Gatwick Airport

[florall]

I started a thread on this last winter, but unfortunately, it got lost when the site went down in February. I've decided to restart the thread now because I've added a few, not very exciting, birds to the list I had then.

The patch is a long narrow strip of land extending for a couple of miles parallel to and to the north of the runway. It's BAA land that was opened up to the public about five years ago. There's a high bund and many trees (old woodland, including a bluebell wood, and new plantings) so aircraft disturbance seems to be kept to a minimum. The young River Mole goes all through the patch. The only other water seems to be a small pond surrounded by trees by where we normally park the car. It's difficult to see much of this, especially during the summer when there are leaves on the trees, but I always check this at the beginning and end of a walk, because I sometimes see birds coming down here to drink. In fact, the only time I've seen a Kingfisher, was at this pond.

Just recently, I extended the patch by parking in the normal place, checking to see what was about on the river (only reed bunting singing its rather pathetic song from the airport perimeter fence) and then crossed the road and walked across the fields to the north. There wasn't much about, and the only new bird I added was pheasant, but I feel as though this area might have good potential. There were ditches, and the farmer had added new hedgerows to the path, as well as a couple of new copses.

I can't get to the patch very often, because I'm dependent on others to give me a lift, and being disabled, I can't walk for very long, probably only 20-30 minutes a visit, but I'm used to that now, and much of my birding is like this. I still enjoy the birds I see here. And the birds I've seen so far are (after about a year of intermittent visiting):

Grey heron
Mallard
Sparrowhawk
Kestrel
Pheasant
Moorhen
Lapwing
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Swift
Kingfisher
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Swallow
Wren
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
Fieldfare
Song Thrush
Blackcap
Chiffchaff
Willow Warbler
Goldcrest
Long-tailed Tit
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Treecreeper
Jay
Magpie
Jackdaw
Rook
Carrion Crow
Starling
House sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Bullfinch
Reed Bunting.

[lark o'dell]

sound like a good patch

been gatwick loads of times for holi9days but nether seen many birds when iv beeen there mostly the normal types like wood pigeon and house sparrow

[florall]

Went again yesterday and added species No. 40, Reed Warbler, three males singing in quite a short stretch of the river.

[lark o'dell]

any warbler is better than no warblers

[Stuart Watson]

:clap: well done florall - sounds like a nice patch
im so jealous, as i am dying to see Green Woodpecker
others on your patch list ive missed are as follows-
Blackcap , Reed bunting
Jay (once only)
Kingfisher (twice only- fleeting glimpse)
Bullfinch (once only)
Great spotted woodpecker (once only)
so i reckon youre doing pretty good
- keep working this patch - im sure more species will appear

[lark o'dell]

green woodpecker are quite common in the east middlens

[florall]

I've had two or three more visits to the patch, including this morning when we walked across the fields. This path is so pretty at the moment, with wild roses in the hedgerows and masses of foxglovess. The other day I added species No. 41 - greenfinch (surprised I've not had this before) and this morning, really exciting to me because it was one of the last things I expected so close to my home:

No.42 Skylark! It serenaded us all the way there, and all the way back. Brilliant.

[lark o'dell]

just siging or flying two

[Mark Bruce]

A great patch,Florall!
Lots of birds I'd love to see on your list.

[florall]

I've just opened up my July Bird Watching magazine, and went first to the Go Birding Walks to see if there is anything nearby, and what do I find but they've chosen my local patch as one of them. How exciting is that?

They list all the birds that might be seen, including a few that I've never noticed there before, such as Garden Warbler, Black Redstart (in an area I've never walked, so I'll have to give it a go), Spotted Flycatcher, an abundance of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers (!) and Tree Sparrows are always present, apparently! That would be a lifer for me, as would the Black Redstart. I obviously don't know the area as well as I thought I did, and will have to go back and learn it some more.

[Mark Bruce]

I obviously don't know the area as well as I thought I did, and will have to go back and learn it some more.

Hi Florall,
You never know,you may know your patch better than they do(let's hope there are some more lifers for you).I've heard of some wonderful birds that are supposed to be seen in my local patch,when I've read articles on it.They just don't let me and a number of other regularly birders in the area see them.They seem only to appear to visitors from other places.

Go check it out and let us know.

Mark

[florall]

Hi Florall,
You never know,you may know your patch better than they do(let's hope there are some more lifers for you).I've heard of some wonderful birds that are supposed to be seen in my local patch,when I've read articles on it.They just don't let me and a number of other regularly birders in the area see them.They seem only to appear to visitors from other places.

Go check it out and let us know.

Mark

Thanks Mark, that's cheered me up a bit about it.

It's funny you should say visitors from other places, because the article was written by a member of the Shropshire Ornithological Society. I wonder why they didn't use someone from Surrey. I know of at least one, much better than me, birdwatcher who goes there regularly to do the Waterways Birds Survey. Anyway, I'm glad the article was written because it's opened up to me the exciting possibility of what I might see there.

[lark o'dell]

sounds preety cool to have your patch in a magazine tho the only ones of that list i have not seen are lesser spotted woodpecker and blackredstart

[florall]

Two more birds to add, when we went across the fields in the heat last Thursday morning:

Species No. 43: 3 Whitethroat, an agitated adult who was trying to look after his two youngsters;

No. 44: Yellowhammer.

I know these are fairly common birds, but until I started birding about 18 months ago, I'd barely even heard of Whitethroat, and since then I've only ever seen them at "special" places such as nature reserves, so it's nice to find them breeding on our local patch.

I've also attached a couple of photos. The first one was taken in April, the second one in June.

[Stevie babe]

Hi Florall,

I'm not sure if its the same piece of land you "report" on but I've a feeling you could get some company soon as it might have been featured in July edition of "Bird watching" magazine, the Go Birdng Birding walk pull out pages, covering Surrey / Sussex - The Mole Valley Nature Reserve. North of Gatwick, starting West of Horley and going in a South West diection - and back.

If you don't mind, I might check it out as well in the next couple of weeks.

Steve

[Mark Bruce]

Two more birds to add, when we went across the fields in the heat last Thursday morning:

Species No. 43: 3 Whitethroat, an agitated adult who was trying to look after his two youngsters;

No. 44: Yellowhammer.



Yery nice Florall,
(The closest Whitethroats to me being in NW China and the Yellowhammer is recorded as a vagrant near Beijing.)

[florall]

I'm not sure if its the same piece of land you "report" on but I've a feeling you could get some company soon as it might have been featured in July edition of "Bird watching" magazine, the Go Birdng Birding walk pull out pages, covering Surrey / Sussex - The Mole Valley Nature Reserve. North of Gatwick, starting West of Horley and going in a South West diection - and back.

If you don't mind, I might check it out as well in the next couple of weeks.

Steve

It certainly is the same place (see post 10 in this thread), and yes, we're looking forward to all the company ;) . I think it could get a bit busy for a few weeks, but then people will forget about it. PM me if you know when you're coming if you would like to meet up.

[Talon 1]

HI Floral.

This sounds interesting. I might pop down there in the first 2 weeks in August (holiday).
I know gatwick (a23/m23) quite well.
Could you please give the directions again. I would love to come down for a walk, if its a nice day the wife will too.

regards

[florall]

This sounds interesting. I might pop down there in the first 2 weeks in August (holiday).
I know gatwick (a23/m23) quite well.
Could you please give the directions again. I would love to come down for a walk, if its a nice day the wife will too.

Hello Free,

I was reading the instructions of how to get there from Birdwatching magazine and I thought they were a bit confusing. You need to take the Gatwick Airport turn off the M23. When it says, "after the third roundabout", it means the third roundabout from the M23. It's actually the first roundabout once you're on the A23 (you can tell it's the right roundabout, because there's two hotels on the left (including a Moat House I think), and an Esso petrol station on the left as well). You need to turn left into Povey Cross Road, which is where you park, about half way along the road on the left, by the gate.

If you do come, please post here whatever birds you see - especially if you see any that I've not seen yet, because I might then believe that they are around. ;)

I hope you both enjoy the walk. If you want to meet up with me and my husband, let us know when you plan to come and I'll see what we can do.

Best wishes

[florall]

Using OS maps, we've been making the most of the recent light evenings to explore the area of farmland to the north of the Mole nature reserve. This really is quite nice countryside. A decade or so ago, we used to walk a lot, and almost always drove 20-30 miles or more to get to our walk. We needn't have bothered, if I had had any idea that such pleasant countryside was so close to home. Throughout the whole area, there have been recent tree plantings, plus a large number of more mature oak and ash trees. (Incidentally, this area is one of the proposed sites for a second runway at Gatwick, though at the moment not the favoured option.)

On virtually every trip recently, we've seen yellowhammers. In the days when I used to take just a passing interest in birds, I used to look forward to going over to Ashdown Forest to see them in April or May. I haven't seen them over there for a long time, so it's nice to find them so close to home.

There have also been two new species to add. Last night, we saw a juvenile Herring gull (species no. 45), and a couple of weeks ago, in a bush right by the path near the River Mole, was a Garden Warbler (species no.46). It was very close, and we had excellent views of it.

[florall colin]

46 species is it, now? Good job I haven't admitted mistaking that immature gull for a wood-pig. Oops, I just did.

[Simon S]

I work on the other end of the runway (Charlwood) and know this site well.
Recent sightings of lesser spotted woodpecker(not by me) and lesser whitethroat.
One Tawny owl seen flying and one Little Owl (killed my traffic) :-C

[florall]

Hello Simon, and welcome to Birdforum. We live in Horley - it's nice to have another much more local birder on here.

Lesser whitethroat would be a lifer for me, I've been genning up on my videos etc. so will keep an eye open. We've recently been working the farmland around Charlwood, and I've thought that owls would be a good bet. Thanks for the info.

[florall]

We've bought a telescope, so at last have been able to identify those little brown blobs that flit up and down to the airport perimeter fence and they are what I thought they might be - meadow pipit (species no. 47).

Otherwise, not very much has been happening here for the last month. Oh no, I forgot, a couple of kestrels which are regularly around - perhaps they're young ones, they seem to hunt together.

[nick.m]

hi florall, i also know this site well and often go there at my lunch break. i can add a few more birds that i have seen there, wheatear , spotted flycatcher , pied flycatcher and common sandpiper. its also good for butterflys and dragonflys.

[florall]

hi florall, i also know this site well and often go there at my lunch break. i can add a few more birds that i have seen there, wheatear , spotted flycatcher , pied flycatcher and common sandpiper. its also good for butterflys and dragonflys.

Hello Nick, and welcome to Birdforum. I had heard that there were spotted flycatchers breeding here, but I've never been lucky enough to see one. Wheatear and pied flycatcher are two of my favourite migrants, always eagerly looked forward to see them every year, so I would be very pleased to see those on my local patch (and presumably your local patch too, if you go there regularly?). Whereabouts did you see the sandpiper?

[nick.m]

I saw the sandpiper at the edge of the river mole grid refrence TQ263413 which is the western end of the site. the wheatears where also in this area, 7 of them sitting on the perimeter fence, and the flycatchers were in the trees and bushes by the path. a friend who works at the airport has also seen green sandpiper.I try to get there a couple of times a month at my lunch break and have never seen any other birders there just dog walkers!

[florall]

Thanks Nick. I'll keep my eye out, at appropriate times of year. That grid ref. is close to where we usually go, so hopefully we'll eventually see them. yes, I'd heard of a green sandpiper in the spring this year, but even further west and I don't often have the energy to get up as far as the runway. Only ever done it once.

I haven't been very much recently because I was in France for most of September, so I probably missed the chance for exciting autumn migration birds. Never mind, the winter finches and thrushes should be in soon.

[florall colin]

Despite this site appearing in a Birding magazine as a good place to visit, I am still surprised at how few people seem to go here. Maybe there are a lot of secretive birders, just as bad as me but not willing to admit it :-)

[Simon S]

Just to add a correction to my last post.
The lesser spotted woodpecker should be taken with a pinch of salt as the person who saw it has a VERY over enthusiastic identification history ;)

[florall]

Two more species that I've added since August, Pied Wagtail and Mistle Thrush. So that takes me to No. 49. Wonder what will be species No. 50? Probably something just as common as the two above, but still, I find I get great pleasure from seeing a common bird on my local patch for the first time.

The last few times I've been, the river levels have been very high, rather surprisingly. I don't think there's any chance of seeing any waders. There's no mud to interest them.

There's been some correspondence in our local paper. Someone who has walked there for the last five years complained about the vegetation not having been cut, and wasn't it awful? Within a week of his letter, vegetation round paths had been cut, which made walking easier, but I've been pleased to see that all the rest has been left. In their reply to the paper, a spokesman for, presumably, BAA, said that they were hoping it would become a good nature reserve. I think it already is.

[florall]

I've just discovered that I should have had 50 birds on this list ages ago, because on my original list I missed out house martin, so this morning when I saw some redwings, that brings the total to 51.

I've been a few times this late autumn and early winter, but haven't seen much about. When I've been and the weathers been dreary and dank, I'm lucky if I see six species, and that's usually exciting things like carrion crow and woodpigeon.

Anyway, today it was a sparkling frost, I was there for 40 minutes, and I thought I would put in a complete list of what I saw for a change.

magpie 5
blue tit 7
starling 4
carrion crow 2
great tit 5
woodpigeon 4
moorhen
wren 2
robin
redwing 6
mallard 2
green woodpecker.

[florall]

Species No 52 took me by surprise this morning, because it was something I would never have anticipated - a beautiful powdery puff little grebe. I had a fairly good list (well, good list for this patch) for the 50 minutes I was there:

Woodpigeon 10
green woodpecker 3
mallard 2
magpie 6
robin 2
starling 7
wren 3
blue tit 11
great tit 3
carrion crow 7
collared dove 1
blackbird 1
kestrel 1
little grebe 1.

[Mark43]

Hi florall

I have just joined this site as i am trying to take a more active interest in birding and wildlife.

I have lived in Crawley since 66 and wasn't aware this area was even there.

It sounds great and i must come and take a look some time.

I assume parking is ok there.......with the new security that seems prevalent these days and the close proximity to the airport i take it you have not been hassled by the police.

Do you ever get down to Buchan Park at all?

Mark

[florall]

Hello Mark, and welcome to Birdforum.

I'm ashamed to say that I've lived in the area for quite a few years more than you, and I didn't discover it until 18 months ago. Better late than never.

We've never had problems parking here - either park in Povey Cross Road or Charlwood Road and go through one of the gates. (I think there are about six gates over a mile and a half of road giving access to the site.) The only place you mustn't park is in a dead end to the south of where Charlwood Road and Povey Cross Road meet - there are plenty of "don't park" notices here and I have seen police take an interest in illegally parked cars there. I think there's a good chance your car would be towed away if you stopped here.

I have been to Buchan Park once, years ago, but not to bird watch. Is it any good?

I have lived in Crawley since 66 and wasn't aware this area was even there.

I assume parking is ok there.......with the new security that seems prevalent these days and the close proximity to the airport i take it you have not been hassled by the police.

[Mark43]

Hello Mark, and welcome to Birdforum.

I'm ashamed to say that I've lived in the area for quite a few years more than you, and I didn't discover it until 18 months ago. Better late than never.

We've never had problems parking here - either park in Povey Cross Road or Charlwood Road and go through one of the gates. (I think there are about six gates over a mile and a half of road giving access to the site.) The only place you mustn't park is in a dead end to the south of where Charlwood Road and Povey Cross Road meet - there are plenty of "don't park" notices here and I have seen police take an interest in illegally parked cars there. I think there's a good chance your car would be towed away if you stopped here.

I have been to Buchan Park once, years ago, but not to bird watch. Is it any good?

It's only these past few weeks that i have started taking more of an interest in birds so my identification of them is pretty poor at the moment.

But i have seen my only woodpeckers there,quite a few Sparrowhawks plus all the usual tits and finches etc.They have a pair of GC Grebes that nest every year also.

It's also very good for Adders,grass snakes and slowworms plus early evening for deer.

Was going to go up to Gatwick today but ended up in Pulborough Brooks instead.Saw my first Snipe though so wasn't to bad.

Keep up the list of what you see at Gatwick.........must make the effort once i have my scope to come and take a look.

[lark o'dell]

sounds great

[florall]

I've been quite a few times over the late winter, and had some good bird lists (or maybe I'm getting better at identifying the birds I see, so my lists are longer). Nothing new though, until this morning. We had just packed up and were heading back to the car when I saw a bird of prey flying in low from the south over the runway. I automatically assumed it was a kestrel, because we've often seen them in this area, but I realised it was much more slimline and sleek than a kestrel. It flew very low over our heads, before heading off east - a fantastic hobby, species no 53.

We also heard a willow warbler, the first for the patch this year, but I've still not heard a chiffchaff anywhere. My first on the patch last year was on 18th March. Are they late this year? Other birds of note this morning were pairs of yellowhammers, reed buntings and bullfinches.

[Mark43]

Chiffchaffs at Pulborough and Warnham last week Florall.

[florall]

Chiffchaffs at Pulborough and Warnham last week Florall.

Thanks Mark. I'm sure I'll hear one soon. I even heard a news report on the tv this morning live from the Sussex countryside and I could hear one chiff chaffing away in the background. But it does seem strange because normally I hear them all over the place by this time of year.

[florall]

Haven't managed to get here much recently, and I didn't have high hopes when we went at the dead period (about 3pm) yesterday afternoon, especially as we took two fairly small children with us who were exclaiming (loudly) with delight at everything they saw. I shouldn't have been so negative, because I got another patch tick, and it's a summer visitor that everyone would love to have:

no.54 cuckoo. And what was also so good, is that I saw it when it landed on the airport perimeter fence, and then it flew off over towards the runway, cuckooing all the way. This is the first one I've seen for about 15 years.

This is the total list from the 20 minutes I was there:

blackbird 2
magpie 4
woodpigeon 3
reed bunting 4
cuckoo 1
song thrush 1
jay 3
great tit 2
blue tit 4
chiffchaff (at last)
jackdaw 15
carrion crow 1
wren 1
starling 4
reed warbler 1

[florall]

Had two more visits last week. Nothing new on Wednesday evening, but we heard the Cuckoo again which was nice. No doubt, those poor Reed Warblers are going to have to contend with an extremely large baby in a few weeks time. We also heard singing from low down in a bush either a Garden Warbler or a Blackcap. Didn't know what it was at the time but listened to our DVD when we got home - I think it was probably Blackcap but couldn't swear to it. Whichever it was, it would have been the first one there this year.

On Saturday morning we were both tired and didn't get out early, so didn't have high hopes of seeing much, but we were wrong. We walked across the fields towards Charlwood, which is the first proper walk we've had this way this year.

The first surprise was four lapwing in a field of sheep. What were they doing there at this time of year? I can't believe breeding - I know it would have been possible in the past, but nowadays? In Surrey?

We then had a whitethroat singing from a patch of brambles, which is great. I saw a parent and two youngsters in about the same place last summer, so it's good to see that they're probably breeding here this year. While we were watching this, a long tailed tit flew out of the hedge, just inches from my face and proceeded to catch insects, so presumably there are babies somewhere around. Then in the oak tree above our heads were two linnets, which is a new species for the patch, species no. 55. While we were watching all this activity a skylark flew up from the field behind us and started to sing. All in all, it was a fantastic hours birdwatching, one of the best.

This is the complete list:

magpie 1
woodpigeon 4
starling 2
robin 2
goldfinch 4
chaffinch 4
blue tit 5
carrion crow 4
lapwing 4
whitethroat 1 (with another possible a bit later on, though not entirely sure)
linnet 2
long tailed tit 3
skylark 1
g.s. woodpecker 1
blackbird 3
pheasant 1
great tit 3

[Rathloriel]

I live in Crawley too and will definately have to check out the area you describe. It sounds like a gold mine!
I usually head to Tilgate park, walk straight through Tilgate park, over the motorway bridge, through Tilgate forest and into the old forest that's out the other end of it (I don't know what it's called). It's a good hour's walk from the Tilgate Park car park but I know there is a lane that takes you to the old forest that is accessible by cars (the off road motorbike riders access Tilgate Forest from that route!). You then have to cross the railway bridge and it is very uneaven underfoot.
I believe there is another point of access though from the Balcombe Road as we've met some lost dog walkers in the forest before who came in that way!

It's a lovely patch of countryside with a babbling brook and bluebell views broken only by the deer and fox tracks, stunning. I never have much luck with birds there though as I don't drive either and have to rely on my other half taking me there - which means we miss the morning fun and have to leave before it all hots up in the late afternoon!
We have still seen lots of interesting birds and animals there though, including my first treecreeper. We can usually rely on seeing foxes, deer (some very close encounters) and rabbits (including an albino).
Birds I have seen there include green woodpecker, great spotted woodpecker, nuthatch, jay, redwing, grey wagtail, grey heron, mandarin, song thrush, mistle thrush, as well as the standard water birds and woodland lot and the aforementioned treecreeper.
Unfortunately the last time we went there (weekend before last) there was a burnt out car at the end of the lane by the railway bridge. I found this really upsetting as I see this patch as my little piece of untouched country and it was a hard bump coming back down to earth! I wish everyone could see the countryside the same way I do!!
Good luck with your future bird outings - you're obviously much better than I am!

[florall]

I think the area seems like a gold mine simply because it is a local patch and therefore I'm able to get there frequently, therefore I see many birds. But of course, I don't see all those birds on every visit. Some of them I've only ever seen once and I would probably be hard pushed to see again. However, it is a very pleasant area and enjoyable to come for a walk. And it is also get-at-able from Crawley on Bus Routes 20 and 100 - after they've gone through the airport they both go along Povey Cross Road on their way to Horley.

I think I know the bit of forest you mention. We used to walk there fairly frequently, though I haven't been there for years. We used to park in the little car park that is on the road from the Balcombe Road-Handcross. And you've had two birds on your patch that I've never had on mine - mandarin and grey wagtail - so it just shows that local patch watching does produce the birds.

(Where did you see the mandarin? Was it on the lakes on Tilgate park? I haven't seen one for my year list yet, so might just come over to get it. I must admit I don't like Tilgate Park much, it all seems so manicured etc., but I think you'll know what I mean. I get the impression you enjoy your bit of forest much more.)

[Rathloriel]

Yes, the mandarin was at the Tilgate Park lakes (I've seen them there a couple of times as I walk through). I don't rate Tilgate Park itself much either - I'm sure it's lovely for the kids etc but as you say, it is too manicured (and contains too many kids!). It's a nice walk through Tilgate Forest to get to our little patch though and can throw up some surprising encounters. Some parts of it are left to get quite wild and can be quite productive on a small scale!
I've only seen a grey wagtail once - as you say, that's the magic of having a regular patch.
Thanks for the bus route info - I may hop on one one day and see you there! I'm sure I have a good idea of where your patch is, with any luck some of your birds may find their way over to my patch in the mean time!!

[florall]

Across the fields towards Charlwood

I've been neglecting my local patch recently (mainly because of a wonderful holiday up north, where I did some fantastic birdwatching). In fact, I've not been on the patch since May, and yesterday I only managed to get over there for a quick half hour in the evening, which is never the most productive time of day for the area.

It was interesting to see how everything had changed. In May, it was all lush green springtime, with birds singing all over the place, and now it is golden high summer. The only birds singing were two wrens, otherwise it was the calls of young birds that seemed to be the most prominant feature.

The most interesting birds were three separate mistle thrushes, one a rather wobbly young trying to hold on at the top of an oak tree in the stiffish, but warm, breeze. This is only the third time I've seen mistle thrush on this patch.

From a nature conservation point of view, it was good to see that the farmer who has planted all the new hedgerows and little copses, also has allowed a two metre "weed" margin round the crops in the fields. This was absolutely full of blue and great tits, feeding on the weeds. A great success story.

10 species seen in the half hour here.

[florall]

River Mole, near the plantation

It's very dry, the soil is cracked but the river level is still high, it always seems to be. The river rises less than a mile away to the west, I imagine as a spring, and it must be a fairly powerful one, judging by the amount of water it manages to throw out.

I was able to nip over again this morning. There were lots of lovely flowers along the river, and on one patch I had in my binocular sight a blue tit, two whitethroat (close to where I saw a male singing in May, so this is obviously a favoured area) and a garden warbler.

There were two reed bunting and two reed warblers singing, also a wren.

I've never been much into butterflies and moths, though I'm sure that will come, once I've been birding long enough, but we did notice a load of yellow and black striped caterpillars feeding on ragwort - I've just looked this up and they are cinnabar moth caterpillars.

12 bird species seen in the half hour here.

[JohnZ]

Looking good

At the risk of repeating everything I went to the site yesterday and it is looking good. I found Reed Warblers, and Buntings, almost immediately and have posted a couple of piccies, hopefully. The shots I would really have liked, the Warblers, were not very good as you can see in the Bird ID forum under "Another little brown bird".
Had it not been for the dismal weather yesterday morning I would have stayed, and walked, a bit further. As usual by the time I got home the sun was beating down and it was a very pleasant afternoon.
Will try again this weekend, weather permitting, and hopefully will manage to walk a bit farther down towards where you have recommended.
Thank you again.

[JohnZ]

Fool that I am I have posted the same image twice. Should have been this one.

[florall]

Nice piccies John. I've also been to Streetmap, and where the arrow is on this page is a good spot for reed warblers. There are two singing in the reeds there at the moment. If you just stop by the bank, they should eventually become visible, and you might get a picture.

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=526105&y=141473&z=1&sv=526105,141473&st=4&ar=Y&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf

[JohnZ]

Thank you for your help. I can see I have a bit of walking to do ! I may even venture down the Sussex Border Path.
I have been going to Sevenoaks every weekend lately and though I have not covered all of it I fancy a change. Hopefully it will be a change for the better.

[florall]

Wakehurst Place

We don't always go birding at the River Mole. There are plenty of other places that are fairly local that we go to frequently.

This morning we went to Wakehurst Place, which is about 10 miles to the south east. The land is owned by the National Trust, but it has been run by Kew Gardens since the 1960s - they were then running out of space in London, and also wanted somewhere where they could grow different sorts of plants from those in their London garden.

I've been visiting probably right from the time it first opened as a garden - I can remember going there with my parents. However, it wasn't until about seven months ago that we first took our binoculars along and began to realise its birding potential. We visited frequently during the winter, using it as a good place to learn more common bird calls - and we succeeded because in all sort of birding situations and places I now have much more success in identifying birds by their call.

Although it is a garden, it is really a Wealden wooded garden, with steep sided valleys, ravines, fast flowing streams, natural sandstone rock features, many ponds and meadows. In all, the bit that is open to the public is about 250 acres. At the very bottom of the site is a nature reserve (I've never been there because it's too far for me and very steeply downhill so a long haul back up to the car). To the west is another 250 acres of woodland which is not open to the public. During the storms of 1987 and 1990 15,000 trees were lost on the estate and I believe that in this woodland, trees were just left to rot where they fell.

Today, we went to the Pinetum. Obviously at this time of year it's a fairly quiet time for birds, but we did hear and see many goldcrests amongst the trees, saw a nuthatch, also barn swallows hawking for insects inches above the grass, and a kestrel flying just above the trees making an absolute racket. Don't know what about.

We were there for an hour, and saw 17 species.

[florall]

Holmethorpe Sand Pits

This is a large area of worked out sand pits seven miles to the north east of our home, to the east of Redhill, south east of Merstham. The site starts immediately to the south west of the M25/M23 junction (traffic noise is unbelievable) with a pit called Spynes Mere, which is now run by the Surrey Wildlife Trust. There's another large pit immediately to the west of this which is still being worked - I don't know what this is called.

There's a bridleway that runs between these two pits, and if you follow this south through a large arable field and some pony paddocks you come to Mercers Country Park, with the oldest established worked out pit. This area used to be very good for birds, but unfortunately, there is now such a wide area of tree and scrub cover round the lake that it's not at all good for birdwatchers. The only people who have access to the lake shore are fishermen, and people using the watersports centre. It is possible to set up a telescope at the sports centre at the eastern end, but you can't really see very much.

Carrying on in a westerly direction past Mercers Lake and across Cormongers Lane, there's another Surrey Wildlife reserve based on more worked out sandpits called The Moors. And south of that is an enormous landfill site, that apparently attracts gulls in winter, but we've never been able to work out where you can actually see on to it.

Anyway, yesterday evening we managed to get up to Spynes Mere for an hour. Last year, this was quite a good place for waders, but this year they're pumping water out of the sandpit to the west into Spynes Mere, making the water levels so high that there's virtually no edging here to attract waders. So apart from a few of the more normal ducks and geese there wasn't much else.

We went down into the arable field where there are some beautiful old oak trees. We saw a pair of little owls here in May, but the leaf cover is much denser now, and, although I'm sure they were there, there was no sign of them.

Going back north again, on an island in the pit to the west of Spynes Mere, we could see two unknown birds - they were at the extreme edge of our telescope's range, so we whizzed round there and were delighted to find they were juvenile common terns, with one of their parents. This to us was really exciting news. I know they nest inland, but we've never seen them anywhere but on the coast at migration times before, so to find them on a local patch is lovely.

Close to them were five Egyptian Geese (we saw 11 in the same place last year), and a single lapwing - there was a large flock here last winter, so maybe this is the first returning one.

The complete list of what we saw/heard in one hour:

Collared dove 4
little grebe 9
swift 36
woodpigeon 18
magpie 3
greenfinch
mallard 8
green woodpecker 3
tufted duck 4
grey heron 3
coot c.80
mute swan 13
greylag 37
moorhen 5
carrion crow 5
barn swallow 3
house martin 6
great tit
blackbird 2
sand martin 5
common tern 4
jay
wren
canada goose 2
black headed gull
Egyptian goose 5
feral pigeon 3
lapwing.

28 species in one hour.

[deborah4]

Hi Florall

Just down the road from you - well 30 minutes or so. Good thread and Gatwick a good patch by the sounds of it.

[Stevie babe]

Hi Florall,

I've been looking at my Surrey street atlas and thinking that I used to go to the homlethorpe birdspotting (and trains) when a kid. I thought to myself "I've gotta get back there" (not for the trains). Your report has swung it for me.

Steve

[florall]

I've been looking at my Surrey street atlas and thinking that I used to go to the homlethorpe birdspotting (and trains) when a kid. I thought to myself "I've gotta get back there" (not for the trains). Your report has swung it for me.

If going by car Steve, your best place to park is at Mercers Country Park.

I would be interested to know how you get on if you do go. It's such a vast area and we've done hardly any of it. I'm sure there are lots of great birds out there still to be found.

Incidentally, there's been some discussion about this on the Surrey Yahoo birdwatching list, and someone else saw the terns last weekend. He was talking to a birdwatcher who has been watching the area since 1985, and this is the first time he's seen any terns nesting there.

[florall]

Wakehurst Place - Pinetum

I was able to get here for a quick walk this morning, finishing just before the rain began. All the usual suspects were about - two very vocal green woodpeckers, masses of goldcrests calling to each other from the pine trees, lots of coal tits ditto, but the nicest birds, and a complete surprise, were a trio of spotted flycatchers on the edge of the woods. It's always nice to come across a new bird for an area.

50 minutes, 15 species of bird.

[florall]

From the Sublime to the Ridiculous

Saturday 26th August
Gatwick - across fields to Charlwood, then plantation by River Mole

Last weekend we had a wonderful time birding in East Kent. If we got ourselves in the right place at the right time, we could easily see 15 species of bird in 10 minutes, and interesting species at that.

Today we came back to earth with a bump. Local patch watching at its most tedious. We walked across the fields hoping to see migrants but all we saw was masses of crows, woodpigeons, starlings and flocks of tits.

So we went back to the River Mole and sat on the bench in the plantation hoping to see more and there wasn’t much there either. A couple of reed warblers, a kestrel and two grey heron. The only odd thing was low down in some bushes near the bench a bird was singing away, a really varied beautiful routine. If it had been earlier in the year, I would have said blackcap or garden warbler, but this late in August? Surely not.

One hour, 14 species

[florall]

Holmethorpe Sand Pits, Monday 28th August

We arrived soon after seven this morning, just as the overnight rain stopped. We walked north from Mercers Country Park car park up to Spynes Mere and back again.

There were just the usual water birds on Mercers Lake. Just north of the large field, the bridleway turns east and is bordered by hedges. By now, the sun had come out - we could see masses of small birds flitting about but they were against the light. We followed a dog walker through but the birds had disappeared. We’re going to call this area Warbler Alley, because on the way back we just stopped and watched and we saw so many - willow warblers, chiffchaffs, whitethroat and lesser whitethroat - it was great to be able to see these two species more or less side by side and compare them, plus many residents, robin (including two juveniles), dunnock, blue and great tits.

At Spynes Mere itself, the light was against us and there didn’t seem to be much about, little and great crested grebe, coots, tufted duck and mallard.

The best activity seemed to be on the sand pit to the east of Spynes Mere. Here we saw a flock of over 50 lapwing, often taking to the air, two Egyptian geese, masses of greylag, a couple of grey heron.

While we were watching this, something that I’ve been waiting to see here for a long time happened. About a mile away is Redhill town centre, and I’ve known that there’s a ring necked parakeet roost there, so I was sure we would eventually see some on this patch and today we were rewarded when a flock of five noisily flew over. (At first, I thought they must be birds of prey with their long tails, but realised it would be extremely unlikely to see five flying together.) This is only the second time I’ve ever seen them, the first time was about 15 years ago on Headley Heath, so I was very pleased.

On the way back to the car, we paused to scan the oak trees in the field for little owl and eventually found one in a large hollow in the trunk of the fourth tree. We had tremendous views with the telescope - for the first time ever I wished I had a digiscoping set up because it was framed beautifully by the hollow in the trunk.

90 minutes, 30 species seen

[florall]

Horley

We get swifts over our house, but these have been gone for about a month. However, I've noticed in previous years, that we can occasionally get house martins in September - never notice them earlier in the summer. Yesterday, there were 14 of them buzzing round at house height over the garden. A lovely sight and sound. Gone today though.

[florall]

Weirwood Reservoir

This is about 12 miles to the south east, fairly close to Wakehurst Place. The western end is a nature reserve, there's a hide and a small car park, but it's not very easy to view the reservoir from anywhere else. We last visited in August a year ago, when the water had completely disappeared and there was just a rather pleasant meadow in front of the car park. Yesterday evening when we went, we were pleased to see that there was very much more water. Obviously the recent rain we've had has had an effect.

We went over because I'd heard about the juvenile night heron that was easily viewable, and it really was, in a tree just over the nearest bit of water. Unfortunately, for most of the time we were there, it had its back turned to us, but just at the end it started to preen and turned its head so I could see its beak and eye. I have seen night herons before, at the Marquenterre reserve on the Somme last September, but they were in a giant cage and were captive birds, so the Weirwood bird was a lifer for me.

We didn't stay long last night because my chauffeur had had a long day at work and wanted to get home for his dinner :eat: . Other birdie highlights were at least seven grey herons, two Arctic terns (at least, I heard some other birders say they were, though I must admit I didn't look at them in any great detail) and a party of at least 12 long tailed tits that flew over us. There were also quite a lot of roe deer in the meadow off to the left.

[florall]

Not been out very much the last couple of weeks, not been well enough, so on Saturday, we decided to make a quick trip down to Pulborough Brooks, where I could use the electric wheelchair. (Not exactly local, 30 miles sw of the airport, but using the motorway and dual carriageway as far as possible, it doesn't take long to get there.)

Anyway, it was a disappointing visit - low cloud, making everything seem grey. It was difficult to make out plumage details in most of the birds we saw - it was almost as bad as a bad January light. Still, it was nice to hear the whistling call of our first wigeon of the autumn. There was a kestrel perched very close to Netley hide, giving great views. In the field below the visitor centre was a large flock of goldfinches - in fact, this field and the one beyond it seemed like goldfinch heaven, so many thistle seeds etc - if they leave it like this all winter (and I'm sure they will), I would think there will be many more finches feeding there. On our way back up to the visitor centre, a number of house martins, with a few swallows amongst them were overhead.

River Mole at Gatwick - a very quick visit here yesterday, and there were 18 barn swallows sitting on the airport perimeter fence. A nice sight, don't often see them here, so I imagine these were migrants.

[florall]

Holmethorpe Sand Pit

Today we walked all around Spynes Mere, right up to the motorway. It was very misty with a slight breeze, 13 degrees celsius when we set out, and we thought the conditions might be good for migrants, but surprisingly, there was very little around. Even on the water, there was very little until a couple of large flocks of Canada and Greylag geese flew in.

While we were at the motorway end, a large bird flew directly overhead. It looked like a wader, a large one, at least curlew size. It had us flummoxed, but as it disappeared quickly into the mist, we couldn’t come to any conclusions. We thought it was probably a cormorant, because there were a couple around.

Then we met a very rare species indeed - another birdwatcher, only the second we’ve ever seen here. He also thought conditions should have been good but was seeing very little (glad it wasn’t just us). But he did say that he’d seen the Sacred Ibis fly over earlier. Apparently, it escaped from Gatwick Zoo a few years ago. It wasn’t expected to survive, although quite obviously it has. When it first turned up at Holmethorpe, it used to fly round very high up making everybody think it was a spoonbill. Since we’ve been home, we’ve looked at videos of flying Sacred Ibis and are fairly confident that this was our mystery bird. Can’t be counted on any list, I know, but was rather fun.

On the sandpit to the west of Spynes Mere there wasn’t an enormous amount about. A large flock of lapwing, another large one of Canada Geese, 35 gulls landed, all black headed, and a bird that took me by surprise initially, but this was only because it was our first duck of the day - a tufted duck. In fact, apart from the three of them and one mallard, there were no other ducks around at all, which I found very surprising. Hopefully next time we come, there’ll be some winter ducks here.

Anyway, the bird watching might not have been the most exciting, but it was a very pleasant morning.

One hour 20 minutes, 25 species seen.

[florall]

Horley

A noisy party (well, noisy in a cute, teddy-bearish sort of way) of long tailed tits passed through some nearby gardens today. It seems incredibly early in the season for them to be near the town centre, I usually only ever see them in harsh winter weather. Does this indicate that food supplies are running low in the countryside? In the last week, greenfinches and goldfinches have returned to the garden feeders after a lull of several weeks. And, although I've not seen one in my garden for a couple of months, last week a dunnock was in full song in a nearby garden.

I also saw two more house martins yesterday, a few miles east of the town.

[florall]

River Mole

Through a combination of illness and holiday, it's been a couple of months since we've been here to do some birdwatching (and more like four months since we saw anything really productive).

Anyway, we've just got back from a half hour walk, quite late in the morning, so I wasn't expecting much to be around. We didn't take the telescope, so weren't able to identify the three little birds sitting on the airport perimeter fence, against the sun, but they had thin narrow beaks, so I suspect were dunnock or meadow pipits.

Beyond them we saw a flock of about sixty birds flying round over the runway. It wasn't till they turned sideways on and we saw their broad wings that I realised they were lapwing, which I was pleased about because I saw hardly any last winter (not sure if there were any at all, in fact). Beyond them was a larger flock of about 100 birds, but they were literally just dots in the sky, so I don't know what they were. They were behaving like the lapwing flock, so maybe they were too.

There were also a large number of herring gulls around, about 25 in total, which was also unusual for this patch.

While we were on holiday earlier this month, a friend said that the thrushes would start singing this month. Frankly I didn't believe her because she talks a load of nonsense where birds are concerned, but when we got back to the car we both heard a song thrush singing it's repetitive song. I still wasn't sure about that my hearing was correct, but we were able to locate the bird in some bushes, so by local patch watching I've learned something new about bird song/behaviour.

Half an hour spent birding, 11 species seen.

[florall]

Wakehurst Place

We had a lovely time here this morning, despite the lingering rain. I’d heard reports of two brambling, got here before the garden opened, wandered up to the fence around the car park and found four of them feeding with chaffinches. This was really exciting for me because the first, and only, time I’ve seen these birds before was at Titchwell in January.

In the flooded field just beyond the brambling was a flock of redwing, fieldfare and starling, bathing in the puddles.

Once through the visitor centre, we stopped to a large flock of chaffinches feeding, the ground seemed to be heaving with them. Scanning amongst them, we found three more brambling, though I can’t be certain they weren’t the ones we’d seen earlier, relocated after being disturbed by a noisy truck.

Down by the sequoia near the mansion, and also in the Winter Garden, there were a lot of goldcrest calling, at least five that we saw. They really are very noisy for such little birds.

We didn’t walk very far because the rain got heavier, but on our way out, I was just scanning the chaffinch flock again, had seen one of the brambling, when a sparrowhawk flew in and took one of the birds - I’m fairly certain it was a chaffinch and not one of the precious brambling.

We were here for one hour, twenty minutes, and saw 23 species of bird. The full list is:

Pheasant 10
Mallard 14
Starling 23
Jackdaw 18
Blue tit 11
Brambling 4 (possibly 7)
Chaffinch 82
Greenfinch 2
Redwing 25
Fieldfare 45
Robin 5
Green woodpecker 1
Goldcrest 5
Black headed gull 5
Great tit 4
Kestrel, on an oak tree in the winter garden.
Woodpigeon 5
Blackbird 3
Carrion Crow 2
Coal tit 3
Moorhen 1
Collared dove 1
Sparrowhawk 1

[florall]

A Parakeet…

We spent an hour at the River Mole by Gatwick Airport at first light this morning. We had quite a good bird list of all the to-be expected species, but as we were sitting on the bench in the plantation, we had a surprise - a Ring necked Parakeet flew over - species no. 56 for the patch. I know they’re considered to be becoming something of a pest, and I don’t like the thought of them taking over woodpecker nesting holes, but it was a glorious piece of colourful exotica on a gloomy grey winter day.

…a Warbler…

And when we got home, it was to find our first blackcap of the winter, feeding on honeysuckle berries. I’d planted the honeysuckles in our hedge two or three years ago, specifically to attract blackcaps in winter. It’s lovely to do things for nature, and have nature respond in the way we want it to.

…and a Hedgehog

Last Tuesday, I glanced out of the bedroom window to see if anything was about (birdwise), and was surprised to see a golden orb on the lawn - a tiny little hedgehog, eating birdseed that had fallen from the feeders. After ringing up the RSPCA for advice, we brought it indoors, my daughter dashed to the shop for some cat food, and we enjoyed watching it eat two noisy meals. The St Tiggywinkles website said that it wouldn’t be viable if it was less than 600g, so we weighed it and it was only 328g. We weren’t sure what to do with it, we searched the internet, made phone calls to local wildlife centres (they wouldn’t be open for another eight days). Eventually I thought of our vet, who did indeed know of a hedgehog rescue centre just round the corner from us, and so we took our little one and it’s joined two others there. She said that lots of hedgehogs had had late third broods because of the mild autumn, but the babies just hadn’t had time to feed up before the winter and gain weight. If “our” hedgehog gains weight, he’ll stay at this rescue centre all winter and we can have him back in the spring . (If he doesn’t gain weight, he’ll be sent on to a specialist centre where they’re woken up to feed and kept under infra-red lights).

[florall]

Wakehurst Place

Today we walked through the Pinetum down to the Himalayan Glade, which is a viewpoint looking out over one of the steeply sided valley. Nowadays, this area is popular with birdwatchers - people bring bird seed and put it on the fence posts, stand back a bit and watch many little birds coming in to feed. Obviously, there's masses of blue and great tits, robins, dunnocks and chaffinches, but it's wonderful when there are several nuthatches there at once, as there were today, happy to feed so close to you. There were also at least three marsh tits , and in the trees above, a party of long tailed tits passed through - this is only the second time I've seen them in the gardens.

When we were sitting at the Himalayan Glade a couple of weeks ago, five buzzards were circling in the sky above us at the same time.

On the way back from the Stables Cafe to the Visitor Centre, we stopped to look at the large chaffinch flock, and I was pleased to see there are still three brambling amongst them.

[Moonshake]

Hi Florall, I do enjoy reading your reports - more soon please! Ever had any joy with little owls at Wakehurst? I know they're supposed to be there, but I'm blowed if I've ever seen them. Sounds like you're a bit more regular there than me, so how about you?

[florall]

Hi Florall, I do enjoy reading your reports - more soon please! Ever had any joy with little owls at Wakehurst? I know they're supposed to be there, but I'm blowed if I've ever seen them. Sounds like you're a bit more regular there than me, so how about you?

Thanks for your kind comments - they're magical gardens to visit, aren't they?I would have thought there were tawny owls there as well - that I would love to see. I've only ever heard them before.

Funnily enough, we were talking about the possibility of little owls a few weeks ago. We thought the best bet would be to search through the trees in the parkland surrounding the gardens, for example, to the south of the car park. But we haven't actually got round to looking yet. If we have any success, I'll let you know - and please say if you see any.

[Moonshake]

Yes - that's where I reckon too - lots of knobbly old trees there, looks about the right sort of territory. Suppose I need to get there for a proper look when they're a bit more vocal (and having a quick peep over the car park fence when we get there at lunchtime is probably a little optimistic!). And yes, magical gardens indeed, could spend a long, long time there wondering around. Still haven't seen half of it either, let alone visited the Loder Valley nature reserve.

[florall]

A gentle morning's birding. First of all to Weir Wood Reservoir, south of East Grinstead. Ever since we've been birdwatching (three and a half years), the water levels at the western (viewable) end have been very low. Now they're about as high as they can go, coming right up through the woods. It's good to see. Now all we need is for our aquifers to refill.

Not much about, quite a few pochard, and woodland birds on the feeders by the car park.

We then went on to Wakehurst Place for coffee. Moonshake, we had a good look for little owls - there seem to be a lot of oak trees lining what would have been the old entrance path, so I think these would be worth checking each time as well. Anyway, we didn't see any, and there wasn't any sign of the large chaffinch/brambling flock either.

Last winter, we used Wakehurst Place to learn our common woodland bird calls and songs. There was a lot of calling going on today and we couldn't remember most of it, so we got our Geoff Sample cds out when we got home to try to jog our memories. Looks like we'll have to make many more trips here to relearn them.

[florall]

New Year’s Day - Gatwick, River Mole

On Monday morning we arrived here at first light (7.30), mainly staying in the plantation near the car. The river was very high, in fact the highest we’ve ever seen it, starting to spill out of its channel. There was a shower just before we arrived, but as the morning progressed, the weather cleared up. It was 4.5 degrees Celsius at the start.

Half an hour spent, 12 very ordinary species.

Holmethorpe sand pits

We then came up here, concentrating on the Spynes Mere end. It was quite windy (as it often is, it’s quite exposed), so there was a bit of telescope shake at times. As many places in this part of England are finding, there are disappointing numbers of winter ducks because of the mild weather on the continent. However, we did see a couple of gadwall and 16 teal. Of all the other wildfowl, we could see them at any time of year.

However, on the First Island in Spynes Mere, I was looking along the shoreline with my telescope and counted a massive 16 snipe! I went back and recounted them because I couldn’t quite believe my eyes, and at the same time two other birders came up and one of them counted 22!

In the nearby trees we had good views of a treecreeper, and at the car a real surprise - a calling stonechat flew over. These three species are all new ticks for the patch.

One hour here, 23 species seen.

Friday 5th, Gatwick, River Mole

We had a very glutinous walk this morning, staying fairly close to the plantation. We got here later than on Monday and saw more birds in the same length of time. I’ve thought this before, that the birds here are fairly late risers. Even as we got out of the car, I was able to see or hear seven species of bird, the most exciting of which, and ones I’ve not seen since last spring, were four bullfinches, showing so clearly in nearby trees. Wonderful. I’m fairly certain this is only the fourth time I’ve seen them here, in two and a half years of visiting. We heard a pheasant several times which is surprising - they’re more often seen and heard on the farmland over the road. I also had a good view of a green woodpecker - something I hear often but only see infrequently.

Half an hour, 16 species

[florall]

Yesterday, we had planned to go a little bit further away to look for two firecrests that have been around for a few weeks. However, once it started raining heavily, we couldn't get any enthusiasm up for wandering round somewhere we didn't know looking for a tiny bird in such horrible conditions, so we ended up back at Wakehurst Place. The highlights were two brambling still by the visitor centre with the chaffinches, and a tree in The Slips (an area where the stream starts to tumble downhill dramatically and scenically) which had 29 redwing in. In fact, in just ten metres of walking near the front of the mansion we saw or heard four species of thrush - redwing, fieldfare, song and mistle thrush.

In the evening we went up to Redhill (five miles to the north) where there is a famous rose ringed parakeet roost. We've never been before, and though it was like the monsoon while we were there, it was well worth going to see at least 600 birds come in to just a couple of trees in this residential area. Quite an amazing sight.

[Moonshake]

Hi Florall, we were back at Wakehurst again today too! Two brambling still around by the visitor centre, one male and one female. Didn't see that much else, but again, another very pleasant afternoon just pottering about. No parakeets for us though (squeak, squawk)...

[florall]

I had a quick visit this morning before the rain started (the river is incredibly high. I would love to be able to make daily visits this week to monitor how high it eventually gets - I think we could be in for a record height).

Anyway, most of the walk was across the fields towards Charlwood (a bit dryer underfoot) where there were two song thrushes in full song, trying to compete with each other, and a group of five fieldfare - the first of this winter here. An unusual sighting on the fields were a couple of pied wagtail - I've never seen them here before, and by the river, I'm fairly certain was a grey wagtail which flew past me. I tried to get relocate it higher up the river, and I could still hear it calling, but I couldn't see it to confirm the sighting. Would have been a patch tick had I been successful.

Half an hour, 12 species seen.

[florall]

Wakehurst Place, Monday 22nd January

I managed to spend an hour and a half here yesterday morning, walking past the Mansion, through the Pinetum to the Himalayan Glade. There the birds were all waiting for us, with masses of tits poking their heads out of the surrounding rhododendrons, wondering what treats we had bought for them.

As we went back up through the Pinetum, we kept hearing a regular call, that I described to myself as "Yick.....Yick". Eventually we located the bird - a Great Spotted Woodpecker at the top of a very tall fir tree. (Surprisingly, this is my first ever GS Woody at this site.) I looked it up in Collins, and it does indeed make a "Kick....Kick" call, at one-second intervals. I never knew that before. So we've learned a new bird call again at Wakehurst Place. I must remember this one, because I'm fairly certain I've heard it once or twice at the River Mole.

As normal, we stopped for a drink at what could be called "the hide". In reality, it's called The Stables Restaurant. A couple of years ago, they remodelled this and put floor to ceiling picture windows at one end. We love sitting at one of the tables here watching the birds, and we've seen some great birds here. I've not seen one for a while, but we have watched a treecreeper several times on the large oak just outside the window. Yesterday, we watched a nuthatch in the same tree. And for the second time, I saw bramblings feeding on bark under another tree. This is birdwatching in extreme comfort, warmth and a hot drink at your elbow.

I always put my birdlists on to Birdtrack. I was interested to see that I've only ever seen 44 species of bird at Wakehurst, but 57 species at the River Mole, which, quite frankly, is a much less promising area. Looking at the table of my visits to Wakehurst, I realize I've only ever made one birdwatching visit here in Spring/early Summer, so have probably missed out on many singing migrants. For example, there isn't a single warbler on my list! I must obviously try to remedy this this year. Just out of interest, here is my complete list for Wakehurst:

Greater Canada Goose
Mallard
Pheasant
Sparrowhawk
Buzzard
Kestrel
Moorhen
Black headed gull
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Swift
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Swallow
House Martin
Grey Wagtail
Pied Wagtail
Wren
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
Fieldfare
song Thrush
Redwing
Mistle Thrush
Goldcrest
Spotted Flycatcher
Long-tailed Tit
Marsh Tit
Coal Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Nuthatch
Treecreeper
Jay
Magpie
Jackdaw
Carrion Crow
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Brambling
Greenfinch
Goldfinch.

[florall]

I was wondering why I had 57 species of bird logged onto Birdtrack, but I've only listed 56 here. I've just checked and the species I missed, ages ago, was: No. 57 Feral Pigeon. Exciting.