August 2023

Thursday 31st

Great Egret, Bolder Mere (J Snell).
Great Egret, Bolder Mere (J Snell).

Bolder Mere: Great Egret (red-ringed ‘ACJ’); bird was ringed at Shapwick Heath, Somerset, on 4 May and has been at Warnham LNR, West Sussex, for the last couple of months until Monday (J Everitt/D Harris/J Snell).

Island Barn Reservoir (permit only): Fulmar north-east at 16:05 (D Harris).

London Wetland Centre: drake Red-crested Pochard; also drake Garganey, 2 Spotted Flycatchers and 2 Common Sandpipers (S Fowles/A Salmon).

Wednesday 30th

Whinchat, Mercers CP (G Hay).
Whinchat, Mercers CP (G Hay).

Banstead Heath: Whinchat and Spotted Flycatcher (S Gale).

Beddington Farmlands: 4 Yellow Wagtails, Shelduck, … Read more

July 2023

Monday 31st

London Wetland Centre: drake Garganey and 3 Green Sandpipers (A Salmon).

Tice’s Meadow: Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Dunlin, 2 Green Sandpipers and 2 Common Sandpipers (J Hurrell/R Seargent).

Sunday 30th

Beddington Farmlands: 10 Green Sandpipers (N Gardner/I Jones).

Holmethorpe SP: Common Sandpiper at Spyne’s Mere (G Hay/I Kehl).

London Wetland Centre: 2 Bar-tailed Godwits dropped in during the afternoon; also 5 Green Sandpipers (R Johnson/A Salmon/A Wilkinson).

Tice’s Meadow: Whimbrel briefly; also Black-tailed Godwit, Ringed Plover, 5 Green Sandpipers and 4 Common Sandpipers (R Horton/R Seargent).

Saturday 29th

Beddington Farmlands: Redshank on … Read more

Where to Watch Birds in Surrey and Sussex book

Where to Watch Birds in Surrey and Sussex

A new Where to Watch Birds in Surrey and Sussex book will be published by Bloomsbury early next year. Written by Matt Phelps and Ed Stubbs, the publication is available now for pre-order here.

The description on the Bloomsbury website reads: “This site guide covers the counties of East Sussex, West Sussex and Surrey, including sites in southwest Greater London.

From the heaths of Surrey to the chalky grassland of the North and South Downs, the great forests of the Weald and the headlands, shingle beaches and river valleys of England’s south coast, these three counties are a bird-rich … Read more

June 2023

Friday 30th

London Wetland Centre: 2 Green Sandpipers (A Salmon).

Thursday 29th

Black-tailed Godwit, Beddington Farmlands (R Walker).
Black-tailed Godwit, Beddington Farmlands (R Walker).

Beddington Farmlands: Black-tailed Godwit on Phase 3 Wet Grasslands (C Owens/R Walker).

London Wetland Centre: Bittern on Main Lake (S Johnson).

Wednesday 28th

Beddington Farmlands: Green Sandpiper (M Keenan).

London Wetland Centre: 12 Black-tailed Godwits flew south-east early afternoon; also 3 Green Sandpipers (M Parker).

Tice’s Meadow: 2 Common Sandpipers (P Brown).

Tuesday 27th

Beddington Farmlands: Green Sandpiper (A Dutta).

London Wetland Centre: 2 Green Sandpipers (A Salmon).

Monday 26th

London Wetland Centre: … Read more

Turtle Doves

Hope for Surrey’s Turtle Doves

The Turtle Dove is sadly on the verge of local extinction within Surrey, with only a small number of records each year. This reflects that it is one of the UK’s fastest-declining wild bird species. As a long distance migrant, conservation efforts for Turtle Dove must span across countries and continents.  This year, the species has been thrown a “lifeline” by the European Commission, who have recommended that no Turtle Dove will be hunted in south-west Europe in 2023 for the third year running.

Whilst most of the population decline since the 1970s is primarily … Read more

May 2023

Wednesday 31st

Beddington Farmlands: 7 Greenshank on North Lake; also Common Sandpiper and Shelduck (D Bulling/J Snell).

Chobham Common: Short-eared Owl at south end at 20:45 (S Portugal).

Island Barn Reservoir (permit only): Black Tern (S Musievski/D Spragg).

London Wetland Centre: Grey Plover flew north at 07:15; also Ringed Plover on Main Lake and 2 Common Sandpipers (A Salmon/W Newnham/M Wheeler/A Wilkinson).

Tice’s Meadow: Redshank (R Horton).

Tuesday 30th

Greenshank, Beddington Farmlands (P Rogers).
Greenshank, Beddington Farmlands (P Rogers).

Beddington Farmlands: 8 Greenshank on North Lake; also Ringed Plover (P Rogers/D Warren).

Chantries: 2 Hawfinches over (M Kettell).… Read more

East Coast Wetlands

Surrey birders travelling to Kent, Essex, Suffolk or even as far as Yorkshire may be interested to learn that England’s east coast wetlands will be added to the UK’s Tentative List of World Heritage sites. Inclusion is the first stage towards joining UNESCO’s (United National Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) World Heritage List, which recognises cultural and natural heritage across the globe that is considered to be of outstanding universal value to humanity.

The proposed site brings together a coastal network of wetlands covering 170,000 hectares, and covers sites that many Surrey birders will be familiar with, such as Kent’s … Read more

April 2023

Sunday 30th

Beddington Farmlands: Greenshank on North Lake then flew east (Z Pannifer).

Cranleigh: Wood Sandpiper at Pound Lea Farm late afternoon; first Cranleigh area record (R Stride).

Holmethorpe SP: Greenshank at The Moors; also Common Sandpiper at Spynes Mere (G Hay/I Kehl).

London Wetland Centre: Whimbrel; also 3 Yellow Wagtails, female Wheatear, Green Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper (M Andrews/H Bradshaw/D Price/A Salmon).

Shalford Water Meadows: Nightingale (D Brassington/K Britten).

Saturday 29th

Wheatear, Weybourne (J Hunt).
Wheatear, Weybourne (J Hunt).

Brook: female Wheatear at Witley Farm (D Brassington).

Capel: Whimbrel flew over late afternoon (W Attridge).

Devil’s … Read more

Neonicotinoids

Neonicotinoids still present in farmland birds despite the ban 

Neonicotinoids (commonly shortened to neonics) are a class of neuro-active insecticides, chemically similar to nicotine, developed in the 1980s. They are the most widely used insecticides worldwide and are considered to be of low risk to non-target organisms such as vertebrates. Further, they are reported to be rapidly excreted and metabolized, reducing their potential toxicity. There has long been concern that they are a contributing factor in the decline of bee colonies; but growing evidence of adverse effects on farmland bird species raises questions about the purported harmless nature of these … Read more

Best of Britain

Curlew sandpiper(Tom Mabbett)

Free online talk by Tom Mabbett, on Wednesday, 22 March 2023 – 19.30h

Surrey Bird Club members may be interested in the second online talk of the Crawley and Horsham RSPB local group, Tom Mabbett takes us on a Zoom tour of Britain and the best places for watching wildlife in the UK – from Ardamurchan to the Forest of Dean. For this talk, he draws on his extensive travels in search of wildlife, working for an environmental charity after gaining his degree in Biology from Exeter University, as a warden at WWT Slimbridge before joining the specialist tour company … Read more