Bear With Me Patch, My Mind's Off To Russia

Red Kite, Surrey, 8/6/2018.

In case you didn’t know, spring ‘passage’ in 2018 is well and truly over, though it’s hard to claim it ever got going – it’s been by far my weakest first half of a year since patching at Thorncombe Street. I know I’ve moaned about it a lot but it’s been that bad, and whilst everyone seems to have noticed a lack of migrants, I really feel like I got the worst of it in a Surrey sense.

My frustrations can be demonstrated a little in my vis-mig results. I’ve logged 75.85 hours watching the skies this season, with zilch reward. The Leith Hill tower crew logged 37.8, and had 3 Bonxies! That’s how it goes sometimes, and to be fair my efforts have been more the past couple of weeks.

I’ve ambitiously undertook 3 Nightjar vigils at Selhurst Common, the latest of which came last night. The conifer plantation there is at optimum growth for any stray Nightjar to take a fancy to it, and indeed they bred here until the 1900’s at least, but I’ve had no luck. Only the 3rd Red-crested Pochard record of the year came on the 8th, and a pleasing amount and spread of Spotted Flycatchers has also been noted on most visits.

The weekend before last myself, Abel B, David C and Magnus A decided to take an overnight trip to the continent. My main motivation was to finally lay my uber-Eagle-owl-bogey-dippage to rest, and I finally did, in the far southwest of the Netherlands, near Maastricht. An adult was sitting out nicely on an old quarry cliff face, and after 4 attempts in 3 countries, I’ve finally seen one.

Eurasian Eagle-owl, Oehoe Vallei, 2/6/2018.

Other decent bits included 2 Icterine and loads of Marsh Warblers, Bluethroats, Turtle Doves and a displaying Honey-buzzard. We put in a very lazy, half-arsed searched for the long-staying Pygmy Cormorant in eastern Brussels, but dipped (of course it was seen the next day).

This past weekend I was down in Devon with my family. Really quiet on the bird front, though a visit to RSPB Labrador Bay meant I caught up with Cirl Buntings in the UK for only the 3rd time. 2 males were still singing, and there were several birds diving in and out of hedges. The habitat here is unremarkable, and it seems amazing that this species suffered such a dramatic fall from grace in Surrey (and everywhere else).

Aside from the adjacent sea the site is very similar to the Thorncombe Street area – due to the lack of actual farming on the estates there’s no autumn sowing of cereals (on albeit limited crop fields), and herbicides aren’t used. Indeed, the rolling hills, abundant Hawthorn and year-round seed actually seems pretty suitable for Cirl Buntings, which surely bred here before happily (though there are no documented records).

Cirl Bunting, RSPB Labrador Bay, 9/6/2018.

A successful introduction project took place in Cornwall in 2006, and as of 2015, the population there is now considered self-sustaining. Given the sedentary nature of Cirl Buntings, they will probably need a hand if they’re ever to reappear in Surrey…

Anyway, after the disappointing spring, the patch is now entering its summer lull. It's time for beer gardens, festivals and (best and engrossingly of all) the World Cup.