Revisiting winter

After the warmth of Mexico, it's been back to the British winter for the last week of February. The weather has been cold, grey and not at all spring-like, quite unlike recent Februarys which have often felt more like March. This is no bad thing – spring often feels like it starts too early these days – but I do look forward to warmer temperatures and that feeling of migration anticipation …

Firecrest.

Tuesday 21st

No birding.

Wednesday 22nd

A return to local birding this morning was fittingly grey, cold and murky, but I still had a decent walk along the Wey at Eashing. The highlights were a (or the) Woodcock flushed at Eashing Marsh and a minimum of 120 Chaffinches up at A3 Fields, where three Skylarks and two Red-legged Partridges were also present.

Thursday 23rd

I don't see Gadwall at Frensham Great Pond very often, so a pair on the south side this morning – which again was grey and murky – were welcome. Aythya numbers were up since I was last here, too, with counts of 17 Pochard (my highest at Frensham all winter) and 60 Tufted Duck.

Pochard.

Friday 24th

It was colder this morning, with a touch of frost, but still grey and cloudy. Despite this I ended up having a fun morning, starting at Thursley where five Stonechats were suggestive of birds newly in or, more likely, on the move. The late February/early March passage of this species is one of the first proper signs of spring locally.

A Water Rail was calling on Ockley and a Reed Bunting was in song but it was otherwise quiet. The Forked Pond area was livelier, with a Great Crested Grebe pair and Kingfisher both indicative of warmer times. Two Little Egrets and seven Mandarin were noted here too.

Great Crested Grebe, Little Egret and Greylag Goose.

I walked onto Rodborough Common, where I was treated to a real surprise – a pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. It was hardly the morning for it and I've not had this species here before, so I felt most fortunate. I didn't see or hear any other woodpecker species all morning!

Next up was Enton Lakes, where a locally decent selection of wildfowl included a Gadwall pair, a drake Pochard and a female Goldeneye (presumably one of the feral birds). Three Water Rails were at the north end of Johnson's and a Great Crested Grebe pair were engaging in full display.

Goldeneye.

I headed home via Eashing Fields, where three Stonechats were significant. This species has been virtually absent in the Eashing area this winter – indeed, one of the males showed enough white in the collar and wing to be considered a continental rubicola candidate.

At lunch I met Abel for a short walk along the Wey at Eashing. A male Marsh Tit was in song, a Water Rail was at Eashing Marsh and a large male Sparrowhawk flew over.

Marsh Tit.

Saturday 25th

A cold north-easterly that seems to be in place for a few days was blowing through Shackleford this morning, where the birding was quiet. I didn't see the Corn Buntings (though I'm sure they're still here), but did note six Stonechats, two Red-legged Partridges and 18 Reed Buntings.

Sunday 26th

A bright, frosty morning with a biting wind saw me check a few waterbodies, partially due to missing the February WeBS date last weekend. I started at Eashing Farm, where I was pleased to see a second-year Mute Swan on the reservoir: Eashing 1-km year tick number 75. Three Skylarks and a Reed Bunting were around the freshly ploughed fields.

Mute Swan.

I then visited Tuesley, where the presence on the rafts of a few Black-headed Gulls sporting dark chocolate brown hoods was a very welcome sign of the pending seasonal shift. A Green Sandpiper flew through and seven Cormorants – uncommon here – dropped in.

It was then on to the Bramley waters, where Snowdenham Hill Pond hosted two Mandarin and nine Tufted Duck. The ever-reliable Firecrest was the highlight at Bramley Park Lake.

Firecrest.

Later in the day I was down in Sussex for some book work with Matt. We found time to do some birding in his own recently adopted 1-km patch, which includes Waltham Brooks (one of my favourite sites in Sussex). It's a different world to my 1-km – or indeed anywhere in south-west Surrey! – and an hour's walk produced Water Pipit, two Marsh Harriers, a range of wildfowl including three Shelduck and eight Pintail, 20 Chiffchaffs and two released White-tailed Eagles!  

Monday 27th

No birding.

Tuesday 28th

Some 60 or so restless Redwings were gathered around Eashing Fields at the end of the day, which had been cold, grey and windy. It was hardly departure conditions – perhaps their chattery angst was related to their migration delay, as opposed to anticipation ahead of a night flight.

Mexico: Yucatán peninsula

I've spent the last 12 days in south-east Mexico, birding the Yucatán peninsula in the states of Campeche, Quintana Roo and Yucatan. It was an awesome trip – I managed 265 species, including all 14 of the gettable Yucatan endemics, plus plenty of regional and Mexican endemics and stacks of wintering North American birds. My eBird trip report can be read here, though note I haven't uploaded any recordings yet (it might take a while!).

The spectacular Ocellated Turkey.

In terms of targets, the trip was a roaring success. I missed no major birds, dipping only a couple of regional species. Starting on Cozumel Island, the two island endemics – Cozumel Emerald and Cozumel Vireo – were easy, and I managed all the gettable subspecies too (some of which, such as the House Wren form, look ripe for a split). Other memorable species included Ruddy Crake, Caribbean Dove, Black Catbird, Yucatan Vireo and Yucatan Woodpecker.

Cozumel Emerald, Cozumel Vireo and Ruddy Crakes.

We then moved south towards the rainforested landscapes bordering Guatemala and Belize. A day birding around the mind-blowing Calakmul Maya ruins deep in the jungle won't be forgotten. Innumerable avian highlights here included the spectacular Ocellated Turkey, plus Great Curassow, Black-throated Shrike Tanager, King Vulture, Keel-billed Toucan, Lesson's Motmot, Singing Quail and Yucatan Flycatcher.

Keel-billed Toucan, Black-headed Trogon and King Vulture.

Other forest sites birded included Hormiguero and the Vigio Chica Road at Felipe Carrillo Puerto – both producing more quality birds, such as Mayan Antthrush, Yucatan Nightjar, Yucatan Poorwill, Grey-throated Chat, Canivet's Emerald, Rose-throated Tanager, Ticket Tinamou and Blue Bunting.

Hooded Warbler, Ferruginous Pygmy Owl and Blue Bunting.

It was then to the north and the Rio Lagartos area for some open country and wetland birding (more my bag!). Again, the list of good birds is a long one, but select specials included Rufous-necked Wood Rail, Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Lesser Roadrunner, Yucatan Wren, Mexican Sheartail, Zenaida Dove and Turquoise-browed Motmot.

Turquoise-browed Motmot, Bare-throated Tiger Heron and Rufous-necked Wood Rail.

To all this, add in glorious weather, plenty of relaxing non-birding activities (including mega Maya ruins) and – best of all – simply wonderful food, then it was a great period away from the British winter (with spring now around the corner). I'll try to do a proper trip report at some point (unlikely!) and will probably write a feature for the magazine.

Structure 2 at Calakmul.

What you do with what you've got

It's widely considered that this winter is a poor one for birding. Numbers of many species are down, including wildfowl, thrushes and finches. It's the same in my corner of Surrey. Nevertheless, time in the field hasn't been too bad this season, and the same can be said for the first week of February. There may not be tonnes of birds about, but by appreciating what is around – as well as enjoying those species that are present in lower numbers than usual – rewarding birding sessions have been had.

Corn Bunting.

Wednesday 1st

A morning circuit of Frensham Little Pond produced 41 species, including five Pochard, two Water Rails, a Little Egret and two Woodlarks. I quickly checked the Great Pond afterwards, counting seven Pochard. This meant my Aythya totals for both waters were 39 Tufted Duck and 12 Pochard: woeful!

Thursday 2nd

I finally encountered my first Lesser Redpolls of the year today: two around the tumulus at Thursley Common. I spent a bit of time admiring them – this is the second successive wretched winter for redpoll and I don't think I’ve had on the deck views in Surrey for the best part of a year! It's also a particularly favourite species of mine, being my 'trigger' bird when I was young …

Lesser Redpoll.

It was the clear highlight from a quiet hour and a half walk, with other bits of note including a Snipe flushed from Ockley Common, 45 or so Meadow Pipits and my first singing Blackbird of the year (always a welcome sound). Thursley really feels like a site waiting for spring this year …

Friday 3rd

I walked along the river to Godalming this morning, which was mild with broken clouds. The Eashing stretch was quiet, save a (the?) Water Rail in Eashing Marsh. On the Salgasson stretch between Eashing and Godalming I was surprised to hear a Red-legged Partridge singing in a garden along Peper Harow Road.

Snowdrops at Hurtmore Bottom.

Once at the Lammas Lands I only had time to do Overgone Meadow, but it was a decent little session, highlighted by the wintering Dartford Warbler pair, which were following a female Stonechat around. I last had one here on 7 November, but Peter O has been recording them on most visits. This is the third winter in a row Dartfords have wintered on the Lammas Lands. 

Dartford Warblers and Stonechat.

A vocal, soaring Raven, a Grey Wagtail and a Reed Bunting were also noted.

At night a Tawny Owl was singing close to the garden. This species has made a rather quiet start to the year locally, so I took a few moments to appreciate it.

Saturday 4th

No birding.

Sunday 5th

A gentle northerly wind and clear skies had it feeling wintry again at Shackleford this morning, where 47 species was an excellent early February tally. The highlight was a female-type Yellowhammer around the northern fields. I had a sprinkling of records here in autumn and it's tempting to think this bird has wintered, avoiding detection. It would be great if this species recolonised this site one day …

Yellowhammer.

Other bits included a singing Red-legged Partridge, 12 Reed Buntings, two Stonechats, some 30 Skylarks and flock of 200 or more Herring Gulls that included some unseasonal Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

I was wrapping things up at the Chalk Lane end of the farm but thought I'd better check the triticale field in case the Corn Buntings were still about (I didn't see them on my visit last week). I wasn't too surprised to see that they were, with all three sat out on the hedgerow. Nice.

Corn Buntings.

This trio are seemingly very elusive indeed, with plenty of people missing them since they were last reported on 20 January. It reaffirms my suspicion that they came in during the December freeze and went unnoticed for a little while. I wonder how long they'll stay?

Monday 6th

What was supposed to be a short pre-work walk along the river turned into an excellent, 44 species-strong session in the wintry sunshine. The clear highlight was four Hawfinches that were perched at the top of the wooded valley between A3 Fields and Hurtmore Bottom. They were super vocal (had they roosted?) but soon flew south-west down the river. It adds to the exceptional – and frankly quite bizarre – winter for this species in the Godalming area, where they are traditionally very rare.

Other bits of note included my first Eashing area Woodcock (Eashing Marsh) and Greylag Geese (six over Rush Corner) of 2023, plus a Marsh Tit, two Red-legged Partridges, four Skylarks, 80 or more Chaffinches, a Fieldfare and nearly 100 Rooks.

At the end of a gloriously sunny day I had time to check Shackleford, where Abel had scored the buntings mid-afternoon. I failed to connect, but a flock of 50 Linnets were ample consolation.

A quick look at Cutt Mill afterwards produced 40 Mandarin, three Shoveler and a Gadwall on the house pond.

Tuesday 7th

Heavy fog took until lunchtime to burn off, at which time I popped up to Eashing Fields, where an adult Peregrine stooped unsuccessfully for a Feral Pigeon to the north. This is my fourth Peg record here since mid-December and I suspect each sighting involves the same bird.

Sunny Eashing Fields.

Wednesday 8th

No birding.