Floods, frost and a shock at the Shack

There's been a distinct contrast in the weather during the last 10 days. The first five were as they have been since Christmas – wet, mild and quiet on the bird front. This led to the most significant local flooding of the winter. However, a sharp cold spell set in from Tuesday. Although this was always likely to improve birding, I never expected it to produce what may well prove to be my local find of the year …

Drake Pochard.

Thursday 12th

No birding.

Friday 13th

I only managed 33 species during a short walk along the river this morning, but there were a couple of highlights. Best of all was three Teal roosting at Milton Pool – I had just three records in the 1-km last year. Further up in Milton Wood was a quietly calling Firecrest.

Firecrest and Teal.

Saturday 14th

A quick walk around Eashing Fields at midday produced an adult Peregrine north – probably the same bird that seems to be wintering along the Godalming stretch of the Wey Valley. A Stonechat pair in Bottom Field were my first here since 13 December and a green-ringed male Kestrel (one of Jeremy's birds) was hunting over Scrub Strip.

Peregrine.

Sunday 15th

I joined Sam on a late morning trip for the Hampshire Sabine's Gull at Southmoor – a wonderfully showy adult that was worth the half-hour journey down the A3. The only other adult I've seen was the Beddington individual in August 2017 (one of the best birds on my Surrey list). 

Sabine's Gull.

We didn't hang around too long, but did note a Great Northern Diver, two Red-breasted Merganser and a few Goldeneye offshore.

Monday 16th

No birding. 

Tuesday 17th

A hard frost coated the ground this morning, the first for a month as temperatures plummeted overnight. I checked Tuesley first, where the presence of a Green Sandpiper was doubtless due to the frigid conditions. Some 29 Coot were tallied up too – a high count.

I walked through Eashing Fields on the way home. A male Stonechat was in Top Field and 35 Linnets were roving around.

Stonechat.

I went for a short walk after dark and was rewarded with a Barn Owl over Lower Eashing Meadows. It was made all the more special by the atmospheric torchlight views as it carefully quartered over the twinkling, icy ground.

Wednesday 18th

The frost was thawing by lunchtime when I got to Frensham Great Pond, which was only 30% frozen. Duck numbers were still rather low, although a smart drake Goosander was on the south side, with a redhead tucked into the north-west corner.

Goosander.

A drake Gadwall was also of note but I only counted three Pochard – all drakes. Two Kingfishers and 45 Tufted Duck were present as well.

Pochard and Tufted Duck.

Thursday 19th

A morning to remember at Shackleford, where another hard frost gripped the landscape. As I reached Chalk Lane – and the end of my walk – I was feeling most content at the birds I'd seen. This included a decent count of 110 Skylarks, four Lapwings, 11 Red-legged Partridges, 60 Fieldfares and 18 Reed Buntings. 

Four Stonechats in the winter crop here (triticale) bumped the morning's count up to six and made me wonder if either of the wintering Dartford Warblers were about. After a short wait, I heard one calling and soon the male revealed itself in the hedgerow. When I took my bins off the warbler, I saw a very plump bunting sat on the front of the hedge. I raised my binoculars again – and was stunned to see the hefty proportions, streaky plumage and heavy bill of a Corn Bunting!

Initial views of the first Corn Bunting.

I scrambled to get my camera and fire off some shots. The bird seemed unfussed as I rattled of some images. I stopped for a second before another shockwave – a second Corn Bunting was sat on top of the hedge. I got some photos of that bird before they both took off – with a third individual! What on earth was going on.

Corn Buntings.

As they flew they called, which helped erase the extreme incredulity that had been running through my mind. Peter was the first person I phoned; as it happened he wasn't far away. After a bit of a mad dash he joined me and managed to connect with the birds, which had become elusive. We had a couple more brief perched views before they disappeared again. Time was ticking and I had to go, leaving Peter to it and putting the news out. There was no further sign by the rest of the day, with a few people looking …

Corn Buntings.

Corn Bunting is a full-fat Surrey rarity now – it's been extinct as a breeding bird since the early 1990s and there have been a handful of records since the Millennium. The last twitchable bird was at Canons Farm in 2010. As a species that doesn't move around – and the fact the nearest populations to Surrey are along the Hampshire and Sussex South Downs and near Dartford – it's one that I genuinely never thought I would see in south-west Surrey (and may even struggle to see anywhere in the county).

Yet here were three – three! – and on my Shackleford patch to boot. A simply extraordinary occurrence. Where had these birds come from? Will they stick around? A total bolt from the blue in this passerine-poor winter, it just shows that you have to keep plugging away with local birding: anything, any time, can happen. This is a very welcome Surrey tick for me (231) and number 190 for my south-west Surrey list, where it is the first record since July 1994. Amazing …

Shackleford sunrise.

Friday 20th

The buntings went AWOL not long after I left yesterday with a few people dipping. As a result, I was back at Shackleford this morning where I met Dave – and after only a short while we had the three Corn Buntings briefly in flight. A Surrey tick for Dave, they then disappeared once more and we didn't see them in the following hour (though a few folks connected later on).

Other bits of note took on a similar shape to yesterday: 11 Lapwings, a single Red-legged Partridge, 100 Skylarks, 50 Fieldfares and one of the Dartford Warblers. More unexpected was a Snipe flushed from the northern alfalfa and a Coal Tit near Chalk Lane – both species just about annual here!

Lapwings.

Saturday 21st

Snowdenham Mill Pond was about 70% frozen this morning but still held 14 Gadwall, four Teal, a drake Mandarin and a pair of Tufted Duck. Here seems to be the only regular site in south-west Surrey for Gadwall this winter.