Birdwatcher’s Diary No. 38

Published on: 9 Jun, 2013
Updated on: 9 Jun, 2013

By Malcolm Fincham

With young families of birds now on display, buttercups casting a yellow sheen across the meadows and a settled spell of weather to start the month of June, it was at last looking as if summer had arrived.

This was the scene as I cycled out along the towpath of the Wey Navigtions through Guildford town centre in the direction of St Catherine’s Lock on Saturday, June 1.

Swans near Guildford town centre with seven cygnets.

At Millbrook a pair of swans with a family of seven cygnets showed themselves off by the lock gates.

Three little egrets feeding at Shalford Meadows.

Cycling on and looking in the direction of Shalford Water Meadows, I was surprised to see three little egrets wading out on the flood plain. As mentioned in previous reports, these were once a rarity, and at one time hunted to extinction in the UK  for their feathers.

A little egret in flight.

However, in recent years I have seen them locally but only during winter months, so to see so many at this time of the year was quite a surprise.

A willow warbler near St Catherine’s Lock.

Arriving at St Catherine’s Lock, with the evening sun shining on the broom brightly in flower and contrasting beautifully against the cloudless blue sky, I was taken aback by the sound of a willow warbler. Busy trying to get a few pictures as it sung its summer tune, I totally forgot to take a few scenic shots.

A male reed bunting sitting on top of a broom bush in full flower.

But I was able to quite easily spot a male reed bunting as he sat up proudly on top of one of the many flowering broom bushes, calling his tune in the late evening sun.

A chiffchaff. Can you spot the different between it and a willow warbler?

I was also distracted by the sound of a chiffchaff. Formulating what I thought was a great idea to get a picture of a chiffchaff and a willow warbler to feature how similar they look, and also taking the trouble of finding a You Tube clip for those interested in an ‘in-depth’ analysis, I was very disappointed to notice several days later that the BBC had stolen ‘my’ idea. On its Springwatch programme, it did a very similar thing about these two birds!

Despite my disappointment,  I decided to go ahead with my version anyway. Click here to view the You Tube clip.

Pied wagtail joins in collecting Mayfly.

On my regular visits along the River Wey on the northern side of Guildford, pied wagtails now joined in with grey wagtails collecting Mayfly in mid-flight over the river.

A grey wagtail collecting Mayflies to feed young near Bowers Lock.

I have also noticed that although some of our resident birds, such as song thrushes, are still quite vocal, most of the warblers (apart from blackcaps it seems) have started to quieten down in the last week, having now found breeding partners.

A sedge warbler showing well from the boardwalk at the Riverside nature reserve.

I did notice and take a few photos of a sedge warbler in some reeds by the small pond along the boardwalk at the Riverside reserve, singing its ‘scratchy’ song.

Common tern returns to its raft at Stoke Lake.

Although the common terns seem to be still doing well, I’m saddened to say that just one of the four great crested grebes I pictured in my previous report could be seen by the end of this week.

Horses in a field that is now full of buttercups in flower.

On Chinthurst Hill near Wonersh, not for the first time this year I spotted a pair of red-legged partridges as they scurried out of sight into the undergrowth.

Common buzzard over Chinthurst Hill.

Shortly after I took a few pictures of a common buzzard as it hovered ‘kestrel-like’ over the hill.

Such hills are often good places to spot birds of prey, probably due to the thermals of air they create. This was certainly the case once again on the morning of Saturday, June 8, on the same hill, where, although this time only a distant view, both a common buzzard and a red kite could be seen together.

Blue tit with young nearby to feed.

Back at home, although I haven’t had any luck with birds nesting in either of my bird boxes yet this year, I was pleased to hear the sound of young chicks calling in my back garden. It was coming from a tiny hole just below my neighbour’s sloping roof.  While watching I was pleased to see a blue tit arrive back with food for its young.

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