Birdwatcher’s Diary No.70

Published on: 13 Sep, 2014
Updated on: 17 Sep, 2014

By Malcolm Fincham

 ”For my own part I have never had a thought that I could set down in words with more distinctness than I’ve conceived it. ”

Just to borrow a few lines from the magnificent lyrics of a song called A Dream Within A Dream  by Alan Parsons, also known for his production work on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon album, as well as his solo work.

Fortunately for my part, I am most grateful for the visual aid of my digital cameras to assist me in creating an extra dimension to my written work with my pictures.

A view of Stoke Lake.

And for the most part of which, during the first two weeks of September, I spent at a number of locations in the Guildford area. With the weather both dry and sunny, it gave me some great photo opportunities.

Canada geese gather on Stoke Lake.

On my local ‘patch’ at Stoke Lake most of our summer-breeding migrants now seemed to have moved on and are now making their long journeys back to Africa. They  leave large flocks of our non-indigenous Canada geese on our local lakes. Introduced to the UK back in the 18th century, they now gather and fly from lake to lake seemingly not knowing where to migrate to.

A Canada goose with similar facial colour as a barnacle goose.

Some are known to hybridise with other species of geese making for some unusual variations.

Greylag goose on Stoke Lake.

Looking among the many Canada geese on the lake I also managed to pick out a semi-domesticated greylag goose.

A kingfisher skims across Stoke Lake.

A rather pleasing sight on the lake has been my continued sightings of a kingfisher as it skims back and forth across water.

Juvenile great crested grebe resting out on Stoke Lake.

As well as both adult great crested grebes, two juveniles can still be seen feeding independently now and will hopefully stay to endure our coming winter.

Long-tailed tit.

Various small birds, including long-tailed tits, are now starting to gather in flocks making their squeaky call – especially during the last few hours of light as they prepare to roost.

Starlings gather on the pylons at Stoke Lake.

Male reed bunting at Stoke Lake.

Can you spot the reed bunting among the hawthorn berries?

In the field at the southern end of the lake a family of reed buntings could be seen most evenings, moving between the small hawthorn bushes, giving me a chance to take a few photos.

Female reed bunting at Stoke Lake.

Whinchat showing well in field at southern end of Stoke Lake.

Personally, my best sighting in the last few weeks was there while viewing the reed buntings. This was on both September 2 and 3, when I had the pleasure of even getting a few pictures of a whinchat that had taken time out to feed up ahead of its journey back from its northerly breeding grounds and onwards to Africa – quite a rare sighting for Surrey!

However, among the best places for rare Surrey sightings is Tice’s Meadow near Tongham. This has certainly been the case with some of the more avid birdwatchers over the last few weeks, especially in the way of waders, such as pectoral sandpiper, curlew sandpiper, ruff and little stint, to name a few.

Distant view of four garganey at Tice’s Meadow.

Although viewing is quite distant there, and a telescope is essential to make a decent scan around the scrape, I was able to get a few record shots of four garganey when on a visit with fellow birdwatching enthusiast Dougal on September 6.

Elsewhere on my travels around Guildford I was able to snatch a few pictures of butterflies that were still out on the wing on a number of rather pleasant sunny days.

Speckled wood butterfly.

These included numerous speckled wood butterfly.

Speckled wood butterflies in flight.

Even managing to almost focus on two while ‘on the wing’.

Comma butterfly.

Another butterfly commonly seen has been the comma.

A very fluffy looking robin.

And even a rather fluffy looking robin – obviously having a bit of a bad hair day!

Farnham Heath.

Another place I found time to visit was Farnham Heath RSPB, where I photographed at Dartford warbler – a bird now making a comeback.

Dartford warbler on Farnham Heath.

These birds have been quite a rare sight in Surrey, living on our heaths, which are some of the most northerly points of their breeding range.

Dragonfly in flight.

Finally, I visited Thursley Common, mainly hoping to get a few dragonfly pictures.

Another dragonfly -think this one might be a southern migrant hawker.

Although not very knowledgeable on the many varied types, it gave me a good chance to practise my focusing skills.

Another pleasing dragonfly picture.

Common darter.

Another dragonfly. I pictured on the boardwalk at Thursley.

Sometimes with a moderate amount of success.

Common lizards still seen on boardwalks on Thursley Common.

Along the boardwalk common lizards could still be viewed.

Male stonechat on Thursley Common.

While out on the heathland stonechats could be seen.

Small copper on Thursley Common.

As well as a few small copper butterflies.

Last of all is a warning to those readers out there with a fear of arachnids (spiders) not to scroll down the page any further – certain members of my family included.

Raft spider – Thursley Common.

As noted in one of my previous reports last year, this friendly little devil is the dolomedes fimbriatus or great raft spider, and is the largest of our UK spiders, but fortunately harmless and a close relative to the less common fen spider.

Raft spider captures a dragonfly.

It lives at the water edge of our heathland bogs and can be often seen with its front legs resting on the water’s edge, detecting vibration of prey such as pond skaters and even dragonfly, as a recent picture shows.

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