Second-rate second month

It's safe to say my post-India return to patch has been mediocre, as a typically uninspiring February has drawn to a close. During the last week or so, for the most part, the weather has been pretty crap, with lots of rain and wind. March is here, though, and is one of the best months for local birding, even if it can often take a while to get going.

Reed Bunting.

Wednesday 21st

No birding.

Thursday 22nd

During an innocuous glance out the kitchen window at lunchtime I noticed an impressive flock of Siskins swirling around the alder beside the Wey. Stepping outside for a better look, I estimated 200 birds – my biggest local count of the winter.

Friday 23rd

This morning was bright and fresh, after a miserable couple of days, and I was back in the field locally with a casual amble along the Wey at Eashing before work. Water levels were very high and floods at Sandy Bends yielded higher than usual numbers of Canada Geese, plus two bonus Mute Swans – my first 1-km record of the year of this Eashing area scarcity.

Mute Swan and the Wey at Eashing.

Three Mandarin, a singing Skylark (A3 Fields) and a Red-legged Partridge were also noted.

I'm a bit behind with Goshawk fieldwork this year so I was pleased to have an opportunity to get out later in the morning. I was rewarded with a fairly muted performance by a big juvenile female and a smaller juvenile male, the latter of which displaying briefly.

Goshawks.

During a late afternoon walk around Eashing Fields, a flock of 22 Lapwings north-east came as quite a surprise. Seemingly following the Wey, I pondered how rare this species has become locally – and how unusual it was these days to see a group going over not linked to cold weather. Maybe they were water level related, but it felt like to me like more significant movement and one of the first proper patch nods to spring …

Saturday 24th

A sharp frost did little to restrain tentative signs of spring on the partially flooded Lammas Lands this morning, where Reed Bunting numbers had again increased and included three males in song. Lovely. 

Reed Bunting.

A Stonechat pair on Catteshall Meadow featured a display-flighting male, too, while four Lesser Black-backed Gulls passed high north-west – always one of the first signs of spring passage locally, I feel.

Other bits included two Jack Snipe among a decent count of 35 or more Common Snipe, plus singles of Greylag Goose and Coot on Overgone Meadow (both relative Lammas Lands goodies). Some 50 species in all seemed a good total.

Common Snipe.

I walked onto Unstead Water Meadows, where the floods were extensive. Long-time readers of this blog will know this site often flatters to deceive in such conditions – and it was the case today, too, even if two Coots were very notable. 

A Cetti's Warbler sang from the Tannachie reedbed, c 100 Siskins roved along riverside alders, a Stock Dove pair inspected a nest hole and a single Little Egret dropped in.

Unstead Water Meadows.

Having finished up along the river, I checked a couple of spots at nearby Thorncombe Street. Snowdenham Mill Pond was quiet, with two Tufted Duck pairs present, and one of the regular Little Owl pair was in an oak at Bonhurst Farm.

Little Owl.

Sunday 25th

A murky, misty day called for a lazy start, and it wasn't until mid-morning that I headed just across the Sussex border to Black Down with Dave and Sam. Here, the wintering Great Grey Shrike was our quarry – a species that's having yet another awful winter in Britain and is becoming an increasingly rare sight on Surrey heaths.

Despite poor visibility and gloomy weather, we eventually got decent views of the bird along the Sussex Border Path. A few Crossbills and singing Woodlarks helped pass the time waiting for the shrike, too.

Great Grey Shrike.

Monday 26th

No birding.

Tuesday 27th

Light mist was in the air this morning which was cold and fairly bright. I visited Frensham Great Pond in the pre-work slot, which is pleasingly longer since my return from India, such is the rapid increase of daylight at this time of year.

Frensham Great Pond.

Pochard numbers were down compared to the start of the month, with 14 counted, though Tufted Duck were up – around 50 in total. A Crossbill flew over the south side, too, even bursting into some brief song as it went.

Sam has been keen to see Jack Snipe via thermal imager so, after work, we met at the Lammas Lands. It was cold and fairly grey and, after a little effort, we were able to locate one bird, enjoying brief views before leaving it be. Another was nearby, and nearly 30 Common Snipe were present. 

Jack Snipe.

Pretty much bang on sunset, we were treated to a performance from a Barn Owl. This bird has been seen here on and off since January by a few members of our Godalming bird group and Sam had scored on Friday. We soaked in views as it quartered the meadow, before eventually drifting over towards Overgone. Quality stuff!

Barn Owl.

Such a showing from a Barn Owl is a truly rare thing locally and the fact it's been performing semi-regularly makes it all the more surprising. I suspect it's been displaced from more favoured hunting grounds due to the constantly high water levels ... We congratulated ourselves on such a 'peak' winter Lammas Lands session – all fitted in nicely after work!

Wednesday 28th

In recent months the weather forecasts have often been inaccurate and today was no exception – it was supposed to be thick fog and poor visibility, but instead it was lightly clouded and mild. A last-minute pre-work birding plan was thus hatched, with Puttenham Common the locale pulled out the lesser visited site hat. 

I spent an hour and a half working the wooded part of the common and Cutt Mill Ponds and, while pleasant to be out, it was quiet – and I couldn't ignore the large-scale clearance of various areas of nice birch woodland. Hopefully the planned heathland restoration it's being done for will be worth it …

Woodland clearance at Puttenham Common.

Avian highlights included three Crossbills (including, like yesterday, a singing male), one Marsh Tit, 120 or so Siskins, an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull high north and a Woodlark singing towards Hilbury.  

The ponds held a few bits, including three redhead Goosander, two drake Gadwall, eight Shoveler and nine Mandarin.

Gadwall and Tufted Duck.

Late afternoon, my first 1-km Greylag Geese of the year (two) flew east over Eashing Fields, where a female Stonechat was in The Meadow.

Thursday 29th

No birding.