Beddington Farm - Another MEGA at the Farm!

Who would have thought Beddington Farm would turn up yet another Surrey Vice County MEGA today. There were a few pairs of eyes on the site today and a Red Kite, a few Fieldfare and Redwing were the product of Frank and my watch from the corner.

Devilbirder had re located the German ringed Caspian Gull X319 on the North Lake and after a brief visit to the corner made his way with Magnus to the area around the tip. Pete and Swifty were additions to the corner but there was little movement above. Frank and Pinpoint departed leaving the Swift and I on point!

My phone started going crazy with calls and a text from Devilbirder (DB) saying “Answer!!” I answered and heard an excited but slightly annoyed DB said “I’ve got a Twite”. This was great news as this would be only the second record for Beddington Farm. I packed and stashed my gear and saw Pete and Frank scurrying back towards the main gate.

I made my way over to the landfill fortunately the bird was far easier to locate than contacting me by phone. As with the majority of Beddington finds cameras secured the evidence of another Beddington MEGA. Twite are in decline and subject to a ringing programme which is one of the factors which drew attention to this bird within a small flock of Linnet.

Ring details: pink over silver on left leg and pink over red on right leg. Any information as to the ringing programme gratefully received. - South Pennines Ringing Project

What a year this has been. I have had seven Beddington ticks bringing my total to 188 and another Surrey Vice County tick bringing my total to 233. It just shows that you cannot leave the farm alone as there is always a surprise around the next corner. Nice one DB... Woo Hoo!