Birdwatcher’s Diary No.93

Published on: 11 Sep, 2015
Updated on: 12 Sep, 2015

By Malcolm Fincham

I must admit (though not to my wife) that my leisurely love of nature watching does turn slightly addictive at times.

This is especially true when there’s a chance of a new sighting to record, or the opportunity to learn more about the wealth of wildlife beyond my front door. This was certainly the case once again on a number of occasions over the last few weeks.

The first of which was a trip to Bookham Common on August 15. As mentioned in my previous report, there are 59 species of butterfly that breed in the UK. This visit was possibly the last chance this year to see and photograph a new species and take my personal ‘life list’ to 44 – most of which I have seen in Surrey.

Being among the most elusive of our butterflies, the brown hairstreak had eluded me on my attempts to see one last year. Determined not to be outwitted again, and with the added help from Dougal, a fellow enthusiast, we returned to a known site at Hundred Pound Bridge Wood, in Bookham.

As we walked along a narrow track lined with blackthorn now laden with sloe berries, as luck would have it, two guys on the same mission had already found one feeding on some water mint.

Male brown hairstreak.

Although it was the less colourful male of the species, it was still a treat to see.

Male brown hairstreak with its wings open.

As a bonus to us all, it flew up on to some cow parsley and opened its wings for a brief spell, before flying up into a canopy of ash trees beyond the path.

While there, we were able to add a few other butterflies to the day list.

Small copper.

Including a small copper.

Green-veined white.

A few green-veined whites.

Silver-washed fritillary.

And even a silver-washed fritillary now starting to look a little tatty as its life cycle came towards a close.

A robin, now back in pristine condition.

A robin singing a few bars of its full song, having gone through its summer moult in silence in the hope of eluding possible predators while vulnerable to being attacked, reminded me that autumn was not too far away.

The following week the weather turned quite dismal at times, with the start of the meteorological autumn. As August came to an end, my thoughts of being able to see any more butterflies had come to an end too. Reports were already coming through that reverse migration of our summer visiting birds had begun, so my attention turned back to birdwatching.

One of the inland lagoons at Farlington marsh.

Mixed flocks of waders starting to build up on the lagoons at Farlington.

A trip to Farlington near Portsmouth during the first week of September gave me the chance to see a variety of waders and passerines now returning to winter, or pass though on their journeys back to Africa.

Black-tailed godwits at Farlington.

These included a pantheon of gathering black-tailed godwits.

Oystercatcher at Farlington.

As well as a few oystercatchers.

Linnets at Farlington.

Flocks of linnets, goldfinches and starlings feeding on the seeds of thistles and berries and perched on fences.

Grey plovers at Farlington.

A congregation of grey plovers. Many of which are still in summer breeding plumage.

Greenshank at Farlington.

A few greenshank could also be seen heading back from their northern breeding grounds.

Little egret at Farlington.

Little egrets could also be seen, as their white feathers glistened in the sunlight.

Small heath butterfly at Farlington.

And even, to my  surprise, several small heath butterflies on the meadow.

Wheatear at Farlington.

There was my first sighting this autumn of a wheatear, as it spent some time feeding up on insects, preparing for its long flight back to Africa.

Visiting Stoke Nature Reserve on several occasions during the first weeks of September, I was also able to note some seasonal changes.

A squadron of Canada geese take flight.

The Canada geese were now starting to gather in larger numbers. They were first introduced to Britain in 1665 at St James’ Park, as an addition to the waterfowl collection of Charles II.

Greylag goose among the Canada geese at Stoke Lake.

Being non-indigenous and able to survive comfortably in our temperate climate, they would now need a ‘sat nav’ to find their native home.

Great crested grebe on Stoke Lake feeds a freshly caught fish to one of its young.

I watched the adult great crested grebe on Stoke Lake as it continued to teach its two young to feed.

Kingfisher by Stoke Lake.

I then caught a flash of blue in the corner of my eye, as a bird skimmed low across the lake into some overhanging sallows. Recognising it to be a kingfisher, I edged my way slowly along the footpath until it came into view. I even managed a few photos of it just in time before a couple of unsuspecting dog walkers spooked it back across the lake and out of sight.

I believe this is a female southern hawker dragonfly.

I also photographed of one of a few dragonflies still seen around the water’s edge.

I had an early morning call from Dougal on September 3, waking me from my slumber at 7.30am. He told me of a report that the barred warbler we had attempted to see the previous evening had been seen again on Staines Moor.

Although the barred warbler is a common species of Eastern Europe and Asia during the breeding season, it is quite a rare vagrant to the UK. This was possibly the first record of one to have been seen in Surrey.

Barred warbler on Staines Moor.

Pawing through my book, Birds of Surrey by local author Jeffery J. Wheatley, I read that the only previous sighting had been in 1985, in Richmond Park!

Although it had appeared several times that morning before we arrived, it was certainly playing hard to get when we got there.

It was 10am before it finally showed itself, and I made a short video clip as it appeared. When you view the clip be patient, as it’s a moment or two before it appears!

I was then able to snatch a few record shots before it flew out of a hawthorn bush, over our heads and deep into another bush behind us.

Little owl on Staines Moor.

Also that day we were both pleased to catch sight of three little owls as they perched at various points around the edge of a horse paddock, giving me another video opportunity.

On September 4, I found time to take up an invite from David Rose and Martin Giles of The Guildford Dragon NEWS, who asked me to show them around the fields near the sewage farm at Unstead, near Godalming.

[Ed: we get to go to all the best places around here– all in a day’s work, you know!]

Under pressure to impress, I managed to pick out a buzzard as it flew low across the far side of a field there. Pointing it out to them, with its distinctive pale bib on its chest as it perched in a tree, I even managed a few distant record shots.

We were also able to observe the large gathering of hirundines feeding up on airborne insects over the sewage works, preparing themselves for their long trip back to Africa.

House martin.

These included house martins.

Sand martins.

Sand martins.

Swallows.

And swallows.

Ending my latest ventures on Sptember 6, I visited Tice’s Meadow, near Tongham. At this reserve it is almost essential to have a telescope, to survey the large expanse of water there. Fortunately my good friend Dougal had remembered his.

Wood sandpiper. This picture I took last year on Thursley Common.

Too distant for camera shots we managed to pick out three pintail ducks and a wood sandpiper.

Whinchat at Tice’s Meadow.

Nearer to view, but still quite distant for my camera lens, was a whinchat and a wheatear and even a common whitethroat calling its ‘sub’ song. Wrapping up many of the critters that seemed to be beginning with ‘W’ that day.

And surrounding the bank we were viewing from, was a host of more than 100 wasp spiders.

A relatively recent arrival in the UK from the continent.

Wasp spider at Tice’s Meadow.

They now seem to be rapidly travelling north across the Home Counties.

I quote from my report when there last year, when I record just two.

“These pictures are of the larger and more colourful female. Often after the consummation of her marriage to the smaller and brown in colour male of the species, she kills and eats him. Isn’t she delicious? Well, I’m sure he was!”

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