Late Breeding Bird Survey - North West Zone

Thursday June 19th

Solar Panel Field, North West Zone

It was a warm and hazy start to the morning when Laurie, Tom F. and I began our first birding transect, along the canalised section of the River Mole.

The sun beating down on a dirt track felt positively Mediterranean

In the riverside vegetation we picked up songs of Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting, Common Whitethroat and Wren. A lone Skylark was singing its head off by the airfield boundary, but in contrast the hedgerows were all pretty quiet.

Web of a large Orb-weaver spider...

Belonging to this lovely lady; a Furrow Spider (Larinioides cornutus)

Around the corner where the river begins to meander, we picked up the first confirmed breeding bird signs; fluffy Reed Warbler fledglings perched low-down in the Willows. 

Photo taken through my binoculars... As good as it gets!

In the scrub to the west of Brockley Wood, Blue Tits were in good numbers along with Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat and a noisy pair of Linnets. Groups of fledgling Goldfinch were fluttering about, seemingly having a successful year. The northern part of Brockley Wood was busy with Jackdaws, Jay, Song Thrush and some unseen, uncharacteristically loud Bullfinches. 

Scrub West of Brockley

By the time we began the 2nd transect, the sun had burned off all the mist. The further along the River we travelled, the harder going the walk and the more insignificant we felt in the towering grasses... 

Riverside jungle

Ragged Robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi) and dense clumps of Hedge Bedstraw (Galium mollugo)

Into the 2nd transect, we picked up Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Nuthatch, Carrion Crow and several Barn Swallows.

Large Black Slug (Arion spp.) 

The big hole in its side is the respiratory opening, called a pneumostome 

We were noticing lots of these funnel-like webs about the place...

Belonging to the Labyrinth Spider (Agelena labyrinthica) of Springwatch fame

There was an exciting moment when I thought I heard one of these...

But on second thought, it was actually one of these...

In my defense, it was quite far off in the distance.

Greenfinch and Garden Warbler cropped up toward the end of the 2nd transect, where the bordering areas become more residential. We got a good view of perching Ring-necked Parakeets. Sadly no Kingfishers today, but we saw lots of lovely damselflies including Common Blue, Banded Demoiselle and a female Broad-bodied Chaser Dragonfly.

We recorded a good number of fledglings today, which is all evidence of successful breeding. The final count was 33 species which is our usual total for this time of year:

1	Blackbird	Turdus merula
2	Blackcap	Sylvia atricapilla
3	Blue Tit	Cyanistes caeruleus
4	Bullfinch	Pyrrhula pyrrhula
5	Carrion Crow	Corvus corone
6	Chiffchaff	Phylloscopus collybita
7	Dunnock	Prunella modularis
8	Garden Warbler	Sylvia borin
9	Goldfinch	Carduelis carduelis
10	Great Spotted Woodpecker	Dendrocopos major
11	Great Tit	Parus major
12	Green Woodpecker	Picus viridis
13	Greenfinch	Carduelis chloris
14	Jackdaw	Corvus monedula
15	Jay	Garrulus glandarius
16	Linnet	Carduelis cannabina
17	Long-tailed Tit	Aegithalos caudatus
18	Magpie	Pica pica
19	Moorhen	Gallinula chloropus
20	Nuthatch	Sitta europaea
21	Pied Wagtail	Motacilla alba subsp. yarrellii
22	Reed Bunting	Emberiza schoeniclus
23	Reed Warbler	Acrocephalus scirpaceus
24	Ring-necked Parakeet	Psittacula krameri
25	Robin	Erithacus rubecula
26	Skylark	Alauda arvensis
27	Song Thrush	Turdus philomelos
28	Stock Dove	Columba oenas
29	Swallow	Hirundo rustica
30	Swift	Apus apus
31	Whitethroat	Sylvia communis
32	Woodpigeon	Columba palumbus
33	Wren	Troglodytes troglodytes

Mr Forward also shouted me a surprise birthday breakfast... a sweet start to the day!

Roving Records - North West Zone: 28/03/13

On Thursday I had a cold and muddy trek about the North West Zone while replacing our reptile mats. My mood and expectations reflected the weather, but the resulting number of species was surprisingly high!

My meandering route

Firstly while standing at the airside fence by the River Mole, I got a birding first for me at Gatwick… A male Wheatear which was poking about in the mud at the edge of the airfield (the airfield operatives have little to fear from tiny birds like this). A Meadow Pipit was also sitting on the fence calling loudly and a couple of Skylarks were singing hard.

   Walking through the Solar Panel field I flushed a couple of noisy Snipe. Pied Wagtails were performing aerial acrobatics and I found this Common Toad at the base of the hedgerow under a reptile mat.

Disgruntled toad (they all look disgruntled)

I then checked the Mink raft and found some vague tracks and some droppings...

Mink spraint with bone fragments

Mink spraint with undigested fur

A flock of about 14 Fieldfare took off from the River Mole and a couple of Reed Bunting were calling to each other. I wandered up the ridge and took in the panoramic of the river and runway. From the hedgerow bordering Brockley Wood, loud chattering and the beginnings of a descending song marked the presence of over 40 Redwing, so our winter thrushes are still hanging about!

The 2^nd worst picture of a Reed Bunting ever taken

Walking north of the hedgerow I entered the scrub and marshland to the west of Brockley Wood. Plenty of activity in here, 3 more Snipe and a Mallard Duck made a lot of noise as they took off. Blue Tits and Great Tits were zipping about, about five Meadow Pipits foraging and a few Goldfinches flying over. Wandering back to the Mole I disturbed a Grey Heron as I walked around the north of Brockley Wood, then witnessed an aerial battle between two Common Buzzards and four Carrion Crow.

   In the ruts of a vehicle track was a load of frogspawn. This happened last year too and the constant wet meant that some tadpoles actually made it to adulthood.

I then came across what looked like the possible remnants of a rabbit in the form of masses fur in the grass. I wandered back to the Mole and disturbed a juvenile Grey Heron. A Little Egret then flew over, a first for me on this section of the Mole although they have been seen before at Povey Cross.

Rabbit detonation test site

I walked back to Man’s Brook and heard a Great Spotted Woodpecker calling. I dipped into Brockley Wood, heard a Green Woodpecker, two Jays, a Wren and Longtailed Tits all sounding off. The large Redwing flock had all resettled north of Man’s Brook. Wandering to the southern part of the woodland I came upon what looks like a Wood pigeon-plucking post. Sparrow Hawk perhaps or Buzzard, anyone?

Wood Pigeon detonation test site

Back along the netted section of the River Mole parallel to the runway, a cheeky Grey Heron was casually winging its way past me under the netting back toward the opening... slow they might be but perhaps not as dumb as they seem!
   And so I am cheered and reminded that the cold will not win out, soon there will be even more to see. In Brockley Wood, the Hawthorn is poised and ready for that warm weather to hit...

Here is the resulting species list: NWZ March 13