Canons Farm and Banstead Woods - Driven Back By Rain!

Today I took my first outing for some time. This was due to a combination of commitments and a bout of man flue! I took the short journey to Canons Farm to see if the Moorhen was still present at the small pond at the Banstead Woods car park end of the site. 

I travelled light starting at Canon’s Farm noting the flocks of Chaffinch and Linnet in the nearby fields. I planned to return at the end of the morning and sift through them using the telescope. 

I added a couple of new species to my Canon’s Farm tally both of which I was surprised I had not seen on the Farmlands before! The former Canada Goose I was certain I had not seen before, but Long Tailed Tit…Really!! The total now stands at 79 species which includes Blackcap seen in July and Sand Martin in September. 

Throughout the autumn period I have been logging my sightings on Birdtrack which has meant my wildlife recorder has not been kept up to date. Too much duplication of records the excuse!

I made it back to the car despite the driving rain but did not get a chance to sift through the flocks of passerines feeding in the fields opposite Canon’s Farmhouse!

Kent - Oare Marshes - Day Trip in the Mobile Observatory!

Today I took a road trip into Kent with Peter Alfrey. We spent the morning at Shellness searching the scrub for passerines and the afternoon at Oare Marshes searching for the American Golden Plover that had been reported earlier on in the day.

The search for passerines produced several Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, Blackcap, Goldcrest, Goldfinch and a couple of Tit flocks. After a fish and chip lunch we made our way to Oare to see what high tide would push onto the flood.

The Marshes were filling up with shorebirds with Marsh Harrier, Common and Sandwich Tern over The Swale. A Spoonbill spent most of the afternoon resting on an island before moving into deeper water and then flying off over The Swale.

As the afternoon progressed the light improved considerably with plenty of photo opportunities for shorebirds that were feeding on the muddy edges. A Little Stint was the first to venture within range.

A Curlew Sandpiper joined the Stint busily feeding as it made its way along the muddy edges.

There were a couple of Ruff a Greenshank, Ringed Plover amongst the numerous Dunlin, Knot, Redshank, Avocet and Black Tailed Godwit. A couple of Bar Tailed Godwit was identified within the main flock.

The American Golden Plover was not re-located despite sifting through the Golden Plover that arrived on the flood in small flocks. 

There were good numbers of Brent Goose in the area indicating that Winter is not far away.

Question of the day: How long would it take to see this number of shorebirds by species at Beddington Farm?

Holmethorpe SP - Curlew on the Sand!

The soccer season is well under way which means my time is limited particularly at the weekend. With rain sweeping across the country something was bound to turn up in SVC17. The “Law of Sod” was at its best as I received a message from ardent Holmethorpe SP patch watcher Gordon that there was a Curlew Sandpiper on Spynes Mere!

The bird has remained for four days taking advantage of the sandy and mud islands which have been created by the transfer of water by pipeline to Mercers West. I arrived in the middle of a shower which turned into a monsoon like downpour during my brief stay. The bird was happily feeding away with a Common Sandpiper on the closest and largest of the islands.

This is my second SVC17 Curlew Sandpiper. The first was at Beddington Farm on September 6th 2011.

Thanks Gordon for the early heads up it was a shame I had to wait so long to get there!