Birdwatcher’s Diary No.78

Published on: 9 Jan, 2015
Updated on: 9 Jan, 2015

By Malcolm Fincham

Restricted by ongoing Christmas festivities and family entertainment (although most enjoyable) I began to feel rather claustrophobic. Itching to see what was going on beyond my doorstep I ventured out into my garden.

This was on Boxing Day with a lame excuse to hang some washing out!

The beautiful melodic sound of a robin.

I was welcomed by the sound of a robin singing his delightful winter song with its ‘to my ears’ almost mournful sentiments,
and I couldn’t resist grabbing my camera to record the sound and snap a few shots of such a delightful critter.

Click here for a short video clip as it sang.

Fortunately, with a few day’s off leading up to the new year, I was able to get involved in a few adventures.

My first was a short trip after Christmas to Tice’s Meadows near Tongham, on December 28, following up on a report that two Bewick’s swans had made what turned out to be just a brief visit.

Bewick’s swans at Tice’s Meadow.

These birds are smaller than our resident mute swan and breed in the tundra regions of northern Russia.

Flying south, with some wintering on eastern coastal counties of the UK they are quite a rare but welcome visitor to our Surrey waters. By the following morning however they had moved on.

a winter scene on the Isle of Sheppey.

By the following day I had too – with a car load of wildlife enthusiasts on our annual trip to the Isle of Sheppey on the north Kent coast. This gave us the opportunity to view and even get a few pictures of other birds, some of which are rarely seen in the Surrey countryside.

A marsh harrier flies by.

The three most pleasing to me began as soon as we arrived on the island at Elmley Nature Reserve with the sighting of a marsh harrier – one of many we were to see that day.

Marsh harrier on the Isle of Sheppey.

Being birds of prey, they could often be seen spooking flocks of wildfowl into the air, setting quite an atmospheric scene with hundreds of teal and those infamous wintering whistling wigeon into flight.

Large flocks of wigeon on Isle of Sheppey.

Bearded reedlings (bearded tits) in flight on Isle of Sheppey.

A walk past some reed beds also gave us some stunning close-up views of a group of eight or so bearded tit – or bearded reedling as they are now known.

Bearded reedling.

Golden plover.

Of the many various waders, golden plover could be viewed, now very much in their winter plumage.

Lapwing on Isle of Sheppey.

These were mainly seen among the lapwing or green plover or peewit as they are also referred to due to their call.

Short-eared owl.

Moving on to Harty Marsh on the island at the end of the day, as well as yet more sightings of marsh harrier, a short-eared owl made an appearance, gliding over the reed beds in its rowing-like fashion of flight, giving us all some great views as the sun began to fade.

Sun sinks over the horizon at the ‘raptor’ view mound at Harty Marsh.

Fieldfare on Isle of Sheppey.

A flock of 40 or so fieldfare perched to rest in a tree long enough for me to snatch a few photos before they moved on looking for a place to roost.

Fieldfare.

Barn owl on Isle of Sheppey.

And as a final bonus, a barn owl also appeared allowing me some reasonable shots to end the day.

On December 30, I took advantage of a continued dry spell (in contrast to floods of last winter) and to round off another great wildlife watching year. For me, and four good birdwatching pals, it was another trip out of Surrey. This time to Farlington Marshes on the south coast near Portsmouth.

Avocets in Langstone Harbour at Farlington.

With the tide out on our arrival and scanning the mudflats of Langstone Harbour, we were firstly able to pick out a distant view of a group of over 20 avocets.

A dunlin (left) and turnstone.

Also seen were small groups of dunlin and turnstone.

Grey plover at Farlington.

Adding to the plovers seen on the Isle of Sheppey, there were a number of grey plover also taking advantage of the low tide and feeding in the mud.

Looking inland across the lagoons and marshes the many wintering brent geese I mentioned in one of my previous recent reports could still be viewed.

Also seeing the many usual wintering ducks and waders seen on my last visit.

Our ears however were taken by the instantly recognisable pinging sound from a section of reed beds as once again we found ourselves getting some great views of bearded reedlings.

Male bearded reedling at Farlington Marshes.

Although having only seen them the previous day on ‘Sheppey’, I couldn’t resist a few more photos.

I even managed to record a short video clip.

A few of my other photos that day included ones referred to by some as LBJs, or little brown jobs, as they are not always easily recognised at a glance.