Winter begone!

After a few false starts, I think it's fair to say that spring has well and truly arrived now; both in terms of the weather and migrant birds. Since my previous blog post I have seen several sub-Saharan travelers, my first flowering Blackthorn and my first Brimstone butterfly of the year and each birding session or even just a local walk from home is again garnished with anticipation at the thought of what might be seen. It doesn't matter how many springtimes one experiences, it never gets any less exciting or reassuring to see all the pieces of the jigsaw falling into place at this time of year.

9th March

This morning I headed over to Heyshott Down with Paul Stevens to follow up on a recent report of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker there. Sadly it really wasn't the weather to go looking for this species, with low cloud and intermittent rain and sleet and still a fair bit of snow on the ground as we climbed the hill. Highlights here included two Marsh Tits, at least four Yellowhammers, at least two singing Skylarks and a very territorial pair of Ravens perhaps trying to distract us from a nest nearby.

Mid-afternoon I was heading up to Aldershot so dropped in at one of my old birding haunts, Cutt Mill Ponds, for a quick look. The House Pond was relatively quiet apart from ten Gadwall and four Mandarin, but I was pleased to find three Goosander on the Tarn (two drakes and a redhead). 

10th March

Just a 1k walk this morning through the local farmland towards the river. Unfortunately, the flood water had risen again to such an extent I couldn't get through under the railway bridge and, indeed, struggled to get through at various other points on my walk back home. All in all, a fairly underwhelming session with only 36 Redwing in one of the horse paddocks and 38 Meadow Pipits in another nearby field of note. 32 Common Gulls flew south over River Lane and a Siskin was heard in flight but not seen. Six Gadwall and two Snipe flew up from the marshy ground west of the railway near Thorndale Bridge. 

11th March

Not much in the way of birding today but a short stroll round the local fields in the morning did produce a little flurry of Lesser Black-backed Gull movement, with a dozen north in around 20 minutes (flocks of five, four and three).

Later in the day, I saw my first Blackcap of the year (a male) in my mum's garden in Aldershot. Presumably a wintering bird rather than a freshly arrived migrant but still very nice to see.

Lesser Black-backed Gulls

12th March

It was WeBS day so I headed over to my private reservoir site near Petworth for the monthly count of the birds here. Not much of note on the reservoir itself (I was hoping for an LRP or Sand Martin) but still three each of Shoveler and Gadwall and a few gulls drifting over including a Lesser Black-backed Gull. The local Skylarks and Yellowhammers were in fine voice though and a flock of at least 130 Fieldfare were in the fields near the reservoir.

Yellowhammer

Later in the morning I headed out into the local farmland near home for a short walk, which ended up turning into an impromptu sky watch, as it was clear there were a fair amount of gulls on the move. In 15-20 minutes I noted 176 Black-headed Gulls, 16 Herring Gulls, 10 Common Gulls, 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a single adult Mediterranean Gull, all moving north. Various other birders in West Sussex and Surrey were also reporting Meds on the move, so clearly a good day for the species inland.

Mediterranean Gull

13th March

A very blustery morning. I headed over to Waltham Brooks for a quick circuit after dropping B at nursery. The water levels were way up since my last visit. The main lake held at least 60 Wigeon, a few Shoveler, Teal and Gadwall plus a single Little Grebe, while two Snipe flew up from the water's edge. More Wigeon (40-50) were on the flood just across the river on the north-west side of Amberley. Best of all was a female/immature type Merlin which came in from the north and made a couple of fast low passes over the main lake before regaining height and heading off back to the north-east.

Merlin

14th March

En route to meet Ed at his near Godalming I dropped in at my WeBS site near Petworth for a quick check of the farm reservoir, in hope of an LRP or Sand Martin. Sadly neither revealed themselves and it was generally fairly quiet, save for a Great Crested Grebe among the Coots and usual ducks on the water.

After a few hours' work, Ed and I headed out for a wander around some of his 1k area, specifically Eashing Farm where we found at least 60 Chaffinch still on the stubble field just above the river, and 30 Linnet and at least 8 Skylarks in the fields up Halfway Lane, where there were also two Little Grebes on the private farm reservoir. 

Towards the end of the day we decided to head over to Lydling Farm at Shackleford to see if the long-staying Corn Bunting trio were still present. Thankfully we found them straight away associating with around 100 Linnets in the field nearest Chalk Lane. A Surrey lifer for me - and they showed beautifully in the late afternoon sunshine. Other bits from our session here included a couple of Stonechats, a Ring-necked Parakeet (my first of the year!) and a tight flock of around 40 Starlings powering north-east at height.

Corn Buntings

15th March

On my way from my mum's in Aldershot back to Ed's I dropped in at one of my old haunts, Crooksbury Common, for a quick wander around. Here I found at least two each of Woodlark and Dartford Warbler singing as well as a heard-only Siskin and two Grey Herons over, heading east. 

Woodlark

After a couple of hours work at Ed's, it was abundantly clear that there was quite an arrival of common migrants going on in Surrey and Sussex and the draw of the birding opportunities outside the window proved too much, so we headed up to Eashing Fields for a quick scan for a Wheatear. There was no sign of any, although a Stonechat was nice here (and Nuthatch was a hotspot tick for me) but really our attention was distracted by events at Beddington Farmlands where a Stone-curlew had just turned up. We quickly made the decision to head up the A3 to scratch this particular itch (a Surrey lifer for both of us) and, thanks to Zach Pannifer, we were allowed access to the southern section of the site where we clapped eyes on the bird - amazingly the first proper migrant either us had seen this spring! Thanks again must go to Zach for persuading the site manager to allow a few birders to gain access, and of course to the finder, Glenn Jones.

Stone-curlew

With that rather extended lunchbreak out of the way we got back to work on the book, although Ed was soon on the road again - off to twitch the first local Wheatear of the year, found by Abel at Shackleford. On my way home I swung by Burton Mill Pond, hoping for a Sand Martin, but sadly no joy. Tomorrow is another day!

16th March

This morning I was at Knepp, leading a safari for a group from Compassion in World Farming. With the shift to southerly airflow, it felt considerably more spring-like, especially when the sunshine really started to break through around noon. This coaxed up a few raptors, mostly Buzzards, although Peregrine and Sparrowhawk also made an appearance. The White Storks were busy pair bonding and spring cleaning their nests too.

On the way home I stopped off for a quick look at Waltham Brooks. Highlights here included at least half a dozen Chiffchaffs, several singing in spots away from the water treatment works which felt like they were probably 'new in' rather than lingering wintering birds. Hard to be sure though, of course. Also of note were 2 Little Grebe and 6 Tufted Duck on the lake, 2 Stonechats in the scrub and a flyover Peregrine.

Greenfinch

Late afternoon I went for a little wander round the local farmland which produced another singing Chiffchaff in an area I've not heard one before, so this must surely have been a newly arrived bird, and also a female Stonechat in the hedgerow down our lane - also a 'new in' migrant from somewhere. Things are picking up!

Stonechat

17th March

A drizzly morning with continuing southerly winds sounded like an ideal combination to produce some migrants, so I headed back over to the private reservoir near Petworth, hoping for some sub-Saharan goodies. It was clear from the get-go there had been a little arrival of Chiffchaffs, with at least four singing around the area. An initial scan of the reservoir didn't produce anything, although I did think I heard a Little Ringed Plover, but dismissed it as part of a nearby Song Thrush's repertoire. A few minutes later though I picked up what was definitely an LRP in flight, circling over the reservoir before heading off to the west. It returned a minute or two later and circled again before disappearing off to the west/north-west, perhaps dissuaded from landing by the high water levels. Nonetheless, a very welcome first for the year! A couple of minutes after this, two Sand Martins dropped out of the cloud before continuing off north-east - also my first of the year. A little while later three were feeding low over the reservoir, so a minimum of three today or possibly five in total.

An early afternoon skywatch from the local farmland produced a Peregrine and two Ravens over as well as an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull high west, but otherwise no real hint of movement, and no sign of yesterday's Stonechat. Always an annual highlight though, was the first Brimstone of the year dropping into our garden as the sun broke through mid-afternoon.

A short visit to Arundel with Kate and B in the afternoon produced 7 Cattle Egrets on Mill Road Watermeadows, a pair of Mandarin on the Mill Stream and at least one (possibly two) Marsh Harrier over Swanbourne Lake where there was also a Firecrest singing.

Marsh Harrier

Mandarins

18th March

One of those days where the amount of effort put in didn't quite produce the desired reward. A rainy start with a shift to south-easterly winds ought to have produced some goodies, and indeed it did, just not where I was unfortunately! I walked from home early morning out to the river and up to Waltham Brooks, then home via the sewage works and a check of some local paddocks and fields. Despite being out for two hours from first light, the sum total of highlights from this session were 16 Tufted Duck on the lake at Waltham (admittedly a high count here for me), 4 Shelduck over and a scattering of Chiffchaffs. Basically a soaking for nothing! Meanwhile, others were basking in the glory of finding White-fronted Goose and Little Gulls, there were Wheatears aplenty on the Downs and a Garganey turned up at Pulborough...

Later in the day I gave the reservoir near Petworth another go but this was equally without fanfare, with not even any sign of yesterday's LRP or Sand Martins.

Having decided to write the day off entirely as a bad job, I put my head down to work on the book for a couple of hours, after which time Kate suggested a little evening walk down the lane from home. I'm glad I said yes as, just minutes from the front door, I picked up three Sand Martins powering north high overhead - a 1k tick and my first proper migrants this close to home this year. Result!

19th March

Quite a contrast to the previous day, with bright sunshine and a light north-westerly wind to start. I got out early and headed to Waltham Brooks first, in the hope of a Garganey. Sadly no joy, though yesterday's Tufted Duck count was smashed by a total of 23 on the main lake.

Next stop was Pulborough Brooks where I was immediately greeted by the sound of distant Redshank calling on the South Brooks - my first locally this year. There were at least four out there, making themselves heard throughout my visit. I dashed straight over to the North Brooks first to try and find yesterday's Garganey. Sadly I wasn't able to but did find a few lingering Pintail among the usual dabblers, and a pair of Avocet. The walk round the main trail was soundtracked all the way by Chiffchaffs - at least ten singing males here now - and, as I approached Winpenny hide, I heard the distinctive call of a Water Pipit, just in time to see the bird flying off west towards the river. Once in the hide it didn't take me too long to find it again, showing rather distantly at the back of one of the pools. It really has been an extraordinary winter for this species here and elsewhere locally, given their traditionally scarce status in the Arun Valley.

Water Pipit

Later in the morning I headed out for a short walk with B and checked a few of the local fields in the hope of some migrants and was rewarded with a smart White Wagtail in a horse paddock just a few hundred metres from home. This is my absolute favourite thing about migration when birds which are only part-way through their epic journey drop in almost on your doorstep. It's amazing to think this bird will be continuing on its way to Iceland or the Faroe Islands in the coming days.

White Wagtail

As it was Mother's Day, Kate and I decided to head to Arundel for a stroll round Swanbourne Lake late morning. The best bits here were singing Firecrest and at least three Chiffchaffs plus an adult Great Black-backed Gull among the Herring Gulls on the water. Elsewhere in Arundel, highlights were two Cattle Egrets on Mill Road Watermeadows and two Oystercatchers low over the Mill Road car park.

Great Black-backed Gull