Soggy summer

It's getting to the point where we can think about writing off summer 2024, such has been the extent of cool, wet weather. The first two weeks of July have been no different. A time of year normally associated with warm, pleasant conditions has, for the most part, been deeply unseasonal. Given it's High Summer I've not been birding at full throttle, but to be honest that's probably just as well – and it remains to be seen how severely the soggy summer will impact the breeding of various species.

Redshank.

Monday 1st

July began rather grey and cool, and I did a short walk of Eashing Fields before work. Two species stood out – an eastbound Little Egret, which is only my sixth for the site, and a calling Green Woodpecker in Top Field, a curiously scarce bird here. This was the first of 2024!

Little Egret.

Tuesday 2nd

Passing part of Thursley during a morning run, I noticed the Curlew pair aggressively and noisily mobbing a Carrion Crow out on Ockley Common – surely a sign of a nearby chick or two, which is good news indeed.

Wednesday 3rd

Another cloudy and cool morning, with occasional light rain. I had a look at Frensham Great Pond, where my first Tufted Duck broods of the year were nice to see. It was otherwise quiet, though, unsurprisingly given the date, with two Firecrests, a Common Tern, a Kingfisher and a Sand Martin of note, along with 30 odd Swifts – perhaps we'll get a big day for them soon.

In the evening I joined Jeremy for some Barn Owl ringing. The species has had a productive year, both locally (at least five occupied boxes in south-west Surrey) and nationally, it seems. However, the site we visited unfortunately had the remains of a juvenile nearby, which may have been the victim of a fox.

Barn Owl remains.

Thursday 4th

No birding.

Friday 5th

A miserably wet and breezy morning really didn't feel like July, though it tempted me to check a couple of waterbodies. I began at Pudmore, where the 2024 Teal-fest continued in the shape of a female with a fresh brood of six small ducklings – the second brood I've personally recorded here this summer. Two well developed juveniles and another female were also present, though little else was noted in a soggy, quiet walk along the boards.

Teal.

I then had a look at Tuesley. Here, a Common Sandpiper was pottering around in the increasingly grim conditions. My first of the autumn, it was somewhat on the early side. It does feel like adult waders are returning south in larger numbers than usual this late June/early July, which generally doesn't bode well for a productive breeding season …

Common Sandpiper.

I counted 18 juveniles Black-headed Gulls and, pleasingly, a juvenile Common Tern, presumably from Enton Lakes. The Herring x Lesser Black-backed Gull hybrid was present as well.

Herring x Lesser Black-backed Gull and Common Tern.

Saturday 6th

No birding

Sunday 7th

No birding.

Monday 8th

The weekend had been miserably wet and cool, but it was brighter this morning, albeit still fresh. I had a quick look at Tuesley where a summer-plumaged Redshank was a welcome tick on the July patch bingo card – an amazing 16 of my 22 south-west Surrey records of the species have been in this month. Great-looking birds.

Two juvenile Common Terns flew in from Enton, too, with an adult performing food-carrying flyovers, suggestive of another nest. Black-headed Gull juveniles were up to an impressive 22 as well.

Herring Gull and Common Tern.

Tuesday 9th

I was up early today – and it was worth it, with a tidy early autumn session enjoyed. Yesterday had been quite rainy again and, this morning, it was drizzly, murky and grey, though the wind had switched to a muggy southerly with a hint of east. It felt fairly rare as a result, even if it was yet another example of our robbed 2024 'summer' …

I started at the Lammas Lands, where the weather and time of year made it feel eerily silent. That said, male Kestrels and Sparrowhawks dashed over carrying food, and there were good numbers of Swifts over, presumably from Farncombe (which seems the healthiest local colony this year).

House Martin.

With the murk closing in somewhat, I headed to Tuesley, which proved wise. Both a Redshank and Common Sandpiper were on the shoreline, active and foraging away happily. There's a fair chance the Redshank was the same as yesterday, but it's hard to know for sure given they never tend to hang around long …

Redshank and Common Sandpiper.

Better was to come, though, when I started scanning through the gulls, which by now (7.30 am) were present in decent numbers. A cracking summer-plumaged Mediterranean Gull was preening amid the Black-headed Gulls – a real result! They are such great looking birds and, despite the increase in recent years, always feel like a prize locally.

Mediterranean Gull.

It was my first of the year in south-west Surrey, too, and this individual was sporting a small silver ring – presumably a BTO one. Unfortunately something spooked all the gulls before I could get close, and it didn't reappear …

Presumably it couldn't get much better, but when I began working through the large gulls on the buoys I was amazed to see a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull! A rare beast anytime in south-west Surrey, where it's not quite annual, this was quite a record – it looks like the fourth juvenile in Britain this year and can't have long departed the colony in Spain or France where it would have been born.

Yellow-legged Gull.

As a big lover of gulls I was pleased, though like the Med it was spooked by something and flew off east, but not after I was able to enjoy some bumper flight views. Super stuff – and perhaps a sign of a good autumn for the species.

Two Lesser Black-backed Gulls were also present, making for a very rare five gull species day, along with the Herring x Lesser Black-backed hybrid, while one juvenile and one adult Common Terns were noted.

Common Tern and Lesser Black-backed Gull.

I was about to leave when, curiously, the Redshank started contact calling. I couldn't work out why, but after a couple of minutes I noticed some high-flying birds – six in total, and they turned out to be Whimbrels!

I hadn't heard them call and may have otherwise missed them, but presumably the Redshank had clocked their presence. They powered south at great height. A very early record (my earliest autumn record in Surrey by 12 days), it is probably indicative of a poor breeding season in Iceland, which unfortunately seems to be the consensus among birders there.

Whimbrels.

A few minutes after the Whimbrels had disappeared into the murk, the now far livelier and more vocal Redshank flew to the other side of the reservoir, before itself deciding it was time to move on, taking off powerfully east. Migration eh – it doesn't get much better than this on patch, even if there was a lingering feeling of discomfort at the weather and levels of migration being witnessed for early July.

After the liveliness of this morning, which was experienced elsewhere in the south-east on a day of reports that felt more like mid-August, I headed to Tuesley for another look after work. It was quiet, however, with no gulls present, though another Common Sandpiper was in, joining this morning's bird.

Common Sandpiper.

Wednesday 10th

Yet another grey, cool morning, though without precipitation and with the wind back in the south-west, and things feeling decidedly less rare (or August-like) as a result. That said, there was still an autumnal whiff to a short walk around Shackleford, with the damp ground, fading colours of plants and grasses, early smells of ripening fruits and gatherings of post-breeding birds …

Among the latter were, pleasingly, a few juvenile Swallows, a species that's had a wretched year locally. Young Linnets and Whitethroats were also seen, plus one of the Stonechat family parties. Generally it was quiet, though, with an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull overhead of note, as well as my first Gatekeeper of 2024.

Gatekeeper.

Thursday 11th

No birding.

Friday 12th

No birding.

Saturday 13th

I counted an impressive five juvenile Common Terns during a quick look at Tuesley this morning, which was cool but bright. An adult came in carrying food, too. Clearly it's been a good breeding season for this species at Enton Lakes, which is welcome given the grim bird flu era we're currently in for terns and gulls.

In the evening, on a humid night in Köln, it was nice to see Black Redstart and Red Squirrel around my city centre hotel, plus four Alexandrine Parakeets over — only my second WP record of this naturalised species, with Germany one of two countries that has the Psittacidae on Category C of their national lists.

Sunday 14th

No birding.