Wednesday 18 October 2017

Beddington Farm - Back to Blighty!


I returned to England late last week and was surprised how mild and potentially stormy it was. This could be a good opportunity for a Surrey Vice County (SVC) tick having missed a couple while I was away in the form of Black Crowned Night Heron, and White Stork. I was living in Paraguay when the Farm Storks appeared.

This Autumn I had not missed anything of the same magnitude at Beddington Farm. There had been reports of movements of Hawfinch in Surrey and from Steve Gale in the Ewell area. As the crow flies the Farm is not far away from his patch. The Farm is not known for attracting this species but having missed a bird in the Storm tanks a couple of years ago it was time for a stake-out. A fly-over bird was more likely so my corner and the hide were to be the points to maximise the viewing.
Thus far there have been no Hawfinch and the highlight so far is a Redshank that came in today as a result of a downpour. I put my hand to some phone scoping without the aid of a safety net and turned out a slightly shaky image.
Little Egret, Water Rail, Skylark and flyover Cormorant were the best on offer today. The numbers of duck are on the up with Mallard, Pochard, Teal, Shoveler, Gadwall, and Wigeon all present. Snipe are secreted about the islands with only a couple visible usually when they are flushed by a Heron.
There is stormy weather forecast for later on this week which means eyes cannot be taken off the Farm just in-case that late October MEGA decides to grace us with its presence!

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