Birdwatcher’s Diary No.54

Published on: 30 Jan, 2014
Updated on: 30 Jan, 2014

By Malcolm Fincham

With flood waters decreasing on the upper levels of the River Wey in Farnham by January 11, our rare visitor to Surrey, the glossy ibis featured in my last report, decided it was time to move on.

A last farewell to the glossy ibis showing well in Frensham – a very rare sight for Surrey.

This wasn’t without it making a brief visit to Frensham Great Pond before flying north and not spotted in Surrey since. Most importantly, I took the opportunity of a few more pictures and a few short video clips. They show it both feeding and preening. Click here to see the first clip. and here for the second.

Little egret in flight.

By the middle of the month the flood plains surrounding Guildford had also started to recede to normal winter levels, at least for a few days. There was a large influx of gulls arriving seeking food. And more noticeably to me on January 15 was the arrival of seven little egrets just beyond Guildford town centre on Shalford Meadows. At least five could be seen for several days, after, I would assume, feeding on small fish and invertebrates unable to find their way back to the river and trapped in small pools after the floods.

Act of aggression as a swan prepares to see off an intruder.

By the end of the week with more heavy rain the meadows were flooded once again and the egrets finding the water too deep for wading moved on leaving the area for the exclusive rights of several mute swans and large numbers of gulls to float on.

Aggresive swan (left) sees off an unwanted visitor.

A view across the reed beds at Farlington Marshes in Hampshire.

On a pleasant and sunny Sunday, January 19, I was unable to resist an invitation from my wife and daughter to  revisit Farlington Marshes – a trip I had previously made and reported on just a few weeks prior to Christmas.

Brent geese at Farlington.

Although most of the birds seen on my last visit were still present, with large numbers of wintering brent geese still feeding on the grassland and occasionally flying to and fro from the lagoons, it gave me a great opportunity in good light to capture a few more pictures. These including ones of a few birds I missed out on during the previous visit.

Oystercatchers in flight at Farlington Marshes.

A bearded reedling at Farlington.

It was of great delight to see a small group of a dozen or so bearded reedlings (formerly known as bearded tit) were still present and feeding in the reed beds. It is estimated that fewer than 700 pairs are recorded to breed in the UK. They are always a pleasing sight to see and a real bonus  to get a few more pictures to add to my collection.

Light begins to fade as another afternoon at Stoke Lake draws to a close.

With a few days of sunshine and light hours drawing out a little later into the afternoons, it gave me a chance to find few hours the following week to get back down to my local patch at Stoke Nature Reserve.

View across flooded field from Stoke Lock.

They do say that when visiting the countryside nature does take its time in giving up many of its secrets. It takes numerous visits before one starts to tune into knowing the habits  of birds and mammals that reside there.

Chiffchaff seen close to the sewage works near Stoke Lock Cottage.

This has  certainly been the case for me and continues to be so. Often seen close to the sewage works near Stoke Lock cottage and feeding on any insects they might find at this time of the year are several chiffchaff – one of only a few types of warbler known to over winter in the UK.

For those who have followed my previous reports, I have had numerous good sightings of kingfishers at various locations since last October. This has continued to be the case in the last week or so on my visits to Stoke Nature Reserve.

Another kingfisher sighting – this one I managed to track down at Stoke Lake.

On Monday January 20, I was pleased to pick one out as I walked the towpath. It was perched on the mooring rope of a canal boat close to Stoke Lock. Later that afternoon I was able to relocate what was probably the same male bird while I was using my binoculars as I scanned across Stoke Lake.

While watching, I noticed a dog walker pass by it as it continued to sit undisturbed deep within some sallows. It was seemingly having its afternoon siesta and remained perched long after I had got close enough for a number of pleasing pictures.

Great crested grebe on Stoke Lake.

Out on the lake two great crested grebes could be viewed along with the usual many wintering tufted duck. The the only other notable change being the territorial display of two adult mute swans chasing a third around the lake, eventually forcing it to take flight.

A large section of towpath between Stoke and Burpham locks eroded by floods.

With flood levels having dropped on the towpath between Stoke and Burpham Locks, it was possible to see some of the damage the floods have caused.

One particular section has lost a good six feet of its bank, showing how precarious it would have been at the time of the floods to have walked that section. Even now with soil loosened it is probably not advisable to stand too close to the river’s edge.

One of a small goup of redwing perch high in an alder by the river.

Across the river a small flock of redwing could be viewed perched high in some alders. These winter visiting thrushes along with fieldfares could be seen regularly in more rural areas around Guildford too. I have seen large numbers of more than 100 birds. Feeding on their favourite berry crops when they first began to arrive  in October, they are now starting to take advantage of the waterlogged grassland to feed on worms.

A song thrush sings.

Other types of thrush that have also been displaying well in the last few days included mistle thrush and song thrush. These having started to become quite active, some are now to singing in their repeating but varied fluted tune. Click to hear.

As the winter sun shone through the trees it gave me a false illusion that spring had arrived.

Common buzzard – this one pictured last week in Wonersh.

Also on the sunnier days common buzzards can often be seen gracing the sky, especially in areas over villages to the south of Guildford.

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