Birdwatcher’s Diary No.345

Published on: 14 Mar, 2026
Updated on: 14 Mar, 2026

By Malcolm Fincham

Graced by a spell of dry weather in mid February allowed me another coastal visit.

This with much thanks to Bob and Dougal inviting me on a trip to Pagham, West Sussex.

Once again it gave me the opportunity to photograph a few birds rarely seen within our landlocked county of Surrey.

My best opportunity for photos, on this occasion was while visiting the North Wall location there.

Spotted redshank.

At the area known locally as White’s Creek, at least two spotted redshanks could be observed on newly available mud on the receding tide, and added to our ‘this year’s’ sightings, on our arrival there.

Ruff, Whites Creek, (third from left), North Wall, Pagham.

Also along the Creek, a lone ruff could be picked out feeding among several lapwings, black-tailed godwits and common redshanks.

Ringed plover.

A few ringed plovers could also be viewed feeding along the muddy creek.

Marsh harrier.

Our walk along the North Wall gave regular sightings of a pair of marsh harriers displaying.

Cattle egret.

Several cattle egrets could be noted making a return to the area, counting at least nine in what were still flooded fields.

Grey herons.

And a pair of grey herons had already begun nest building within the thickets of the bushes know as ‘the owl copse’.

Brent geese.

As within many coastal areas at this time of the year, large skeins of dark-bellied brent geese could be viewed in flight. While many more could be seen feeding-up in the surrounding fields readying themselves for their up to 3,000-mile journey back to their breeding grounds in Siberia.

Black-tailed godwits.

Among the other wintering flocks displaying was an impressive pantheon of black-tailed godwits in flight.

Knot in fight, Pagham.

And a large congregation of knot flying overhead.

Slavonian Grebe at Princes Park, Eastbourne.

On our journey home we stopped off at Princes Park, Eastbourne where a Slavonian grebe had been recently reported. This turning out to be a detour well worth making,

February 21 turned out to be the mildest day of year so far, bringing our warmest temperatures since early November registering 15 degrees Celsius.

This was as a transient ridge of high pressure pushed up into southern regions of the UK, allowing me a brief walk around the Riverside Nature Reserve, near Burpham.

Siskins along the towpath.

Along the towpath of the river a small group of three or four siskins could be observed, feeding low on the cones of an alder shrub.

Blackthorn coming into its white blossom at southern end of Stoke Lake.

At the southern end of Stoke Lake the first sprigs of blackthorn had begun to break into blossom.

Stonechat (male).

While in the meadow, the wintering pair of stonechats were still present.

Reed bunting (male) in the meadow at southern end of Stoke Lake.

Close to them, in the same hawthorn, a male reed bunting had made a return.

Chiffchaff, Riverside Nature Reserve.

A few chiffchaffs had begun to break into their repetitive song about the reserve.

Cetti’s warbler, Riverside Nature Reserve.

At least two Cetti’s warblers could also be heard making their abrupt songs intermittently during my time there.

Goldcrest, Riverside Nature Reserve.

And several goldcrests could be picked out along the hedgerow by the footpath running by the lakeside.

Red kites.

Across the River Wey in the direction of the Slyfield recycling centre, several red kites could seen displaying and heard calling.

While a crow and a common buzzard allowed me a photographic opportunity as they flew over the river.

Common buzzard, mobbed by a crow.

The crow was not happy about the buzzard’s presence, while the raptor remained unperturbed as it flew across the crow’s territory.

Kestrels, Riverside Nature Reserve.

And a pair of kestrels flew past together, then briefly perching up together at the far end of the field.

Blackbird in song, Britten’s Pond.

As at other venues I visited in recent days, blackbirds, having fallen silent of song since late July last year, could be once again be heard calling their fluty sounds.

Thursley Common.

Temperatures continued to increase in the days that followed, recording 18 degrees Celsius while on my visit to Thursley Common on February 25.

Brimstone butterfly in flight, Thursley Common.

Some pleasant warm sunshine had even bought my first sightings of the year of half-a-dozen or so brimstone butterflies out on the wing.

Peacock butterfly, Thursley Common.

Also adding to my sighting were two peacock butterflies.

Woodlark, Parish Field, Thursley Common.

The delightful sound of at least six woodlarks could be heard in song in the areas I walked across the heathland. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TrSOXCZgrE

Dartford warbler, Thursley Common.

And Dartford warblers could also be heard in song among the gorse bushes that were now breaking into their bright yellow blossom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkmeQwAUSM4

Water beetles, Thursley Common.

An interesting find were two water beetles sitting on a log and appearing to be taking in the warmth of sun. These I believe were lesser diving beetles, Acilius sulcatus.

Although it is a distinctively marked species, there are some very similar species and apparently care is needed with exact identification.

Britten’s Pond.

Several visits to Britten’s Pond continued to allow me numerous photos in varied ambiance depending on light quality.

Black-headed gulls, Britten’s Pond.

A few of the black-headed gulls had already begun to gain their summer plumage.

Cormorant, Britten’s Pond.

Cormorants continued to visit, causing much displeasure to the anglers as they out-competed their fishing techniques.

Great crested grebe, already in summer plumage, at Britten’s Pond.

And a great crested grebe, now in breading plumage, continued to be present during the first days of March.

Tufted ducks, Britten’s Pond.

While three tufted ducks continued to grace the water.

Carp jumping, Britten’s Pond.

I also managed my first photo since last year of a carp leaping from its waters.

Blackbird feeding on ivy berries.

A blackbird could now be heard and seen regularly singing around the pond, along with others all still feeding on the remaining ivy berries.

Robin feeding on an ivy berry at Britten’s Pond.

A robin also joined it in the banquet.

Rooks nesting, Britten’s Pond.

In the tall oaks to rear of the pond, a small parliament of rooks had once again completed their annual nest building and were already raising a brood of young.

Great tits, Britten’s Pond.

During my walks around the pond, both blue and great tits had become noticeably more vocal.

Nuthatch, Britten’s Pond.

Nuthatches could now be regularly heard calling.

Firecrest, Britten’s Pond.

And a firecrest continued to make an occasional appearance.

Common buzzards.

As many as three common buzzards could be seen and heard mewing, as they circled in the thermals of air to the rear of the pond.

Red kite.

Red kites continued to show in increasing numbers and and even locally over my garden.

Kingfisher, Britten’s Pond.

However, the kingfisher, present now and again, continued to mostly remain out of reach of my camera lens on the rare occasions it did made an appearance.

My return to Britten’s Pond on March 5 saw the tufted ducks and great crested grebe to be no longer present

Andrena clarkella (Clarke’s mining bee), at Britten’s Pond.

However, I found the first of the spring Clarke’s mining bees, andrena-clarkella, were starting to emerge from ground by the pond, as in previous recent years. https://www.snhbs.scot/clarkes-mining-bee-andrena-clarkella/

Redwing, Whitmoor Common.

On a visit to the adjacent Whitmoor Common, a group of nine or so redwings skittishly worked their away though the canopy of the tall silver birch trees near the car park.

Fieldfare.

Within the group, one of a very few fieldfares seen wintering locally this winter.

Siskins, Whitmoor Common.

Feeding among the birch cones, a group up to 30 siskins could also be viewed.

Wren, Whitmoor Common.

Several wrens skulked about the woodland areas – like winged mice about the foliage around the tree trunks, giving themselves up to my camera by their loud calls.

Stonechats, (male and female), Whitmoor Common.

Out on the heathland a few stonechats appeared to have paired up and could be seen perched up in close proximity of each other.

Green woodpecker, Whitmoor Common.

While within the old horse paddocks several green woodpeckers were added to my day list.

On my visit to Lydling Farm at Shackleford, near Godalming, on March 1, was welcomed by the sound of skylarks in song.

Skylark, Lydling Farm.

A few of the skylarks could be picked out feeding on the grassland, while one could be viewed perched up and singing on a fence-post.

Frustratedly not able to steady myself, my attempts of photographing the ones seen singing overhead were less achievable.

Sparrowhawk, Lydling Farm.

A little more satisfactory to me, however, was my photo of a sparrowhawk in flight, shortly after.

Sparrowhawk, Lydling Farm.

The sunlight on it giving the impression of it having self-illuminating eyes.

Red-legged partridge, Lydling Farm.

A lone red-legged partridge could be seen as it scampered across one of the fields as it attempted to avoid my attention.

Common buzzard, Lydling Farm.

On a distant utility pylon, one of several common buzzards seen that day.

Linnet, Lydling Farm.

My previous visit there on January 4 saw more than 100 linnets. On this visit there were not much more than 30. Suggesting they had begun to return to their breeding grounds and that spring was not too far away.