Eashing Fields, I watched the local male Kestrel successfully catch three rodents in the space of nine minutes, including great views of a vole capture a few feet in front of me.
In the evening, Abel and I had planned to catch up with Matt in Sussex for some birding and beers. We hadn't settled on where to go, so when news broke of a possible Savi's Warbler at Matt's Pulborough Brooks stomping ground in the morning, we decided to head there – and eventually heard distant reeling from the North Brooks of a bird that had gone missing all day.
Cool, although it would have been nice to be a bit closer (and to have seen it!). That said, a two-hour session, in the company of a few other familiar Sussex faces, was good fun, and we also noted a surprise June Whinchat, four Cattle Egrets, a recently fledged Avocet chick and a singing Cuckoo.
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| Pulborough Brooks. |
Wednesday 12th
It was cloudy and fairly cool during a pre-work walk along the Wey at Eashing, which saw 40 species accrued. A Little Egret on the river at Eashing Bridge was notable after Monday's flyovers at Eashing Fields, with a Bullfinch family party nearby. A Garden Warbler was singing near Eashing Marsh, too – it's not been a great year for them in the 1-km.
Thursday 13th
A Hoopoe visited a series of private gardens in Farncombe from 9-11th but, despite a few local birders putting in work to see if it was visiting nearby public areas, it wasn't found. So, it was a bit odd when a BirdGuides alert came through of one at Thursley Common last night – mass hallucination perhaps, or a remarkable but unlikely third south-west Surrey Hoopoe of the year (one was photographed in Elstead in April, too).
Whatever the case, I figured I should go take a look this morning, which was remarkably chilly early on (as cool as 4.5°C when I set out!). I began at the cricket pitch in the village and worked around the High Ground area (where it had been reported), ultimately not coming close to any sign of a Hoopoe.
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| Parish Field, Thursley Common. |
However, some 8 km walked and nearly three hours on site was pleasant, even if things are firmly slipping into High Summer quiet mode here. A singing Cuckoo – perhaps one of the last of 2024 that I'll hear – was in voice and two noisy Spotted Flycatchers were at the rarely visited Critchet Fields. My first juvenile Willow Warbler of the year was seen, too.
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker, Willow Warbler and Reed Bunting. |
Friday 14th
No birding.
Saturday 15th
When I ventured out mid-morning it was wet, breezy and cool – not feeling at all like the middle of June. I headed to Tuesley, where the extremes of wader passage were on show – a summer-plumage Sanderling pottering around in the murk.
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| Sanderling. |
Shorebird migration is truly awe-inspiring. Here we are, nearly in the middle of the year, and this little bird is still ploughing north, to Arctic breeding grounds … and, any day now, the first returning Green Sandpipers and Redshanks may be moving through south. Nuts – and that's before you factor in the rarity of Sanderling in outer Surrey!
Despite this fine prize, there was an even rarer beast on show – a presumed Lesser Black-backed x Herring Gull hybrid. I've never seen such a bird before but that's surely what this was, with the features seeming to fall between the two species: upperparts paler grey than graellsii but far darker than Herring, pinky-straw legs, a broad white tip to P10, a Herring-like head, LBB-like size, intermediate structure etc. Pretty mega!
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| Lesser Black-backed x Herring Gull hybrid, |
Several Swifts and hirundines were zipping around in the rain, too, with a few more Black-headed Gull chicks evident as well.
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| Swift. |
I had a look at Snowdenham Mill Pond afterwards. Two drake Teal at the far end were quite a surprise – not only is this species extremely rare in the summer away from Thursley, I've never had any June records (or May, for that matter) here, a site I have covered extensively in the last decade. Odd – but fitting in with this rather miserable, cool start to summer.
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| Teal. |
Sadly, the Mute Swan pair seemed to have lost their two cygnets, and they were apart at opposite ends of the pond. The Mallard x Red-crested Pochard was present, along with large numbers of Mallard and six Mandarin.
Sunday 16th
While not as wet as yesterday, it was again cool and breezy this morning, with some light showers. I headed to Tuesley and was rewarded with a species that's been long overdue both here and in south-west Surrey – a Black-tailed Godwit, which was tucked in on the south shore amid the biggest gathering of large gulls here for a couple of weeks.
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| Black-tailed Godwit. |
The bird was preening and alert and, little more than five minutes after I'd arrived, took off with all the gulls when a Red Kite flew over. I didn't see it again, meaning it was a brief and distant – but brilliant – encounter.
I was very pleased. Despite a clear increase in records in Surrey since the 1990s, reflecting the Icelandic population boom, blackwit remains curiously rare in south-west Surrey. No records since 2017, when I had a mega flock of 40 over Thorncombe Street, is quite a run and local birders have often pondered when the next record would finally happen. Well, today it was, and it's probably only the 14th south-west Surrey record of the species. It also becomes wader species number 21 for Tuesley – ludicrous, really!
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| South-west Surrey Black-tailed Godwit records. |
Furthermore, it shows why you can't stay still when it comes to patch birding. The second half of June is, to my mind, the absolute dead zone of the year. But I've had back-to-back quality waders here this weekend (one going north, and this godwit south after a failed breeding season in Iceland, presumably).
As I was musing yesterday, this godwit is the first sign of autumn proper – as early as 16 June! Funnily enough, Matt had a Green Sandpiper at Pulborough later this morning, while Rich S reported Redshank and Oystercatcher from Tice's. With the Sanderling yesterday, it's spring merging straight into autumn!
I had a quick look at Shackleford afterwards, only covering the north end of the site. The male Garden Warbler was still in situ, singing occasionally near the yard, and a Little Owl was sunning itself in a rare bright spell. Hopefully there will be evidence of breeding from this species soon, which is becoming scarcer locally …
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| Shackleford. |
Monday 17th
No birding.
Tuesday 18th
It was cloudy but warm and fairly pleasant this morning, and pre-work visit to Frensham Great Pond gave off High Summer lull vibes. A Little Grebe calling from the eastern reedbed was unusual, with a few Reed Warblers and a single Cetti's Warbler were singing away as well.
I did a quick walk of Eashing Fields before heading home. It seems the Stonechat pair have failed in breeding – the female, my first sighting of her since 23 May, was roving around with the male. Skylarks on the other hand seem to have had a good year here and I counted at least seven birds (I estimate three nesting pairs). An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull flew north, too.
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| Stonechats and Whitethroat. |
Wednesday 19th
At the end of a morning run at Thursley Common, a familiar three-note call greeted me as I took my headphones out at Pudmore – a Green Sandpiper, which flew off towards Elstead Common. Always a symbolic moment in the patch year, being the unofficial start of 'birders' autumn' it was easily my earliest-ever returning Green Sand (I've had two previous 1 July birds locally). A brilliant piece on this species in the July edition of Birdwatch details how some individuals are on Scandinavian breeding grounds for as little as nine weeks!
Thursday 20th
It was a gorgeous summer's morning and I decided to get up early and throw the 2024 Turtle Dove Hail Mary at Chiddingfold Forest. In recent weeks, along with a couple of other locals, I've put in a fair bit of effort for this species here (which is the final 'regular' site for the species in Surrey) but there has been not a sniff. Today was no different, alas, and while it's probably too early to sound the death knell for breeding Turtle Doves in Surrey, it does look like being the first year on record that no purring birds will be recorded in the county – and it's the first year in a decade that I'll personally draw a blank, barring an unexpected autumn bird …
Streptopelia misery aside, it was a typically enjoyable and peaceful hour and a half session at this lovely site, with plenty of fledging birds roving around in flocks and various species on second broods. A family party of Marsh Tits by The Triangle was nice and I also detected three Nightingales, though none were singing.
Pick of the bunch was a Hawfinch over Peartree Hanger. This species is an elusive resident at Chiddingfold Forest – I had an adult feeding a chick in 2021 – but I drew a blank for them here last year so it was nice to score this one and very likely points to breeding. It seems the species has had a good nesting season in wider Surrey, perhaps linked to an increase in Goshawks (and thus lesser numbers of Jays).
Other bits included three Garden Warblers, Willow Warbler, Firecrest and my fourth Chidd Forest records of Kestrel and Grey Heron.
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| Kestrel. |
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