July roving records - Land East of the Railway Line

It was the last day for Royal Holloway student Mark on his work experience placement, so we had packed out the schedule with surveys. First thing in the morning was a reptile refugia check, over in Goat Meadow...

Young Grass Snake - Natrix natrix (video by Mark)

Its always nice to see such a young specimen, as it confirms that they are probably breeding successfully in this area. (Plus they are super cute!)
   Into Upper Picketts Wood, the Nuthatches were all calling noisily (a family had recently fledged from our large bat hibernation box, now due a good clean out I reckon!)

Lovely things.
  Next job on the list was a Dormouse box check. These have been mostly occupied by nesting Great Tits and Blue Tits...

After closely checking one particular box, we were surprised to find a tiny mammal hiding amongst a clutch of Blue Tit eggs...

Pygmy Shrew - Sorex minutus

(Photo by Mark. Other brands of freezer bag also available)

Pygmy Shrews are smaller than Common Shrews in body size, but with proportionately longer tails.This one was probably only occupying this nest which was long abandoned by the parent birds.
   Back to the office to catch up on entering data into iRecord, a really handy online database for the general recording work. It was then back out to the ponds in the afternoon for another habitat assessment, recording butterflies as we went...

Ringlet Butterfly -Aphantopus hyperantus 

Comma Butterfly - Polygonia c-album

We carefully scanned the tree canopies for Purple Hairstreak Butterflies, Favonius quercus. The clue is in the second part of the scientific name, as their life cycle centres around mature Oak trees...

...a hint of fluttering wings?

After a while spent craning our necks and feeling strain on jaw muscles, we finally glimpsed some pale fluttering forms up high in the canopy. This is what they look like close up:

 Purple Hairstreak Butterfly - Favonius quercus

I found this female a couple of years ago at the base of an Oak in Horleyland Wood, she had possibly come down from the trees to seek out water on a very hot day.

  Over on the Powerline Ride, we noticed a bumblebee nest had been roughly dug out, most likely by a hungry Badger looking for some tasty bumblebee larvae...

A few worker bees were still coming and going, plus a couple of large queens were hanging about which are more easily identifiable...

Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris), queen

I've seen similar situations with wasp nests which have been dug out. Impressive stuff; Badgers must either have some immunity to stings or just very thick skin!

   On almost every piece of Hogweed (not the evil giant kind the tabloids have you worrying about...) there were Common Red Soldier Beetles in abundance. Its other name, the Hogweed Bonking Beetle is pretty apt....

Common Red Solider Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva) on Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium)

Apparently these are taken as a sign that we are past the best of the beetle surveying season! I imagine a bunch of gloomy entomologists gathering in a pub to drown their sorrows once the first of the year is spotted.

  As we made our way over to the fish pond to carry out a habitat assessment, Blackcaps were singing all around. I like to think of their song as a nonesensical, whistling warble...

(Plus the sounds of a random jogger in the background)

We arrived at Pond 2 to carry out our habitat assessment, and Mark counted 3 Brown Hawker Dragonflies (Aeshna grandis) engrossed in their violent aerial battles.

Pond 2 - the fish pond

Here's an up-close pic of one which I found cold and sluggish in the grass a couple of years back...

Brown Hawker Dragonfly - Aeshna grandis

While we were watching, a big blue dragonfly crashed onto the scene and began vigorously chasing them... The typical hungry behaviour of the Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator) caused the Browns to make a hasty retreat! 

  Despite the pond being heavily populated by Mirror Carp, plenty of dragonflies and damselflies breed here successfully, probably due to the large variety of pond vegetation providing underwater cover...

Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)

Close-up: Blue-tailed Damselfly (Photo by Mark Melvin)

Azure Blue Damselfly (Coenagrion puella) with diagnostic bow-tie marking on 1st abdominal segment

Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) male

But no Large Red Damselflies to be seen whatsoever!! It feels rather odd as these are normally in abundance here.

   We were also being watched over by some kind of Emerald Dragonfly, shooting past us on his territorial run, but with no chance of a good view, I'm still not sure whether this was a Brilliant Emerald or Downy Emerald.

Finally, a rather stunning lepidopteran of the moth-kind, hanging around the pond...

Herald Moth (Scoliopterix libatrix) Photo by Mark Melvin

Thanks to Mark for all of your help and enthusiasm these past few weeks. We hope to see you again sometime if you get a moment in your packed-out summer!

Early winter bird surveys 2014

December 8th - Land East of the Railway Line

LERL Bird survey transects

It was a damp and dreary start to the morning over in the Land East, but Tom Forward rewarded us with a champion's breakfast of seasonal pies... Nice one fella!

Feeling a bit perkier after this sugary energy injection, we began our first transect in the western edge of Horleyland where woodland abuts the railway line. The open understory areas of the woodland were rather quiet, but we picked up the first ticks of the day in the form of Blue Tit, Blackbird and Carrion Crow.

Horleyland Wood with its open understory

A small group of Redwing were knocking about, although not in the same numbers as Jackdaw. Nuthatch and Tree Creeper made themselves known through some plaintive calling; the Nuthatch won this shouting match.

In quieter moments we picked up the 'teck' of a Great Spotted Woodpecker and the 'tick' of a Robin. Continuing on through the wooded strip linking Horleyland to Lower Picketts, we passed by the newt ponds where a pair of Grey Wagtail, a Bullfinch and three Mallards were larking about.

Our first transect ends at the boundary of Lower Picketts Wood; today this was our birding hotspot with a mixed flock of tits, several Tree Creepers, Goldcrests and Nuthatch noisily making themselves known along with 3 or so Redwing.

Still and quiet in Goat Meadow

Over to our next transect in Goat Meadow, where a lonely Marsh Tit was calling. I repeatedly promise this bird to Tom F. as it seems to avoid us on surveys; today the little sneak was found out! On the way to the beginning of the transect, we pass one of our newer reptile and amphibian hibernaculas... I wonder if they are occupied yet?

A disconcertingly grave-like reptile hibernacula. 

While passing though Upper Picketts Wood, a distinctive croaking call stops us dead in our tracks, and a dark shape wings its way towards us through the tree tops...

A Raven is definitely an unusual turn up on our Gatwick surveys! This larger member of the Crow family is more commonly found in upland areas over to the west of the UK. The rough, echoing cry of a Raven contrasts greatly with the impossibly high pitched calls of Goldcrests, which seemed to follow us around for most of the day.

Gatwick Stream floodplain, post-completion of the flood alleviation scheme

We break out of the cover of woodland and out into the Gatwick Stream grasslands, now open to access after some major landscaping works. We've been itching to get back into this area and weren't disappointed by views of a Little Egret, a beautifully white miniature heron. Also first for this area on our surveys was a flock of Meadow Pipits.

Extreme birding: the floodplain meadow lives up to its name

LERL species list:

1.       Blackbird	Turdus merula
2.       Blue Tit	Cyanistes caeruleus
3.       Bullfinch	Pyrrhula pyrrhula
4.       Carrion Crow	Corvus corone
5.       Chaffinch	Fringilla coelebs
6.       Coal Tit	Periparus ater
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 Wagtail	Motacilla cinerea
15.   Jackdaw	Corvus monedula
16.   Jay	Garrulus glandarius
17.  **    Little Egret	Egretta garzetta
18.   Long-tailed Tit	Aegithalos caudatus
19.   Magpie	Pica pica
20.   Mallard	Anas platyrhynchos
21.   Marsh Tit	Poecile palustris
22.  **   Meadow Pipit	Anthus pratensis
23.   Nuthatch	Sitta europaea
24.   Pied Wagtail	Motacilla alba
25. **    Raven	Corvus corax
26.   Redwing	Turdus iliacus
27.   Robin	Erithacus rubecula
28.   Song Thrush	Turdus philomelos
29.   Stock Dove	Columba oenas
30.   Treecreeper	Certhia familiaris
31.   Wood Pigeon	Columba palumbus
32.   Wren	Troglodytes troglodytes

** = newly recorded species

North West Zone - December 9th

NWZ bird survey transects

It was a much colder start to the day as we began our first transect just north of the airfield, where the River Mole emerges from under the runway.

One of the first species of the day is a Common Snipe, which exploded from the wet grassland with its characteristic fast erratic flight. Tom tells us the collective noun for a group of Snipe is called a 'Wisp'.
   Over in the hedgerows adjoining Brockley Wood, a Common Kestrel was perched up and blending in with the remaining leaves on the Oak trees.

We passed the grass mound where we first recorded our Long-Horned Bees in the summer. Today it is all very still except for a lonely Pied Wagtail.

On Tom's wish list for today is Water Rail, a skulking little wetland-lover related to the Crakes and Coots. We spend a little time listening by the reeds but sadly no luck here. Instead some 'tseeping' and flutterings indicate the presence of a small group of Song Thrush foraging in the reed bed litter.
   Looking back along the  River Mole from where we had come, an endearing site of two diving Little Grebe, aka 'Dabchick', which tend to crop up each winter.

We round the corner of Brockley Wood, jogging slightly to warm our feet. Here we spied a skulking Sparrow Hawk intently hunting along the line of immature trees. Poking our heads into the northern part of Brockley Wood, a Common Buzzard suddenly cries out and a small flock of Redwing take off from the woodland floor.

A daring crossing over the River Mole stepping stones

Futher down stream, we disturb a Little Egret fishing in the slow-flowing waters of the Mole. Towards the end of the 2nd transect, ten Ring-necked Parakeets flew over and 2 Mistle Thrush with their funny toy-gun calls. It must have been some sort of record for Bullfinch as we totaled 6 today; I love their unobtrusive and sad sounding little whistles. 

River Mole at Povey Cross

All in all, a very cold and quiet morning and despite us listing a good number of different species, birds were only out in small numbers and activity levels were low. There was also a distinct lack of  both Redwing and Fieldfare which I suspect will turn up in greater numbers in the late winter.

After Tom had departed, Sue and I traversed back to an area where we are cutting reeds for our insect hotel... what else then greets us but the incredible sharming cry of a Water Rail!

Our final list for NWZ...

1.       Blackbird	Turdus merula
2.       Blue Tit	Cyanistes caeruleus
3.       Bullfinch	Pyrrhula pyrrhula
4.       Carrion Crow	Corvus corone
5.       Chaffinch	Fringilla coelebs
6.       Common Buzzard	Buteo buteo
7.       Common Snipe	Gallinago gallinago
8.       Dunnock	Prunella modularis
9.       Goldcrest	Regulus regulus
10.   Goldfinch	Carduelis carduelis
11.   Great Spotted Woodpecker	Dendrocopus major
12.   Great Tit	Parus major
13.   Greenfinch	Carduelis chloris
14.   Grey Heron	Ardea cinerea
15.   Jackdaw	Corvus monedula
16.   Kestrel	Falco tinnunculus
17.   Little Egret	Egretta garzetta
18.   Little Grebe	Tachybaptus ruficollis
19.   Long-tailed Tit	Aegithalos caudatus
20.   Magpie	Pica pica
21.   Meadow Pipit	Anthus pratensis
22.   Mistle Thrush	Turdus viscivorus
23.   Moorhen	Gallinula chloropus
24.   Nuthatch	Sitta europaea
25.   Pied Wagtail	Motacilla alba
26.   Redwing	Turdus iliacus
27.   Reed Bunting	Emberiza schoeniclus
28.   Ring-necked Parakeet	Psittacula krameri
29.   Robin	Erithacus rubecula
30.   Song Thrush	Turdus philomelos
31.   Sparrow Hawk	Accipiter nisus
32.   Wood Pigeon	Columba palumbus
33.   Wren	Troglodytes troglodytes

(Water Rail would have made it 34, but instead we have noted this as a roving record.)