Tice’s Meadow Field meeting – new date
This has been rescheduled for Sunday 29th March. Full details are here.
Photo of Montagu’s Harrier by R Seargent
February 2020
Monday 17th
Island Barn Reservoir (no access): 2 Great Northern Divers still; view from Molesey Heath (D Carlsson).
London Wetland Centre: Bittern, Goldeneye, 4 Pintail and 4 Shelduck (WWT).
Mitcham: Yellow-browed Warbler still at Poulter Park; also Siberian Chiffchaff and Firecrest still. From Wandle Trail path view trees in front of blue container at unit B yard at roughly 51.3911, -0.1683 (C Lodge/P Rose).
Unstead SF: Cetti’s Warbler and Firecrest (E Stubbs).
Sunday 16th
Beddington Farmlands: 5 Water Pipits, 10 Green Sandpipers and 4 Shelduck (N Gardner).
January 2020
Friday 31st
Island Barn Reservoir (no access): 2 Great Northern Divers still; view from Molesey Heath (D Harris).
London Wetland Centre: Bittern, 2 Water Pipits, Goldeneye, 2 Pintail and 2 Shelduck (P Carr/WWT).
Thursday 30th
London Wetland Centre: 2 Bitterns, 2 Water Pipits and 2 Shelduck (WWT).
Wednesday 29th
Beddington Farmlands: 1st-winter Caspian Gull, Tree Sparrow, Raven and 3 Green Sandpiper (BFBG).
Esher: Green Sandpiper on River Ember (B West).
London Wetland Centre: adult Iceland Gull again; also Bittern, Water Pipit, Shelduck and 6 Pintail (WWT).
Pitch Hill: Woodcock early morning … Read more
December 2019
Tuesday 31st
Capel: Hawfinch (W Attridge).
Godalming: Jack Snipe flushed on Lammas Lands at Catteshall Meadow (P Osborn).
London Wetland Centre: 2 Bitterns, Water Pipit, Goldeneye, 7 Pintail and Shelduck (R Folkening/WWT).
Walton-on-Thames: adult Caspian Gull again (A Wilkes).
Monday 30th
Effingham Forest: Hawfinch still at Honeysuckle Bottom mid-afternoon (J Snell/M Waite).
London Wetland Centre: 2 Bitterns, 2 Water Pipits and Shelduck (M Honey/WWT).
Richmond Park: Red-crested Pochard (E & R Hunter).
Stave Hill: Yellow-browed Warbler still at Russia Dock Woodland by bridge early afternoon (R Page-Jones). … Read more
Changes to the website
We have made a few changes to the website. Sites and Sightings are now two separate menus. We will be adding suggested walks to the Sites Menu and we have moved the page Where to find Nightingales to that menu too. If you have bookmarked any pages, such as Recent Sightings, you might have to update that bookmark. We apologise if inconvenience is caused but the reason is to provide better content for users of this website.
Photo Nightingale by Shaun Ferguson
November 2019
Saturday 30th
Beddington Farmlands: 2 Water Pipits and 3 Green Sandpipers (P Alfrey/N Gardner).
Effingham Forest: 2 Hawfinches (1 at Dick Focks Common and 1 in mixed flock at Honeysuckle Cottage) in afternoon (D Cox/M Waite).
London Wetland Centre: Bittern, 2 Water Pipits and Goldeneye (WWT).
Lowicks Pond: 5 Goosander (4 drakes) late afternoon (R Douglas).
Richmond Park: no sign of Slavonian Grebe at Upper Pen Pond (I Rowe).
Russia Dock Woodland: Firecrest at Stave Hill (R Page-Jones).
Shackleford: juvenile male Hen Harrier still at Cross Farm and … Read more
Tice’s Meadow under threat
Thanks to the hard work of the Tice’s Meadow Bird Group (TMBG) and other local organisations, Tice’s Meadow is now one of the premier birding sites in Surrey.
All that hard work could be undone following a decision by Hansons, the gravel extraction company, to sell the site. Although Tice’s has to be maintained as a nature reserve for a fixed period, there is no stipulation about how the site should be managed. Hansons have told TMBG that they will make no test of the new owner’s suitability for managing a nature reserve, the new owner will be under no … Read more
October 2019
Thursday 31st
Birtley Green: female Black Redstart still at Bonhurst Farm in morning though no sign in afternoon (BirdGuides/P Mattos).
London Wetland Centre: ringtail Hen Harrier flew north-west over Grazing Marsh at 08:25; also 3 Bearded Tits in Sheltered Lagoon, Knot still on Main Lake, 2 Bitterns still on north shore of Main Lake, Jack Snipe and 2 Shelduck (R Dewhurst/S Fogg/D Panchaud/S Patel/WWT).
Palmers Cross: Hawfinch flew west over Tilsey Farm entrance track at 07:51 (E Stubbs).
Tugley Wood: 2 Crossbills (M Lincott).
West Clandon: probable Lapland Bunting flew … Read more
September 2019
Monday 30 September
Bankside: Garden Warbler still at Tate Modern (R Braddock).
Holmethorpe SPs: juvenile Curlew Sandpiper still on Spyne’s Mere (BirdGuides).
Leith Hill: first-year Ring Ouzel at Dukes Warren this morning – Surrey first of autumn (M Davis).
London Wetland Centre: Common Sandpiper (WWT).
Newchapel: Green Sandpiper at British Wildlife Centre (K Noble).
Pewley Down: Redstart (P Curnock).
Shalford Water Meadows: 225 Meadow Pipits flew over in 90 minutes (K Britten).
West Clandon: 573 Meadow Pipits flew south over Clandon Wood NBR (M Phelps).
Records Committee decisions
The Surrey Bird Club Records Committee held their annual meeting in March, when many excellent records were considered, including two county firsts. You can find full details here.
Great Egret photo supplied by D Muthalib