Birdwatcher’s Diary No.105

Published on: 3 Apr, 2016
Updated on: 3 Apr, 2016

By Malcolm Fincham

By the middle of March the weather started to settle down. Although conditions were not always at there best for photography, it was a welcomed change to have entered into a dry spell.

On March 16 there was also a welcome visit from John, good friend of birdwatching pal Dougal. John had travelled up from his home town in Kent, with the hope that we might find him a few new sightings to add to his ‘year list’. With over 50 years of bird spotting behind him, this added to our challenge.

Stonechat in the mist on Thursley Common. Click on all images to enlarge in a new window.

Dougal decided the best start to the day would be Thursley Common, as there was a good chance of finding John a few species not often seen in his native county. It wasn’t long before we were able to pick out a stonechat perched a little way off, as the fog there that morning slowly started to lift.

Soon after arriving at ‘shrike hill’ still shrouded by mist, we were able to pick out the silhouetted sight of the great grey shrike still wintering there.

Great grey shrike after fog lifts on Thursley Common.

Although it wasn’t until later that morning that I was able to get some better pictures of it.

Dartford warbler on Thursley Common.

As the sun started to poke through we were also able to add a few Dartford warblers to the day’s list.

Woodlark on Thursley Common.

Also adding to John’s year list the charming chorus of song from a healthy number of eight or more woodlark could be heard.

Skylark singing with the woodlarks.

With a skylark also joining in for a while.

Have you spotted a lesser spotted woodpecker?

At a quiet, undisclosed location near by, we also managed to pick out the sound of a lesser spotted woodpecker, following the sound of its call, we were finally able to locate it high up on a dead silver birch tree. Only snatching a few record shots of it, it then took flight. Indeed, these birds are ‘lesser spotted’ both in name and nature these days, declining to a worrying level in the Surrey area.

Later that same day we visited Papercourt watermeadows near Send.

Short-earred owl at Papercourt.

This was to get what would possibly a last sighting of a short-eared owl before it migrates. And to get a few more pictures of course.

Short-earred owl at Papercourt.

We didn’t leave disappointed either, with two out hunting in the late afternoon sunshine.

My best pictures of the day while there was having just walked over the footbridge that leads out on to the marshland. Always looking for new wildlife pictures to add to my collection, we were taken by surprise when a weasel popped its head up from a gap in the wooden panels of the bridge.

Weasel ‘pops up’ like a glove puppet at Papercourt.

Having got several reasonable pictures of a stoat in a previous report earlier this year, it was good to get the opportunity to compare their difference.

Weasel at Papercourt.

A weasel is weasely recognised and a stoat is indeed stoatally different! Looking rather like one of the critters from the game ‘whac a mole’ it disappeared and reappeared momentarily from various gaps on the bridge.Eventually brave enough to make a full appearance before ‘leggin’ it off into the undergrowth near by.

Latest view across Stoke Lake.

At Stoke Lake the wheels of spring had noticeably started to roll into motion.

Chiffchaff singing in the sunshine at Stoke Nature Reserve.

A chiffchaff started singing.

Great crested grebe drying its wings in the sun.

Even last year’s great crested grebe fledgling was enjoying the sunshine.

Great crested grebe.

Grateful it survived its first winter.

In Victorian times many kingfishers were shot and stuffed to put in glass cases, while their feathers were widely used by milliners to adorn hats.

Kingfishers continued to be seen on most of my visits, allowing me some great opportunities on some of the sunnier days. They may look bright blue, but they are actually a murky brown colour. This is due to the difference between pigmented and structural colouration. If we were to just see the light reflected directly from the wings it would be brown, but actually the light bounces around the structure of the wings, causing iridescent colouring.

Kingfisher at Stoke Lake. Adults are identical except for the bill colour, the bill is all dark in males, the female has a red base to the lower mandible.

Severe winters can lead to as many as 90% of Britain’s kingfishers perishing. Although adults pair in the autumn, they retain separate territories until the spring, when they gradually merge together.

The brilliant blue of the kingfisher’s back feathers are not the result of pigment, but the result of light striking specially modified layers of feather cells.

Kingfisher at Stoke Lake.

Halcyon days were periods of calm weather, traditionally the seven days each side of the winter solstice on December 21. when storms shall never again occur. They are named after the kingfisher, whose Greek name was ‘halcyon’. 

Kingfishers fly at only one pace fast and straight, but they can hover when fishing.

Modern taxonomy also refers to the winds and sea in naming kingfishers after a classical Greek myth. The first pair of the mythical-bird Halcyon (kingfishers) were created from a marriage of Alcyone and Ceyx. As gods, they lived the sacrilege of referring to themselves as Zeus and Hera. They died for this, but the other gods, in an act of compassion, made them into birds, thus restoring them to their original seaside habitat. In addition, special “halcyon days” were granted.

Goldcrest at Stoke Lake.

Although the firecrest pictured in my previous report seems to have moved on, there were still plenty of goldcrest to photograph.

Frog spawn in the watermeadows at Stoke Nature Reserve.

On March 17 I spotted my first frogspawn from the boardwalk across the watermeadows.

My first peacock butterfly of the year.

Adding to this was my first butterfly sighting of the year along the riverbank. A peacock out from hibernation.

A few of the many brent geese feeding on the meadows at Farlington.

I ended the week with a trip to Farlington Marshes near Portsmouth with Dougal. The brent geese were still there in large flocks, but were now starting to look a little restless. They were feeding up on grassland between the lagoons, then moving in short flights to various parts of the reserve looking for fresh vegetation.

I sensed it wouldn’t be too long now before they started to make their 2,500-mile trip back to their breeding grounds in Siberia.

Can you spot the short-eared owl at Farlington?

Shot-eared owl at Farlington.

Also still there but not so easy to spot were two short-eared owls, camouflaged well as they roosted in the long grass.

Ruff at Farlington.

Adding to our year sightings was a ruff that I managed to pick out near one of the lagoons.

Cetti’s warbler at Farlington.

But our most elusive spot of the day (apart from a brief sighting of two bearded tits) had to be a fleeting glimpse and photo of one of several Cetti’s warbler we had heard that day, as it poked its head out from a reed bed.

Red kites sparring.

On my travels I was also able to add a sighting of a pair of red kites.

Red kite.

Unfortunately with weather conditions so poor that day, I was left a little disappointed with the results.

Ring-necked parakeet.

On a brighter day just before Easter, I visited good friend Bob in Wood Street Village, but although with no recent pictures of red kites there, I did leave with some rather pleasing shots of the ring-necked parakeets that still visit his garden.

Yellowhammer.

As well as at least eight yellowhammers.

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