Winter clings on

For any birder, the start of March is cause for excitement. By the end of the month, winter is officially over and, with luck, you may have seen your first Wheatears and hirundines. What's often forgotten is that the early part of the month can feel most un-spring-like – and such is the case this year. The first 10 days of March 2023 have mostly been cold and grey, with persistent northerlies allowing winter to cling on. Sometimes, though, it's nice to have to wait ...

Chaffinch.

Wednesday 1st

The month began grey and drizzly, though the welcome return of territorial Reed Buntings on the Lammas Lands – three in total – lifted the mood. Another pleasing encounter was with 'Mark', the local Tufted Duck that, until today, I'd managed to miss along this particular stretch of the Wey. He became species number 99 for me at the Lammas Lands, derived from records stretching back to 1999, when I was a young child!

Tufted Duck.

Other bits of note included 25 or more Siskins (my biggest local flock this year), three Stonechats, a Little Egret, two Snipe and 43 Linnets from roost on Catteshall Meadow.

Siskins.

Thursday 2nd

Today's forecast was the only nice one for a while, so I planned to make the most of it. A big walk early on started off bright and frosty at Witley Common, where the highlight was seeing that long overdue clearance work had been undertaken on the heath. A Woodlark and a Siskin sang their approval. 

Milford and Rodborough Commons were quiet, though at the latter a Marsh Tit was in song – this is one of the only sites north of the Greensand Ridge for this species in south-west Surrey.

I finished at Thursley. A drake and female Teal were fast asleep on Pudmore and I wondered if this was the pair back for another breeding season. There was little else of note, save a third Great Crested Grebe on Forked Pond and a few tuneful Woodlarks and Skylarks.

Teal.

Later in the morning I ventured out for some Goshawk action and was treated to prolonged views of two juveniles and an adult female. The chilly north-easterly kept raptor display to a minimum, so I felt lucky to connect – this has been a slower Gos season that normal, mainly due to the lack of spring-like conditions.

Goshawks.

The day ended calm and still at Frensham Little Pond. It's been seven years since I've been treated to a Bittern night flight here and, unfortunately, that run was extended tonight, despite apparently optimum conditions. A small flock of Gadwall, seven Mandarin, a Teal, five Pochard, a Tawny Owl and three Water Rails were noted.

Friday 3rd

No birding.

Saturday 4th

No birding.

Sunday 5th

It was a touch milder this morning than of late, though a Weald wander was pretty quiet. I only managed 26 species at The Hurtwood, with two Siskins and a singing Song Thrush incorporating female Nightjar calls into its mimicry the highlights.

Breakneck Hill, The Hurtwood.

Things were a little livelier on the farmland to the south. A few winter cover crops held at least 100 Chaffinches, as well as a couple of Yellowhammers, 20 Linnets, 12 Skylarks and 35 or more Meadow Pipits. A flock of 60 Redwings were feeding on earthworms too.

A surprise came right at the end of the walk – a pair of Grey Partridges flushed from a rough field. There's little doubt these would have been recent releases, but they were still nice to see. Indeed, a Grey Partridge reintroduction programme in southern England is one I could get behind …

Monday 6th

No birding.

Tuesday 7th

Sleety snow was falling when I arrived at the Lammas Lands this morning, though it soon turned into drizzle. An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull high north and some territorial Reed Buntings were the only flickers of spring's light, with 13 Snipe, Little Egret and three Stonechats among the other bits noted.

Old Carping Pond, Catteshall Meadow.

It was still raining when I popped to Peper Harow on my lunch break. A distant, westbound Little Egret was a nice surprise and an Eashing 1-km year tick to boot. Three Skylarks and a Ring-necked Parakeet were also about.

Jackdaws.

On the walk home, a Raven flew south over Eashing Bridge, hot on the heels of one espied over the garden from my study window yesterday afternoon.

Wednesday 8th

A decent amount of snow had fallen overnight and was still coming down during my pre-work stroll, which saw the Eashing area transformed into a winter wonderland. The birding was unsurprisingly quiet, though the three Little Grebes were still at Eashing Farm, along with 80 or so Redwings, some of which were singing despite the conditions. Marsh Tit and Firecrest were present along the Wey.

Greenways Farm, Lower Eashing.

Thursday 9th

It was a drizzly, murky morning at Enton Lakes, where little out of the ordinary was noted – two Gadwall, eight Siskins and a Reed Bunting were the highlights. I bumped into Dave, too, and the swiftness with which our conversation moved to football indicated how quiet local birding is at the moment …

Gadwall.

I checked Cutt Mill afterwards, where a Goosander pair were still hanging on at the house pond. Eight Gadwall, six Shoveler and five Mandarin were counted as well.

The gloomy weather hadn't abated by the time I did a quick check of Eashing Farm Valley at lunch. The cover crop here has recently been cut – it's attracted Chaffinches ever since and I estimated 150 or more today. I've grown to appreciate this species this winter, perhaps due to the lack of other finches and the fact they seem to be having a good winter in the Eashing area. With the breeding season fast approaching, many males looked wonderfully aflush in pinks, blues and greens today …

A couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls over were my first 1-km birds of the year, but they were significantly overshadowed by a female-type Yellowhammer, that showed all too briefly on the fence before flying down the valley. This species used to winter at Eashing Farm but seemingly abandoned in 2017 when development by Halfway Lane commenced. So this is a really nice record – only my second in the 1-km. I was compelled to write this post about the local status of 'yammer', which I'd been thinking of putting together for a while, as a result.

Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Friday 10th

No birding.