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

Hawfinch, Effingham Forest (J Snell).
Hawfinch, Effingham Forest (J Snell).

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

Photo: Nightingale, Shaun Ferguson

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

Hen Harrier, Shackleford (S Minhinnick).
Hen Harrier, Shackleford (S Minhinnick).

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

Knot, London Wetland Centre (WWT).
Knot, London Wetland Centre (WWT).

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

Ring Ouzel, Leith Hill (M Davis).
Ring Ouzel, Leith Hill (M Davis).

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).

Winterfold… Read more

2019 Records Committee decisions

Great Egret, Richmond Park (D Muthalib).

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

August 2019

Saturday 31 August

Burgh Heath: Tree Pipit at Canons Farm (D Culley).

Croham Hurst: Osprey flew south at 16:40 (G Collins).

Crooksbury Common: Pied Flycatcher just beyond main car park (R Seargent).

Hascombe: Lesser Spotted Woodpecker at New Barn; also Spotted Flycatcher (E Stubbs).

Holmethorpe SPs: Greenshank flew west at 09:15; also Green Sandpiper at Glebe Lake (G Hay).

London Wetland Centre: Pied Flycatcher briefly at Wildside early morning; also 3 Green Sandpipers and 2 Common Sandpipers (WWT).

Molesey Heath: Great Egret still; also 2 Green Sandpipers (BirdGuides).

Papercourt Water Meadows: 4+ … Read more

Surrey list

Brent Goose, Tice's Meadow (E Stubbs).

The complete list of all bird species recorded in the vice-county of Surrey has been updated, up to May 2019. You can find it here.

Photo: Brent Goose, E Stubbs

July 2019

Wednesday 31 July

Beddington Farmlands: Greenshank, Little Ringed Plover and 2 Common Sandpiper (A Wilkinson).

Capel: Common Sandpiper (W Attridge).

Holmethorpe SP: 2 Green Sandpipers at Spyne’s Mere (G Hay).

London Wetland Centre: Little Ringed Plover (WWT).

Newchapel: Wood Sandpiper still at British Wildlife Centre in area with no general access (K Noble).

Stoke Lake: Common Sandpiper (M Fincham).

Tice’s Meadow: Great Egret still; also Ruff, Ringed Plover, 2 Dunlin, 8 Green Sandpiper and 2 Common Sandpiper (R Horton/M Nurse/L Winchcombe).

Tuesday 30 July

London Wetland Centre: 3 Common Sandpipers (WWT).

Netherlands… Read more