August!

A brilliant August week has come to an end. With a bit of variety in the weather (at last) the birding has been relatively dynamic as a result, even if wader passage continues to stutter. Some prize finds and no fewer than three local year ticks – including what may prove to be south-west Surrey's bird of the year – has capped off a fun seven days.

Pied Flycatcher at Hydon's Ball.

Thursday 18th

July and August so far have been super quiet at Tuesley, with the largely clear and fine weather rendering inland wader passage a mere trickle. A visit this morning, which was grey and muggy, did however produce a smart juvenile Mediterranean Gull, in with a small flock of Black-heads. It disappeared south after a short while. A Hobby shot over as well.

Juvenile Mediterranean Gull amid Black-headed Gulls.

With so little to twitch in south-west Surrey this year I decided I'd go for a Grasshopper Warbler at Thursley, which Dave had found, even though the chances of relocating an autumn bird are generally zero. And so it proved, with no further sign of the bird, and thus the species still evades my local year list (sadly there was no breeding this year, after success from 2019-2021). 

A Whinchat and two Spotted Flycatchers at Shrike Hill were some consolation.

Friday 19th

My first wader anywhere for more than two weeks was a decent one at Tuesley this morning: a juvenile Ringed Plover. Presumably overnight rain had brought the bird down. This was a far more enjoyable encounter than my only other 2022 record – a fleeting adult on 22 April.

Juvenile Ringed Plover.

Later on, what was supposed to be a quick walk of Eashing Fields turned into an hour-long session that produced my best-ever species haul at this site (37). Light fronts of rain meant some moderate hirundine passage was underway and two Sand Martins were well received – these marked a 1 km first for me, meaning I've hit my target of 90 species in the radius this year.

A greater surprise was two Spotted Flycatchers foraging noisily along Eashing Lane. A bird I didn't expect here, they brought up another landmark of sorts – species number 75 for Eashing Fields.

Spotted Flycatcher.

Saturday 20th

A cracking August morning. The clear skies and cool start to the day meant I started later than usual at Hydon's Ball, which I visited with Pied Flycatcher on my mind as the incredible influx into England continues. It was a quiet start, but at the top of Octavia Hill I bumped into a massive mixed flock, with one Spotted Flycatcher, three Willow Warblers and two Firecrests soon picked out.

On the periphery of this group was my target – a female-type Pied Flycatcher. It was a really mobile bird and hard to get views of, let alone photograph. Eventually it made its way up to the top of the hill and posed briefly in the early morning sun. A cool species at an unheralded site –  local birding at its best!

Pied Flycatcher.

Not long after the Pied Fly vanished into the wood I had a call from Shaun, who'd found a Greenshank at Frensham Little Pond. The top of Hydon's Ball to Frensham is a bit of a hike in south-west Surrey terms but I couldn't resist, with 'shank a notable absentee from my local year list. 

With the flycatcher lost I upped sticks – and it was worth it, with the Greenshank present in the south-east corner. It was a bit incongruous watching one here, foraging along tiny slivers of mud exposed by the drought and wading in the shallows. It's the third local year tick Shaun has got me on this year and I had the added bonus of his company for this one. 

Greenshank.

Sunday 21st

No birding.

Monday 22nd

It was bright and misty at the Lammas Lands this morning, which felt somewhat birdy. A Tree Pipit flushed on Catteshall Meadow underlined this – unsurprisingly a first here. They're always nice to score on passage. A Sedge Warbler was booted up in similar fashion and I expect this was a migrant, with the breeders last seen at the end of June.

Stonechat.

Two Spotted Flycatchers were knocking about near Eashing Marsh on the way home, though this stretch of the river was otherwise quiet.

Tuesday 23rd

A species total of 42 was good going at Shackleford this morning, not least because I didn't see a single passerine migrant! Three Snipe over the alfalfa was a whacky record not just for here, but for the time of year as well. Singles of Raven, Sparrowhawk and Reed Bunting were also spotted, as well as a flock of 330 Starlings that included plenty of juveniles.

Wednesday 24th

A grey and muggy morning began at Tuesley, where an unfamiliar-looking wader on the far shore caused brief excitement, only to reveal itself as a Snipe! A rather weird record for here (only my second 'on the rubber') and presumably part of some local passage underway at present, given my Shackleford sighting yesterday.

Snipe.

To my pleasant surprise a warbler booted up from a nearby ditch proved to be a Grasshopper Warbler. I feared this species may give me the slip this year but persistent effort in recent weeks finally paid off. Plenty must go through south-west Surrey, but seeing them is an altogether different prospect … that said, Eric was able to connect later on. 

It was sunny and warm by the early evening, when a trip to Thursley proved memorable to say the least – a Wryneck was at Truxford Corner! The bird was super elusive and went missing for long periods, but pleasingly everyone twitching it eventually connected.

It took Dave the best part of two hours to clap eyes on it and I was mightily relieved when he did. Impressively it was his 150th Thursley bird – and what a fine one to bring up such a tally. What a beauty it was, and wonderful views were obtained before it went to roost. Peak local birding … it was great to see Doug, Penny and Gerry too. Hopefully it sticks for more folks to enjoy tomorrow.

Wryneck.

When processing photos at home I was astonished to see the bird had a metal ring on its left leg. I confess to not noticing this in the field. After much detective work, it was established as a BTO ring, with 'X9' the only part of the code I could read. However, to my amazement, this matches with a bird ringed at Landguard, Suffolk, five days prior on 19 August ('TX94072', see here). The wonders of migration!

Wryneck is a real local rarity. This is the ninth record since 1990, but only the second since 2002. And one of merely five since 1994. It's also the first for Thursley in almost exactly two decades. The full list is below.

Other bits included my first Green Sandpiper of the month at Pudmore, with this statistic emphasising how poor return wader passage has been. A Whinchat was on Shrike Hill, a Spotted Flycatcher was at Will Reeds, five Snipe flew over West Bog and a decent number of Tree Pipits were dotted around.