Birdwatcher’s Diary No.83

Published on: 15 Mar, 2015
Updated on: 15 Mar, 2015

By Malcolm Fincham

Red admiral decides to settle on a garden ornament.

With the first meteorological day of spring starting on March 1 coinciding with my first sighting of a red admiral butterfly in my garden, things started to look hopeful that we had at last started to turn a corner.

Red admiral in my garden.

Several more sightings of both red admiral and brimstone butterflies on the sunnier days in the week that followed, added to my optimism that spring was not to far away.

A fox at Shamley Green watches down from a roadside bank.

On my travels, the fox I recently reported continued to be seen out hunting in daylight hours – seemingly almost tame to my presence as it laid down watching me while I snapped a few photos of it.

At this time of the year it’s quite a possibility that a vixen with newly born kits was in a den near by.

A jay still looking for food it hid last autumn.

While a jay could be seen rummaging through some dead leaves looking for a food stash it had cleverly hidden last autumn.

Common buzzard – one of many in the Guildford area now displaying.

And with a number of bright days, and the sun now starting to gain some warmth, common buzzards now a common sight, especially in rural areas locally, can be seen displaying in the thermals – sometimes in sizeable groups of eight or more.

Little egret seen at Upper Lostiford, Wonersh.

I continued to get sightings of single little egrets in backwater streams, brooks and lakes in rural locations around Shamley Green, and another near Upper Lostiford, Wonersh during the first two weeks of March.

Little egret in flight.

Easily spotted due to their lack of camouflage, I was able to take some photos of one in various poses before it decided to take flight.

Little egret looking rather heart shaped Shamley Green.

A view across Thursley Common.

Having made several trips to Thursley Common in the hope of getting some better pictures of the hen harrier since I first reported seeing on January 22, I still only got distant views of it as it continued to winter there. I had little luck in the way of photographic fortunes coming my way.

I was extremely impressed when I received an e-mail from a fellow local wildlife photographer and a member of  the Surrey Bird Club,  James Sellen, who had been more successful than I and had taken some far greater shots of it than I had.

Hen harrier on Thursley Common pictured by James Sellen.

I am grateful to him in allowing me to show here some of the excellent pictures he took.

Hen harrier pictured by James Sellen.

He insisted passionately (and rightly so) that I should express how essential it is for the protection of these magnificent birds of prey.

Heen harrier pictured by James Sellen.

Hen harrier mobbed by a crow on Thursday Common. Picture by James Sellen.

The hen harrier was seen for the last time at Thursley on March 4, and hopefully it is now making a safe journey to its summer breeding grounds, probably in Eastern Europe.

Another Eastern European winter visitor still remained at Thursday –  the great grey shrike. Although it has been very mobile and difficult to track down this winter, I finally managed to locate it high up on a dead silver birch on ‘shrike hill’.

Great grey shrike in a classic pose on ‘shrike hill’ on Thursley Common.

Taking up a position with some bright late afternoon sunshine behind me, I was able to get some rather pleasing pictures.

Great grey shrike on ‘shrike hill’ Thursley Common -more buff looking than the one at Frensham.

Studying it closely, it had more buff-coloured underparts and I concluded it is not the same shrike I viewed on February 8 at Frensham Common. 

Blackthorn now in flower by Stoke Lake.

Moving into the second week of March, blackthorn bushes could now be seen breaking into flower making them easy to tell apart from the similar hawthorn which breaks into leaf before it flowers usually in May.

Blackthorn blossom.

While on a warm southerly breeze on March 8 and 10, the first Surrey sightings of both a wheatear and two sand martins were recorded at Staines Reservoir and Tice’s Meadow (near Farnham), respectively.

Also with daytime temperatures starting to rise, the birds around my local patch at Stoke Nature Reserve were becoming more active and vocal with some even sighted collecting nesting material.

Grey wagtails now pairing up 

Grey wagtails have now started to pair up along the river.

A few bats could be viewed as dusk turned to night along the River Wey near Bowers Lock.

Treecreeper looking for insects.

And for my first time this year I managed to catch sight of a tree creeper looking for insects in crevices on the bark of a tree.

Greater spotted woodpecker drumming up some noise.

While the drumming of woodpeckers is now a common sound.

Great crested grebe with fish.

Out on Stoke Lake, the great crested grebes can now be seen in pristine plumage and enjoying their diet of fish.

My most surprising sighting of the past two weeks had to be the one I had on March 12 while driving down a narrow track by a small outlet pond in Wonersh. Before my eyes in the lane ahead I spotted a mammal not much larger than a cat.

A mink in Wonersh.

On realising it was a mink, I quickly grabbed my camera and took a few snapshots through my windscreen.

Although these non native creatures can be quite brazen when seen, they are reckoned to spend 80% of their lives in their dens and are mostly nocturnal hunters. Therefore, quite a rarity for me to get some record shots.

My most prized pictures and sighting in successive reports, however, had to be another surprise one of a lone red kite a few days earlier on March 6.

Red kite appears from out of the blue (sky).

Having got what I felt were some reasonable pictures of one that drifted through Shalford seen in my previous report on February 25, this one appeared while I walked the towpath near Bowers Lock in Burpham. It was very much a case of being in the right place at the right time.

Another pleasing shot as it drifts overhead.

As it drifted over with the afternoon sun in my favour showing off its magnificent colouring, I unloaded a continuous stream of shots on my camera, getting some of my best pictures of one to date.

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