Early winter bird survey - North West Zone December 2019

Just as we pull up in the car to the start of the transect, Tom Forward laments his wish to see a Black Redstart in the UK, after not having seen one for so many years.

Before I even switch off the engine, we spot a small bird bobbing up and down on a concrete wall.
Can I get a whoop whoop Tom...

Juvenile male Black Redstart

A blooming Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) is our first species of the day!! This really is an exciting find; a red-listed species which was previously recorded as breeding at Gatwick (during my first year here in 2012), however we've had no reports of them for a number of years now.  They are a very scarce bird in the UK, with only around 40 breeding pairs and 400 birds overwintering. 

Tom F. must have been thinking the habitat looked just right for this species, on the urban edge of the airfield. This one seems to be a juvenile male in its first winter plumage; it flies up to perch at the top of the new Boeing hangar. At the end of the survey when we returned to the car, we were even treated to its bizarre scratchy song...

Got to love a good record shot

Our transect begins at the new Boeing Hangar, following the length of the River Mole through the North West Zone. At the old concrete batching works, as well as Black Redstart we pick up another red-listed species; Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) along with Dunnock (Prunella modularis), which is amber-listed. Like Robins at this time of year and our Black Redstart, the Dunnocks are busily singing away.

It turns out to be a hectic start to the transect, with a Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), amber-listed, hovering over the scrub and a pair of Stonechat Saxicola rubicola perched up on Teasel seed heads.

Stonechat Saxicola rubicola RSPB

A lone Robin ticks away, but the Wrens Troglodytes troglodytes are sounding off literally everywhere today. 

Wren Troglodytes troglodytes RSPB

The grasslands are good and frosty this morning, with plenty of standing water, so fingers crossed that our wellies are up to the task (normally one or both of us are a bit leaky). A pair of Reed Buntings (Emberiza schoeniclus), amber-listed, can be heard calling from down at the river side.

After picking up a few species along the southern edge of Brockley Wood, we push through the scrub and move down toward the river reed beds. Pausing here just for a moment produces the faithful sound of Water Rail Rallus aquaticus squealing deep within the reeds.

The habitat mosaics here are pretty special. The area has been undergoing natural processes since this section of the River Mole was realigned and designed as a floodplain meadow in 1999. The western edge of Brockley Wood now graduates into mixed scrub habitat and long grass, which in turn blends into shorter grass and the floodplain meadow.

Intersecting habitats result in a high availability of ecological niches, which in turn results in a lot of different species. The only thing missing from these ecosystems are the larger herbivores and other animals which would have managed them, which means that we have to do a degree of the grass and scrub management ourselves.

However, some of the local mammals still leave their mark...

On a small scale, Badgers (Meles meles) can behave rather like Wild Boar. In the picture above, they have been rootling through the turf and soil searching for hidden food (bulbs, invertebrates, mammals nests etc), resulting in local patchy disturbance. This process mixes up the seed bank, allowing for more wildflower diversity and creating important bare ground habitat.

Over to the north of Brockley Wood (likely named for the Badgers), as we poke our heads in a few Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) clatter off through the canopy, but otherwise all seems quiet. A lone Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) calls in the distance.

Back down to the floodplain and the mist is still clinging to the banks and reed beds.

Rounding the corner of a reed bed, we are greeted by a flurry of beige-coloured feathers and a pinging sound....

NO WAY. IS that a Bearded Tit?!!!

No record shots today...

I grab hold of Tom F's arm and I'm making tiny Water Rail noises myself... we can't actually believe it, this is such an unexpected find. This is certainly a first for our sites, and after consulting Twitter hive-mind, it might be a first ever record for the Mole Valley district!

Bearded Tit, aka Bearded Reedling Panurus biarmicus RSPB

This is my first ever clear sighting of this species, and even Tom F. hasn't seen one in years. It seems to be a lone male which is likely just stopping off for winter, or may have been pushed out of another more suitable habitat, but what an incredible record and such an affirming tick for the River Mole reed beds. I actually got a bit choked up!

This section of the river is maturing nicely since its realignment, so perhaps we are now starting to see just the right ratios of scrub and reed habitat intermixed with floodplain grassland. It will be exciting to see what else turns up in the next few years.

Pressing on along the floodplain, we are treated to another rare sight; a Water Rail! This is unusual for us as we normally only ever hear them. It flutters across our path, its long legs tucked in but feet protruding out in front as it disappears into the reeds.

Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus) RSPB

As we reach the end of the transect, we are treated to close up views of a Buzzard (Buteo buteo) carrying food in its talons, with two Jackdaws (Corvus monedula) winging their way in lazy pursuit.

39 species is a blooming good number for our winter bird survey sessions. 

This was certainly a memorable one for both myself and Tom F!

	Species	Scientific name
1	Bearded Tit	Panurus biarmicus
2	Black Redstart	Phoenicurus ochruros
3	Blackbird	Turdus merula
4	Blue Tit	Cyanistes caeruleus
5	Bullfinch	Pyrrhula pyrrhula
6	Buzzard	Buteo buteo
7	Carrion Crow	Corvus corone
8	Coot	Fulica atra
9	Dunnock	Prunella modularis
10	Fieldfare	Turdus pilaris
11	Goldcrest	Regulus regulus
12	Goldfinch	Carduelis carduelis
13	Great Spotted Woodpecker	Dendrocopos major
14	Great Tit	Parus major
15	Green Woodpecker	Picus viridis
16	Grey Wagtail	Motacilla cinerea
17	Jackdaw	Coloeus monedula
18	Jay	Garrulus glandarius
19	Kestrel	Falco tinnunculus
20	Long-tailed Tit	Aegithalos caudatus
21	Magpie	Pica pica
22	Mallard	Anas platyrhynchos
23	Meadow Pipit	Anthus pratensis
24	Moorhen	Gallinula chloropus
25	Nuthatch	Sitta europaea
26	Pheasant	Phasianus colchicus
27	Pied Wagtail (yarrellii)	Motacilla alba yarrellii
28	Redwing	Turdus iliacus
29	Reed Bunting	Emberiza schoeniclus
30	Ring-necked Parakeet	Psittacula krameri
31	Robin	Erithacus rubecula
32	Song Thrush	Turdus philomelos
33	Starling	Sturnus vulgaris
34	Stock Dove	Columba oenas
35	Stonechat	Saxicola rubicola
36	Treecreeper	Certhia familiaris
37	Water Rail	Rallus aquaticus
38	Woodpigeon	Columba palumbus
39	Wren	Troglodytes troglodytes

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