Early Winter Bird Survey - North West Zone 12/12/18

This morning was the start of a real cold snap here in Sussex, which always seems to tie in with our North West Zone bird survey transect. Tom F. and I set off along the northern side of the airfield fence a little after sunrise, giving the birds some time to get moving and active. Tom commented right away that this was a spookily quiet morning...

A group of Meadow Pipits are typically the first birds we come across, bouncing along the airfield fence. A Robin and several Dunnocks called sporadically, hidden away along the banks of the River Mole. Our first red-status species was a Song Thrush, giving it's subtle 'tseep' alarm call as it fled, nipping down into the river bank vegetation.

Song Thrush - RSPB

Down on the floodplain it truly felt bone-achingly cold. The reed beds seemed devoid of life, then a fiesty Wren struck up an alarm call as it faced us off from the top of a reed. Finally, a Reed Bunting called, although only faintly and with no replies forthcoming. It really felt like the birds hadn't got out of bed yet.

Further along the floodplain, we caught the distant calls of Water Rails. These secretive birds seem to be more vocal in winter, and their call is highly weird. If you happen to be standing right next to one when it sounds off, it's pretty alarming!

Water Rail - RSPB

Over to the scrub west of Brockley Wood, a few Blue Tits and Long-tailed Tits were foraging together on the woodland edge. A sole Green Woodpecker headed off calling and a group of Wood Pigeon broke from the trees. Over in woodlands, a distant Nuthatch called.

This sheltered patch of grassland is one of my favourite spots in summer, dense in long herbaceous vegetation and absolutely humming with invertebrates. In winter however this tends to be the favourite patch of another highly-secretive and red-status bird; the Woodcock. We flushed one from the low scrub; its low, whirring flight really does give the appearance of a giant bat. 

Woodcock - RSPB

Poking our heads into the north of Brockley Wood, we were hoping for some Redwing activity, however the flocks were conspicuously absent from the site this morning. The collective alarm calls of  Blackbird, Magpie and Wren indicated the presence of an avian predator, likely a perched-up Tawny Owl or Sparrowhawk. Whatever it was then moved off, as the alarm calls rapidly followed it through the wood.

Our final section of grassland along the River Mole turned up two Common Snipe, which had been well hidden in the rushes. One put on an amazing display, flying a wide loop over the environment bund and then skimming low past us at about waist-height. This whole transect was again peculiarly quite, and surprisingly one of the most numerous birds was Bullfinch; we counted a total of 6.

Bullfinch - RSPB

At the very end of the transect we had a buzz of excitement in the form of a perched Sparrowhawk, apparently causing upset with the resident Ring-necked Parakeets. It casually took off over the trees, leaving in its wake a string of songbird alarm calls.

Final species count = 34

Common name	Species
Blackbird	Turdus merula
Blue Tit	Cyanistes caeruleus
Bullfinch	Pyrrhula pyrrhula
Buzzard	Buteo buteo
Carrion Crow	Corvus corone
Chaffinch	Fringilla coelebs
Coal Tit	Periparus ater
Dunnock	Prunella modularis
Goldcrest	Regulus regulus
Goldfinch	Carduelis carduelis
Great Spotted Woodpecker	Dendrocopos major
Great Tit	Parus major
Green Woodpecker	Picus viridis
Grey Heron	Ardea cinerea
Jackdaw	Corvus monedula
Jay	Garrulus glandarius
Long-tailed Tit	Aegithalos caudatus
Magpie	Pica pica
Mallard	Anas platyrhynchos
Meadow Pipit	Anthus pratensis
Moorhen	Gallinula chloropus
Nuthatch	Sitta europaea
Reed Bunting	Emberiza schoeniclus
Ring-necked Parakeet	Psittacula krameri
Robin	Erithacus rubecula
Siskin	Spinus spinus
Snipe	Gallinago gallinago
Song Thrush	Turdus philomelos
Sparrowhawk	Accipiter nisus
Treecreeper	Certhia familiaris
Water Rail	Rallus aquaticus
Woodcock	Scolopax rusticola
Woodpigeon	Columba palumbus
Wren	Troglodytes troglodytes

Late winter bird surveys 2015

February 12th - North West Zone

Despite dreary conditions it was a cheerful group of us who met in the morning, just north of the airfield. Traipsing through the wet and boggy grasslands, right away we picked up the drumming of a Great Spotted Woodpecker and the raucous cries of a Ring-necked Parakeet, a recently naturalised species which is well established in Reigate and spreading southward. 

Ex-arable grasslands west of Brockley Wood; thanks to their inaccessibility and 

the airport's boundary, they have been largely left undisturbed.

The hearty tune of a secretive Song Thrush could be heard emanating from the hedgerows, with their distinctive repetitive style which you can clearly see in this sonogram...

In fact, they were in all the bloody hedgerows! It was like Song Thrush City, with exceptionally high numbers possibly due to migrants passing through on their way to their summer homes.
   Wandering through the Solar Panel field, we flushed four Common Snipe with their characteristic erratic flight pattern. They even left us a calling card...

Common Snipe smatterings

Where the Mole begins to meander, we stood high on the track and observed two large shapes winging their way towards us... a wandering pair of Greylag Geese are an usual sighting on our surveys. Looking in the deeper wheel ruts of the rough track, tell-tale movements gave away the presence of Common Frogs gathering to spawn. Every year they take a gamble laying eggs here, but sometimes the froglets do make it! 

Wishing for a Water Rail in the reedbeds - no such luck

There is a great mix of habitats in one small area, so we can pick up woodland, scrubland and wetland species. Long-tailed Tits, Moorhen, Jackdaws and a Green Woodpecker were all in close proximity, along with the same group of Common Snipe we had just seen earlier. A pair of Bullfinch were piping loudly from the scrub...

If you look really, really closely, it's definitely a Bullfinch

Still getting to grips with this camera.

The River Mole is at a relatively low level for this time of year

Towards the end of our transect we saw a Little Egret and Grey Heron taking flight. I've seen this duo hanging around quite the past few weeks, one might be following the other around in order to find the best fishing spots. They always keep a respectful distance from each other though.

Little Egret in the foreground, Grey Heron at the back

Either a Great Tit spontaneously combusted, or a Sparrowhawk just had breakfasted

At the end of the transect near Povey Cross, we picked out a few more Ring-necked Parakeets perched up close to a group of Magpies. I had another go with the camera....

Getting better!

NWZ total: 29 species

1	Blackbird	Turdus merula
2	Blue Tit	Cyanistes caeruleus
3	Bullfinch	Pyrrhula pyrrhula
4	Carrion Crow	Corvus corone
5	Chaffinch	Fringilla coelebs
6	Collared Dove	Streptopelia decaocto
7	Dunnock	Prunella modularis
8	Goldcrest	Regulus regulus
9	Goldfinch	Carduelis carduelis
10	Great Spotted Woodpecker	Dendrocopus major
11	Great Tit	Parus major
12	Green Woodpecker	Picus viridis
13	Greenfinch	Carduelis chloris
14	Grey Heron	Ardea cinerea
15	Jackdaw	Corvus monedula
16	Jay	Garrulus glandarius
17	Little Egret	Egretta garzetta
18	Magpie	Pica pica
19	Mallard	Anas platyrhynchos
20	Moorhen	Gallinula chloropus
21	Nuthatch	Sitta europaea
22	Redwing	Turdus iliacus
23	Reed Bunting	Emberiza schoeniclus
24	Ring-necked Parakeet	Psittacula krameri
25	Robin	Erithacus rubecula
26	Snipe (Common)	Gallinago gallinago
27	Song Thrush	Turdus philomelos
28	Wood Pigeon	Columba palumbus
29	Wren	Troglodytes troglodytes

Greylag Goose Anser anser (fly-over)

February 13th - Land East of the Railway Line

A brand new dull wet day, we reversed the usual direction of our transects and began instead on the Gatwick Stream floodplain. This area has been re-profiled on a large scale as part of a flood alleviation scheme, so now consists of extensive wet grassland habitat,

The first species to greet us were Chaffinch, Coal Tit and Green Woodpecker. A lonely Meadow Pipit flew overhead followed closely by a Pied Wagtail.

A series of large Oak trees can be found on islands of raised land, ringed off with post and rail fencing. They make a perfect perch point for this flock of around 20 Linnets...

As lovely as the Linnets were, it was something else which got us excited this morning...

Tom F. had spotted a pair of Little Owl perched up in the Oaks! Quick... Photo photo photo!

Bah. 

Yet again I was no where near quick enough with the camera settings, so this distant shot was all I got before they nipped off. Little Owl is a new species for our surveys at Gatwick and I am yet to see one close up. This pair were being very covert and quiet, but as it is ridiculously cute here's a recording of their calls from the Xeno-canto website...

The tracks of different birds and mammals stood out clearly in the bare mud, telling us which who had recently passed by:

More than one Red Fox

Roe Deer

We left the floodplain and entered the woodlands, where we picked up a roving flock of Blue Tit, Great Tit and a pair of Goldcrests. Further into the woods and the outskirts of Goat Meadow, we caught the song of a lonely Coal Tit and we glimpsed a sneaky Tree Creeper.

Craning our necks to look high up in the canopy, the swaying Scots Pines made us feel rather sea sick...

Which was about when my camera battery finally gave up after having taken many bad owl photos.

   Our transect then ended at the western edge of Horleyland Wood, finally bringing us Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, and the incessant calls of a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

LERL total: 27 species

1	Blackbird	Turdus merula
2	Blue Tit	Cyanistes caeruleus
3	Carrion Crow	Corvus corone
4	Chaffinch	Fringilla coelebs
5	Coal Tit	Periparus ater
6	Common buzzard	Buteo buteo
7	Goldcrest	Regulus regulus
8	Goldfinch	Carduelis carduelis
9	Great Spotted Woodpecker	Dendrocopus major
10	Great Tit	Parus major
11	Green Woodpecker	Picus viridis
12	Jackdaw	Corvus monedula
13	Jay	Garrulus glandarius
14	Linnet	Carduelis cannabina
15	**Little Owl	Athene noctua
16	Magpie	Pica pica
17	Mallard	Anas platyrhynchos
18	Meadow Pipit	Anthus pratensis
19	Pied Wagtail	Motacilla alba
20	Redwing	Turdus iliacus
21	Robin	Erithacus rubecula
22	Song Thrush	Turdus philomelos
23	Starling	Sturnus vulgaris
24	Stock Dove	Columba oenas
25	Treecreeper	Certhia familiaris
26	Wood Pigeon	Columba palumbus
27	Wren	Troglodytes troglodytes

**New species to this survey

Many thanks to Tom F., Bethan, Sian and Donald for your help on these surveys!