Early winter bird surveys 2016 (Part 2)

North West Zone grasslands

The survey start-off was signaled by a group of 9 Pied Wagtail, which must have just emerged from their communal roost. Plenty of Reed Bunting and Wren were calling around the River Mole reed beds, and the occasional Song Thrush giving a high-pitched 'tseep'.

Snipe explosion / spontaneous combustion

After yesterday's survey Snipe joys, this ominous pile of Common Snipe feathers is a bit of a sorrowful sight. Still, there is a good population around at the moment and the Sparrowhawk (presumably the culprit) has got to feed too.

We stopped in our tracks as we got closer to the reed beds, scratching our heads over this one call...

For a moment there we couldn't put our finger on it. However, later on and further downstream, we heard the more familiar, squealing cry...

Water Rail is the weirdest thing you will hear along the River Mole (except maybe for Tom Forward's imitation of a Water Rail).

Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus). RSPB

A pair of Common Buzzard called to each other, one gliding towards the woodland with a Carrion Crow in wing-flapping pursuit. On the far side of the river, along the woodland strip, we scanned the gorse and bramble scrub for any movement...
   Luke then spotted a new species for the Gatwick surveys!

Stonechat (Saxicola torquata) male. RSPB

Stonechats are a stunning little bird, slightly smaller than a Robin. Its name comes from the call which sounds a bit like two pebbles being bashed together. The pair we saw are probably temporary winter visitors to our sites.

A scatological interlude to look at some mystery poop...

Too small for Fox, but containing lots of fur... A Stoat or a Mink perhaps?

The tell-tale cigarette ash poo of Green Woodpecker

Mistle Thrush made their machine-gun calls as they shot past overhead. Fieldfare were the loudest though; I love how they sound on the verge of hysteria.

Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) RSPB

In the north of Brockley Wood, Chaffinches were calling loudly; it makes a nice change as we are usually a bit light on finches here. A flock of Redwing were busy in the understory and a Coal Tit called from the canopy.

As we rounded the bend on the river, two Roe Deer stood motionless only meters away. Just a little further along, the gang caught a view of a top predator - Sparrowhawk! Unfortunately, I was too busy predating on rich tea biscuits and missed it.

Towards the end of the transect we were closer to the tree line; Ring-necked Parakeets started up their cry, disturbing another Common Buzzard. A lonely Little Egret took off downstream in lumbering flight. Although we didn't find Katherine a promised birthday Kingfisher, we did get a lovely Grey Wagtail zip along the river and land up next to us. 

   We start with wagtail, we finish with wagtail.

Winter shrubs: Bramble, Field Rose, Gorse and Spindle

Our species list from the day; 37 is a new record I think! Our total species recorded on our timed transects at Gatwick since 2012 stands at 79.

1	Blackbird	Turdus merula
2	Blue Tit	Cyanistes caeruleus
3	Bullfinch	Pyrrhula pyrrhula
4	Buzzard	Buteo buteo
5	Carrion Crow	Corvus corone
6	Chaffinch	Fringilla coelebs
7	Coal Tit	Periparus ater
8	Dunnock	Prunella modularis
9	Fieldfare	Turdus pilaris
10	Goldcrest	Regulus regulus
11	Great Spotted Woodpecker	Dendrocopos major
12	Great Tit	Parus major
13	Green Woodpecker	Picus viridis
14	Grey Wagtail	Motacilla cinerea
15	Jackdaw	Corvus monedula
16	Jay	Garrulus glandarius
17	Kestrel	Falco tinnunculus
18	Little Egret	Egretta garzetta
19	Long-tailed Tit	Aegithalos caudatus
20	Magpie	Pica pica
21	Meadow Pipit	Anthus pratensis
22	Mistle Thrush	Turdus viscivorus
23	Pied Wagtail	Motacilla alba subsp. yarrellii
24	Redwing	Turdus iliacus
25	Reed Bunting	Emberiza schoeniclus
26	Ring-necked Parakeet	Psittacula krameri
27	Robin	Erithacus rubecula
28	Rock Dove	Columba livia
29	Roe Deer	Capreolus capreolus
30	Song Thrush	Turdus philomelos
31	Sparrowhawk	Accipiter nisus
32	Stock Dove	Columba oenas
33	Stonechat	Saxicola rubicola
34	Treecreeper	Certhia familiaris
35	Water Rail	Rallus aquaticus
36	Woodpigeon	Columba palumbus
37	Wren	Troglodytes troglodytes

Common Snipe (feathers)

Early Winter Bird Survey 2015 - North West Zone

Friday December 18th

R2-D2 Dreamliner

It was an incredibly a mild December morning when Jedi Birder Tom Forward, of the order Gatwick Greenspace Partnership, swooped in for our early winter bird survey.

The North West Zone, located in the Outer Rim Territories of Gatwick

Straight away we felt a strong presence in the force, scooping up a brand new species for our surveys landside at Gatwick... A Coot! 

It's a little odd that we haven't picked up Coot on previous surveys, but I have checked the ancient iRecord archive scrolls, dating back a whole 3 years and true it is confirmed to be.

  In some nearby scrub, we gained privileged views of a lone Fieldfare breaking its fast on tasty rose hips...

Other thrush species picked up here were Redwing, Song Thrush, Blackbird and Mistle Thrush. An excitedly singing Dunnock also made its presence known from a nearby hedgerow. 

   At the end of the canalised section of river, where the Mole begins to meander, we saw a dark shape nip into the reed bed... could it be?

The Water Rail victory dance

The calls of Water Rail are pretty unmistakable (and bizarre), sounding more like a squealing piglet than a wetland bird. Reed Bunting, Song Thrush and Wren also sounded off, hidden from view in the reeds, while a flock of Long-tailed Tits moved through the trees.

Reeds along the River Mole

Passing around the north side of Brockley Wood, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw and Jay were our first corvids of the day and the lively sound of a Redwing flock came from somewhere in the gloom. Incredibly, signs of spring were cropping up everywhere...

Elder (Sambucus nigra) coming into leaf

Out of the woods and into a busy section of floodplain, with Fieldfare flying overhead and mixed flocks of Blue Tits, Great Tits and Goldcrests foraged in the tree tops. As we rounded a bend in the river, the landscape was contrastingly tranquil, with softly calling Song Thrush and a lonely-sounding Bullfinch. 

Then again, all Bullfinches sound lonely... Maybe if they lightened up a little they would have more friends.

   Along the next section of river, the ground up from the boggy floodplain is on a rather steep incline and whippy Alder scrub makes the going tougher.

More Redwing zipped back and forth, busily foraging in the dense scrub and a Green Woodpecker spooked us with a loud yaffle, erupting up out of the grass.

A the furthest point downstream, just outside of our allowed survey time, we were treated to the sight of a Kingfisher perching directly in front of us and a small group of Roe Deer trotting off around the corner. (Even if noted outside of the survey time, we enter all of the day's species into iRecord.)

A final word of advice: before beginning your linear transect of 3km over difficult terrain, do check you have your car keys with you and they are not locked in the car all the way t'other end.

Fieldfare departs LGW

Species total: 32

• Blackbird
• Blue Tit
• Bullfinch
• Carrion Crow
• Chaffinch
• Common Buzzard
• Coot
• Dunnock
• Fieldfare
• Goldcrest
• Goldfinch
• Great Spotted Woodpecker
• Great Tit
• Green Woodpecker
• Herring Gull
• Jackdaw
• Jay
• Kingfisher
• Long-tailed Tit
• Magpie
• Meadow Pipit
• Mistle Thrush
• Moorhen
• Pied Wagtail
• Redwing
• Reed Bunting
• Robin
• Song Thrush
• Starling
• Water Rail
• Wood Pigeon
• Wren

Early Winter Bird Survey - North West Zone

Gatwick Landscape Photographer of the Year

(self-appointed)

Sunrise: 07:45 December 9th 2013

Gosh... 

Spider webs on Dock seed heads, North West Zone

Oh my... 

 

Rough grassland and hedgerows, North West Zone

Goodness me...

Frost in the rough grassland, North West Zone

Ok, that's enough of that. On Monday morning, we began our Winter Bird Survey transect in the rough grasslands, north of the runway. I was accompanying Tom Forward of Gatwick Greenspace and volunteer James, for whom this was a first venture into birding. 

Rambling rosehips in the hedgerows

The open areas of grassland were mostly quiet and still, with bird activity being concentrated in the hedgerows. In the mud, there were plenty of animal tracks; clues as to who else had recently passed by...

Roe Deer tracks: the rear dew-claw marks are just about visible

Moorhen tracks

The hedgerows looked pretty awe-inspiring in the winter sun. Every section seemed to contain at least one singing Song Thrush; pretty unusual as spring is the normal time for staking out territories. A flock of around 10 Meadow Pipits broke the relative peace, peeping frantically overhead before settling in the hedgerows furthest from us.

Listening for thrushes in the hedgerows

Reed Buntings were in good numbers, hiding away in the tall Reed Canary Grass and then flitting up into the scrub. A Robin and a Dunnock were actively singing; a few Redwing were 'tseeping'; and mixed flocks of Great, Blue and Long-tail Tits nosily contact-called while foraging.

Blackthorn fruits (i.e. Sloe berries) and lichen

Approaching the first bend in the River Mole, a Moorhen squawked its presence and a Pied Wagtail passed overhead in bouncing flight. Our first flock of Fieldfare, a winter-visiting thrush from northernmost Europe, were nosily chatting away in the large Oaks overlooking the floodplain. On a bare patch of earth near the grassy slope, a Green Woodpecker had left its usual calling card...

In certain light, even bird poop can look quite marvelous.

Break it open and you will find the chitinous remains of ants

We had a poke around in the reed beds but sadly no signs of Water Rail, so Tom regaled us with an ear-splitting impression (although neither James nor I were really qualified to critique it). Still scattered around in the grass were feathers from the dead Grey Heron found earlier in the week - the foxes had an early Christmas dinner! 

Scrub West of Brockley Wood

Entering the scrub west of Brockley, a bout of action could be heard in the woodland margins with brawling Song Thrushes and a jeering audience of Redwing. Rounding the corner of the woodland, where the river passes close by, a mixed flock of Fieldfare and Redwing were happily foraging in the Hawthorn scrub.

Candlesnuff Fungus on river driftwood

Beginning our second transect further downstream along the Mole, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Magpie and Reed Bunting were all in abundance. We also picked up a new first for this birding transect: a lone Rook. These birds are generally common around the airport so it is by chance they haven't cropped up earlier on our survey. 

   Continuing up the corridor of grassland along the river, we then entered a Fieldfare battle-zone! They were zipping back and forth over the river, between the lines of scrub and trees. Sounding rather like fighter plane machine-guns, one even let loose a small, tactical aerial-attack (fortunately though not directly overhead!).

Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) RSPB

Counting them was quite a challenge but we noted around 80 individuals in this one section, plus the usual handful of Redwing and Song Thrush. This is one of my favourite parts of the River Mole corridor, where the water passes over stones and gravel, creating 'riffles'. These fast-flowing areas are particularly beneficial for aquatic invertebrates, such as Stonefly and Caddisfly larvae.

Towards the end of transect 2, we paused to watch a brightly coloured Jay perched just a few meters ahead, posing proudly with acorn in beak. A moment later, there was a flash of orange and a Kingfisher appeared up on the tree. Then, it shot past us upstream, showing off its electric blue upper-side and bullet-like profile. We were also greeted by the lumbering flight of an impressive Grey Heron, moving off downstream... For James, these were two species he had never seen up-close, so well worth the early morning start!

Our two transects