London/Surrey borders birding (1 Viewer)

London WWT, 25th May

This was the only nice day of a fairly miserable bank holiday weekend around here so I decided to make the most of it with a trip out to London WWT at Barnes. It's an site I really enjoy going to although it tends to make for a fairly long and tiring day out - usually worth it though and this occasion was no exception. There were lots of young about and that's to be expected given the time of year but it's always quite pleasing to see various chicks, especially when some of them are 'chick ticks' i.e. the first time I have seen the young of a particular species even though I am familiar with the adults. Chick ticks from this visit included Lapwing and Long-Tailed Tit, plus some great views of juvenile Starlings from Peacock Tower.

A reasonable number of waders about too, which is pleasing given the time of year. Last time I was here there were two Bar-Tailed Godwits - a male and a female - but this time only the female was around but she was in almost exactly the same spot as last time. Must be good eating round there if you're a Barwit. There were also Ringed Plovers and Little Ringed Plovers on the scrape, plus a Common Sandpiper. Other than that there were the usual mix of gulls, ducks and so on.

The only other thing of any real note was a Reed Warbler offering decent views, in exactly the same place as last time (outside the Wetlands Living hut). I like it when birds are dependable and can be relied on to be in the same place each time one visits. That seems to be the case for both this Reed Warbler and the femal Barwit.

London WWT list:
Bar-Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black-headed Gull, Blue Tit, Canada Goose & young, Carrion Crow, Cetti's Warbler, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Coot & young, Dunnock, Egyptian Goose, Gadwall, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Green Woodpecker, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Lapwing & chicks, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Little Grebe, Little Ringed Plover, Long-tailed Tits & young, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan & cygnets, Parakeet, Pied Wagtail, Pochard, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, Ringed Plover, Robin, Sand Martin, Shoveler, Starling & young, Swift, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren

The only mammal of any note was the ubiquitous Grey Squirrel.

Still many more updates to this thread to come, I'll try and rattle some more out this afternoon/evening...

Richmond Park, 1st June

It's close to four weeks since I went on this trip out to Richmond Park (I know, I have been terrible at keeping this thread up to date but I will try harder, I promise) and it seems remarkable to me that it's been that long since I have birded my local patch. Wow!

Anyway, this was one of the rare occasions when I went birding on my own. The missus was also in Richmond Park but she had gone in with some of her old uni friends and their families to have a picnic. I think they were around the Broomfield Hill & Isabella Plantation area. But as I was on my own I decided a good long session was in order so I walked up Beverley Brook (or at least from the Robin Hood Gate end where it enters the park to the top end), along past East Sheen gate, up towards the riding ring near Holly Lodge, round the lodge itself, past Saw Pit Plantation to Pen Ponds (where I met up with the missus), round the ponds, back past Ash Lodge to Ham Gate, down Squirrel Alley & back home via Kingston Gate.

The thinking behind that route was to take in a few areas at the top (north) end of the park that we don't get to very often. I was also hoping to see Grey Wagtail along Beverley Brook and maybe some finches around East Sheen Gate and that sort of area. We have seen a number of finches round there before as there are a number of houses backing on to the park around there with feeders in the gardens and suitable trees for the finches just inside the park walls. We rarely see finches around our garden (except Goldfinches I suppose) and I like a Chaffinch and Greenfinch now and then. Plus it was a nice day so a pop round the ponds would be a pleasant walk.

Beverley Brook was disappointing, if I'm honest. Very little about. No Grey Wags and I'm not sure I even saw a duck on there even though it's usually good for a Mandarin or two. No Wrens or Jays in the fences and foliage towards the golf course either. Turning west-ish at the end of the brook I did come across a massive herd of Red Deer. They had split themselves into stags (harts?) on one side of the path and the hinds on the other. I wonder if this is related to the impending young that must be due soon. I was watched very carefully by one or two of the bigger males so I was very careful to keep a good distance away from them (unlike some you see in the park!) while still managing a few good photos. They are beautiful animals I must admit. I feel very lucky to have such a large herd of them on my local patch and for them to be so easy to see - pretty much every trip into the park includes sightings of these magnificant creatures.

Passing one of the ponds at the top end of the park, up near East Sheen Gate I think, I saw a funny looking duck that this forum has taught me is a Manky Mallard. This one had the proper Mallard shape but the plumage was quite a striking white and brown. I snapped a few quick shots just for interest really. After that I didn't see a whole lot at all and was feeling rather disappointed at how the birding was going. A wonderful walk in nice weather in a beautiful park but few birds. So I pottered up towards the riding ring near Holly Lodge as I know the area is good for rabbits. I figured if the birds didn't want to show then I'd settle for taking some snaps of the reliable rabbits.

While up that way I thought I'd pop round close to the lodge itself as a lot of the birding reports I see for the park mention interesting birds in this area so I figured I'd have a look, see what I could net myself. And I am so glad I did! There was a lot of interesting sounding chirps and calls from the patches of gorse round there but I didn't manage to catch a good enough sight of what was making the noise, and I don't know enough calls and songs yet to ID many birds by sound alone. But in the trees in the fenced off area where at one stage they grazed cattle (as an experiment as cattle graze the grass to a different level to the deer, apparently) I soloed by first owl! The only owl I had seen before (at least since I started my birding 'career' a couple of years back) was a Little Owl down around Dungeness area and that was given to us by the local guide we were using. But this time I spotted my very own Little Owl and on my local patch too. I had read in several places that the park supports several owl species but in all the times I had been round the place I had yet to spot one - until now! I knew the missus would be really jealous as she's been desperate these last few months to see an owl in the park but she was off with her friends over the other side of the park so what was I to do?

As it happens, a few minutes later (after I had lost the owl - it must have flown while I was looking at something else or distracted trying to get a photo) the missus told me she was done with their picnic and she could come meet me. She didn't fancy coming up to Holly Lodge, despite the earlier Little Owl, so we ended up meeting around Pen Ponds instead. There wasn't too much unusual about though. There was a Reed Bunting showing well in a tree just in front of us at one point and a pair of Great Crested Grebe on the upper pond had young with them. We both really wanted to see the young on the parent's back as that looks so cute, but no joy today.

But still a really good day. The missus enjoyed her picnic. I had a nice long walk around areas of the park I don't normally cover and was rewarded with my first soloed owl. o

Richmond Park list:
Blackcap, Blue Tit & juv, Canada Goose & juv, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Common Tern, Coot, Egyptian Goose, Goldfinch, Great Crested Grebe & juv, Great Tit, Green Woodpecker, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, House Sparrow, Little Owl, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Mallard, Mandarin Duck & young, Magpie & juv, Moorhen, Mute Swan & juv, Reed Bunting, Ring-necked Parakeet, Robin, Skylark, Song Thrush, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon and Wren

On the mammal front I saw Fallow Deer, Grey Squirrel, Rabbit and Red Deer

AWAY DAY - Copster Green, 7th June

This is the first of a number of "away day" reports for June. It's got me thinking that this thread should have gone somewhere else in the forum, perhaps even been a blog, as since I started it there seem to have been at least as many away days as there have been patch reports. It's not the norm though, I can assure you.

Not a long report this one as it wasn't much of a birding session. We were up with the missus' family just outside Blackburn for a family party but as I had my bins with me I was itching for an excuse to get out of the house. The party broke up early evening leaving me an hour or so to pop out, locally, just for a walk and to see what I could see. I persuaded the missus to join me and we pottered out for an hour or so. We didn't spot much while we were out, true, and we also got really soaked when a thunderstorm came in near the end of the jaunt but it's always worth a shot. Saw a beautiful rainbow too.

Copster Green list:
Blackbird, Blackcap, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Goldfinch, House Martin, Jackdaw, Magpie, Song Thrush, Starling, Swallow, Woodpigeon, Wren

AWAY DAY - Ilkley Moor, 8th June

Another family away day, to see the missus' brother and his family in Ilkley. Lunch in the Cow & Calf pub then a quick trip up on to the moor, round the cow & calf rocks mainly. Not a birding trip per se but hey, what's that in the bag? Oh yeah, it's my bins. And is that the camera next to them? It sure is. So while we're up here we may as well have a look for a few birds, right? Right!

Just a shame the birds didn't really want to play. There were a few Goldfinches about but not a whole let else that I saw. Except for a new kid on the block, for me at least - a Meadow Pipit. Or rather quite a lot of them, all over the moor. Always great to see a new bird and while I was reasonably convinced about the ID based on the pocket field guide I had with me (I had it pegged as a pipit and from there I had assumed it was a Meadow Pipit but I was by no means certain) I appreciate the ID confirmation from the experts on here - thanks everyone. The parachuting flight of the Meadow Pipit was quite stunning to watch, I'd never seen anything like it.

AWAY DAY - Martin Mere WWT, 9th June

When we went up north to see the missus' family we knew there was going to be a day out on the Monday but we didn't really know what was on the cards. Had I known we'd have a proper birding day I'd have seriously thought about taking the scope with me, but I didn't know that so the scope stayed at home. So it was a little galling, in a way, to hear that we had a choice between Martin Mere WWT and RSPB Leighton Moss. I'd never been to either but I had done some research into both in recent months. It was fantastic to be offered a choice of two great birding sites, especially when they are both pretty hard to get to by public transport, so having someone prepared to take us there and back was most welcome.

But how to choose between Martin Mere and Leighton Moss? Both sites are about the same distance away from our starting point. Both excellent birding sites too. Whichever we chose had to suit the whole party (me, the missus & her parents). Both sites have similar facilities in terms of number of hides, cafe etc. In the end it came down to the weather - the forecast was better for Martin Mere so that won the day but it was a last minute decision. There was quite a bit of rain at the start of the day, up until around lunchtime, but thankfully it brightened up later in the day and eventually turned up really pleasant weather for birding.

One of the problems I found with Martin Mere was unfamiliarity - I simply didn't know how to bird the place so as to get the best out of it. With my patch I know what areas are good for what birds so what I can expect to see where. With a new site I don't have that knowledge. I didn't know if any of the hides were worth special attention or if any were worth missing out because there won't be much to see so we ended up giving the whole site pretty equal amounts of attention. Maybe the first trip anywhere is little more than a recce trip but I can't help but feel there was more to see at Martin Mere than we actually saw.

Talking of which, what did we see? Not a whole lot. I guess it's the wrong time of year for a lot of waders and what have you but the whole site was pretty quiet. We spent the morning wandering round the conservation area, between heavy showers, and then after lunch we went wild, as it were. There were some really beautiful hides there though, and it's remarkable how hide design can vary from location to location. I have to admit that the Ron Barker Hide and Harrier Hide were both stunning, both in terms of design and the habitats they looked out on. Just a shame we didn't see a whole lot, but then had there been a lot of waders around I don't think we'd have got round the whole site. And that's when unfamiliarity with a site becomes a bit of an issue - what can one safely omit in order to make the most of the birds that are around?

Early on in the afternoon we got a tip off from another birder there that there was a Tawny Owl around. He was even good enough to give us the exact location of where he saw it. Said there was an adult and a juvenile close to one another. A second owl in just over a week after going so long without one, could this really be happening? It could, and indeed it did happen. We saw the adult Tawny Owl exactly where it was last seen. Not an easy one to photograph as it was right up a tree (obviously) and was best viewed from almost directly underneath, through all the foliage. No sign of the chick but it was fantastic to see another owl. I don't think I can claim to have soloed this one though as even though we had to find it ourselves we were directed to it, almost down to which tree it was in. But it still counts as a tick.

Talking of ticks, Avocet was another new entry on the list too. I found it somewhat ironic that given a choice of an RSPB and a WWT site we chose the WWT site yet still saw the bird the RSPB use as their logo. And what's more the Avocets we saw had chicks too. I can't quite put my finger on why but it feels like you've got more than a single tick when you see a species as adult and young, and also when you see male and female of sexually diamorphic species.

Overall I had a really good day at Martin Mere but I know there was more to see and a greater familiarity with the site would have paid off.

Martin Mere WWT list:
Avocet & chick, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Cormorant, Coot, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, House Martin, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Magpie, Mallard, Mandarin Duck, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pigeon, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Robin, Shelduck, Swallow, Tawny Owl, Teal, Tree Sparrow, Tufted Duck, Woodpigeon, Wren

AWAY DAY - Copster Green, 10th June

This was more about stretching one's legs for an hour or so in the morning before getting the train home. With that in mind there wasn't a whole lot of options so I went back to 'old faithful', a tried and trusted option for getting out in the fresh air and picking up a few birds. It was never going to be the most exciting birding I have ever done but it was sure to beat sitting around.

And I was right about it not being that exciting. The highlight was probably a field (fairly) full of thrushes. Unfortunately they were over the other side of the field from us to get a 100% definite ID but given the colour of the head and upperparts I'm thinking they were Mistle Thrushes. I'm pretty sure there were a few juvenile Blackbirds and the odd Starling in the mix too.

The highlight of the day came before I set foot outside though. I was having breakfast in the in-laws' kitchen when I noticed some movement in the big tree in the back garden. It was a bird, for sure, but what? The garden is home to a pair of Blackbirds and the feeders in the tree attract a few tits but what I saw was bigger than that. Movement, more movement, it's coming into an area of less dense foliage. Come on, yeah - there you are, a beautiful male Sparrowhawk sat in the front of the tree, just outside the window. Glorious. I called the missus through and she was able to get a quick glimpse before the fella decided enough was enough and he left. Glorious bird though. I never seen one hunting - in fact, I've only ever seen a few of them in my life and this was probably the clearest shot I've had of one. Made for a good day though, that's for sure.

Copster Green list:
Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Goldfinch, Great Tit, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Magpie, Mistle Thrush, Robin, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Woodpigeon

HOLIDAY - Bournemouth area, 14th to 21st June

I thought it would be a good idea to summarise the holiday I (we, I took the missus) had in Dorset recently. I will be writing up individual trip reports too but some sort of overall summary is useful too I feel.

The holiday wasn't intended solely as a birding break per se but the plan was to get some nice walks in, get out and aboout in the fresh air and do some birding along the way. So the itinerary wasn't necessarily about getting to the best birding sites, more about seeing what fitted with our other general plans. I did take some advice on where
to go while we were down that way and this forum offered up some gems so thanks again for that. We didn't take up all the suggestions - in particularly Durlston country park - because of public transportation issues. Neither of us drive (we both can, but don't & don't own a car) so we rely on legs, buses, trains etc to get around the place. Which I have to admit worked really well around Bournemouth and the environs.

Very early on in the trip I realised I needed to get to grips with my gulls better so I re-read the Gulls 101 thread I started a while back. That helped enormously and now I feel I am more familiar with the main British gulls, or at least the adults. The juveniles will come later I'm sure, but it's nice to feel much more confident with my adult gull IDs if nothing else. It certainly helped, what with being in a coastal region and all. You'd think that having grown up by the sea I'd know these things already but no, it's taken me till my late 30s to get my gulls right.

Another thing I feel I learned more about on this holiday was birdsong. I picked out more species by sound than I have done previously, and experience like that can only stand me in good stead going forwards in my birding. There are a few birds I have had no trouble with in the past, mainly those with obvious calls/songs like Cetti's Warbler and Chiffchaff, and it feels good to know have a few more in the repertoire. I am bound to still get confused over a few of them (he says writing a couple of weeks after the
holiday when this is very much the case but more on that in due course) but I feel I am better than I was with ID by sound.

So what was the birding like? Generally it was pretty good. There were a lot of Little Egret about - or rather there were small numbers of Little Egret at pretty much every site we visited. Not many other waders showed themselves but that's pretty much to be expected given the time of year. A lot was made around various birding sites of the year-round presence of Spoonbills and Black Tailed Godwits but we didn't see either, unfortunately. But then I didn't really expect to see them before we set off to Dorset so
in that respect I wasn't disappointed. It was good, however, to reconnect with a few species I have seen several times before but don't see very often or in great numbers, including Shelduck, Greenfinch, Whitethroat and a few others.

I picked up a few new ticks for the life list on this little break, four in all I think, plus a couple of new mammals. Tentative figures show 72 bird species seen on this holiday, which for a week seems a little disappointing and certainly won't be winning me any awards but I had a good time, and that's what matters most.

AWAY DAY - Upper Gardens, 14th June

The holiday started with a potter around the local area to stretch our legs after the train journey down there (crikey, that makes it sound like a mammoth trek rather than a couple of hours doesn't it?). It was just intended to be a quick look round, get our bearings rather than a proper birding session, which is probably just as well as we didn't see a whole lot. Things started well with a Song Thrush quickly followed by a Greenfinch and Goldcrest within a few minutes of entering Upper Gardens. Things then got
pretty quiet and we had to be content with just wandering round a nice garden rather than spotting birds. There were a few damselflies and dragonflies but they're not really my thing, at least not this year. Let's get the birds more or less cracked first and then I'll get on to other stuff. Anyway, we walked up as far as Coy Pond, around that and then back to the apartment, via a supermarket to pick up some essentials. It wasn't very exciting but it was a start - I'd got the bins out and seen a few species at least.

The holiday had started!

Birds:
Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Greenfinch, Jay, Magpie, Mallard, Pigeon, Robin, Song Thrush, Woodpigeon

AWAY DAY - Chines & beach, 15th June

Not being sure of how good the public transport would be on a Sunday, and not really knowing what we really wanted to do we opted to stay local again and started the day with a chines walk I had downloaded from the tourist information website. The walk started in Alum Chine but we walked down Middle Chine to the seafront and then along to Alum Chine to get to the starting point. From there the walk took us up past where Robert Louis Stevenson (probably?) lived, along a few streets and back to the sea through Branksome Woods and down Branksome Chine. From there the planned work took us along the promenade and detoured up another chine (Branksome Dene Chine?) but we didn't bother with that, we just carried on along the front for a while as it was all very pleasant. We did duck back off the front into town for a spot of lunch but after that we opted for a wander along the front, from Bournemouth pier towards Boscombe with a view to seeing how far we got before it felt like a good idea to turn back. Turns out the answer was quite a way past Boscombe pier.

It was on the way back down to the seafront after lunch that I saw something that excited the young boy in me - the Red Arrows. Come on, how can one fail to be stirred by them? Such a British institution yet it always feels special to see them, especially when one catches them going to or from where they are supposed to be displaying as was the case here. I looked it up online that evening and it seems the lunchtime sighting, around Lower Gardens in town, was them flying in towards Bournemouth Airport ahead of a
planned display over the Isle of Wight festival. That display must have been about 5pm because as we were wandering back we saw them overhead again, around 5.15pm, flying over Bournemouth beach. The back jets of the diamond nine turned the white smoke on as they flew over the beach too - such showmanship!

Nothing too exciting on the list for today I don't think. The highlight was probably two or three terns diving into the sea, presumably fishing, seen when we stopped for a rest having walked up past Boscombe pier before turning round to head back. I didn't get a great look at them but from what I remember they had redish bills which would make them Common Terns in that area but it wasn't until the following day (spoiler alert!) that Sandwich Tern occurred to me as a possibility, based on other local sightings. I'm pretty sure what we saw were Common but can't rule out Sandwich I suppose. Other than that, not a great deal going on. The chines were pretty quiet and while we picked up the expected gulls on the front we didn't catch sight of a lot else. But it was a nice day out in the fresh air and we got to know Bournemouth a whole lot better.

Birds:
Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Collared Dove, Common Tern, Dunnock, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Pigeon, Robin, Song Thrush, Swift, Woodpigeon, Wren

Mammals:
Grey Squirrel

AWAY DAY - Brownsea Island, 16th June

One of the sites we had on the itinerary since before we even booked this trip was Brownsea Island, although I have to admit that was largely because of the Red Squirrels there. It's a little awkward to get to, yes, but for once I don't think a car would have made much difference. We'd checked with tourist info on the Saturday, when we arrived, how best to get there and they recommended the number 50 bus which can drop us off at the ferry from Sandbanks to Brownsea Island. Ferry over to Brownsea Island, have a good look round, ferry back to Sandbanks and then bus back to the apartment - all sounds easy enough to me, and so it proved. It's just a bit of a shame the timings didn't work out that well - being reliant on the ferries and bus timetables meant we were sat around waiting for transport at times but at least the weather was really good, it would have been miserable had it been raining.

A lot has been made around the internet of the cost of going to Brownsea Island and I can see why. For us there was the bus fare there and back (for anyone driving there would have been fuel & parking costs), plus ferry costs, entry to the National Trust property/grounds on Brownsea Island, plus the optional couple of quid to access the Dorset Wildlife Trust reserve on the island. Most of those costs are unavoidable - for example, there is no way other than the ferry to access the island, short of having one's own boat I suppose - and they mount up, especially if you're going as a family. There were only the two of us and while I didn't find the costs prohibitive in any way I can see how some would see it as an issue. If only the various business involved could team up and offer some sort of discounted bundle ticket, then I think people would object less. Maybe the Brownsea Island ferry companies could sell tickets that included the National Trust entry and offer a quid off the total maybe. And if you are a National Trust member already maybe you should qualify for a discount on the ferry costs, not a large discount but even a quid shows willing doesn't it?

The main point to take from this trip was how quiet it was, both in human terms and for wildlife. There didn't seem to be very many people on the island at all, which suited me as it made trying to identify the birds by sound easier. It generally made for a more pleasant walk too, being out in nature without it other people being there too. Selfish? Maybe, but I'm sure we all enjoy nature better when there are fewer people around really, don't we?

We started by walking the longest trail round the island. OK, that's not entirely true, we started in the cafe as the missus was desperate for tea & cake. Then we did the long trail round the island which took us neatly to lunchtime. We saw very little in the morning, unfortunately. The highlight was probably a particular pine/fir tree that seemed to hold a number of birds. A while spent watching (glimpsing) them revealed that at least some of them were Coal Tits, adults and juveniles. But there were a few birds with a small orange-yellow patch on the back of the head that weren't Coal Tits, but what were they? Their behaviour was reminiscent of Goldcrest, as was the sound they were making (but then juvenile Coal Tits can sound like Goldcrests too) but the patch on the back of the head - which was definitely not crest-like - was confusing us. I asked the experts on here though and everyone seems to be in agreement - they were Goldcrests really. So there we go. Oh, and we saw a few Red Squirrels - not many (2 or 3 in the morning) but they are cute little creatures and it would have been awful to go all the way to Brownsea Island, famous for its Red Squirrels, and go away without seeing them.

A spot of lunch in the cafe was followed by an afternoon on the DWT reserve, paying special attention to the time throughout as we didn't want to miss the ferry back. But here we saw a lot more than we did on the National Trust side of the island so it was £2 each that was well spent in my opinion. DWT have set up a few hides around the place, mainly overlooking Poole Harbour and we managed to pick out a few waders plus the usual mix of ducks and geese plus Cormorants etc. It was here that we got great views of nesting terns (Common and Sandwich) that made me question the terns we had seen the previous afternoon down at Boscombe. I didn't really know there were Sandwich Terns round this area, till now. Saw singles of Shoveler and Teal too, birds we haven't seen much off since winter at London WWT. We also saw our first Sika Deer on the island on the DWT reserve - it was making it's way through some long grass near a reed bed.

All in all the DWT side of the island is much better set up for birding than the National Trust side but having paid to go in the NT side (and having had no choice in the matter) we felt we ought to have a look round it, which we did. But we only managed the long path round the outside and didn't really do much of the interior of the island, including a Red Squirrel trail we had picked up a leaflet for. So that was a bit of a shame but we simply didn't have the time to do it all. We got the first ferry over (10am) and the last ferry off the island (5pm) to Sandbanks and stopped for lunch in the cafe but we still had a lot of time outdoors around the island. We just didn't cover as much as we would have liked to, ultimately. If you're birding though the DWT reserve is a much better option than sticking to the NT grounds so maybe you can use that to determine how you cover the island if you go.

After we got the ferry back we had nearly an hour to wait for the 50 bus back so we sat watching the chain link ferry go back and forth while Cormorants flew in and out of the harbour and the Sandwich Terns divebombed the area for food. All in all quite a relaxing way to spend time in the sunshine really. In an ideal world I'd have used more of that time for birding Brownsea Island but given the relative bus and ferry schedules that simply wasn't an option. Ah well, plenty of time for more birding on other days.

Birds:
Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull, Canada Goose, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Common Tern, Cormorant, Gadwall, Goldcrest, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Little Egret, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Peafowl, Pied Wagtail, Redshank, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Shoveler, Swallow, Teal, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Woodpigeon; Domestic Chicken

Mammals:
Rabbit, Red Squirrel, Sika Deer

It would be remiss of me to close this post without a photo of a Red Squirrel, given its what Brownsea Island is famous for so here you go - enjoy!

AWAY DAY - RSPB Arne, 17th June

I will say this right at the start - without a car RSPB Arne is a pig to get to! We did it, and we knew in advance it wasn't going to be a cakewalk, but it's not something I would rush to do again. Some might say Brownsea Island is awkward and expensive to access but I would put Arne on that list to, if you don't have a car. If you have a car then it's a doddle - drive up, pay a very reasonable parking rate and off you go. If you are on public transport your options are more limited. We got the train from Branksome to Wareham (the nearest station to Arne) then got a taxi up to the RSPB reserve. The taxi cost us around £14, and of course we had to do the same thing in reverse
at the end of the day so it didn't make for a cheap day out at all. Not that cost is a factor particularly, but at least with Brownsea Island most of the cost to us goes to someone who is doing something to help wildlife such as the National Trust or Dorset Wildlife Trust. In this case the RSPB didn't get a penny out of us (other than a quid the missus spent on a coffee from the machine there) but a local taxi firm took nearly 30 quid! Yes, it the price one has to pay for not having a car and I accept that but I'd rather more of the cash we spent went towards helping wildlife.

Let's park that for now though and concentrate on RSPB Arne itself. I've not been to many RSPB reserves but I really like what they have done here. They have recognised that the site is only really accessible by car (I know I said I was putting that to one side, sorry) so have provided plenty of parking space. There is a small visitor centre which was open and manned (womanned, actually) till 5pm. In it was the usual sightings board (covering insects, butterflies & mammals as well as birds) plus a number of nature artifacts that had been found around the area - feathers, mammal bones etc - to give people an idea of what to expect from the area. There were a few information boards up to help people identify different species plus a number of seed & nut feeders had been set up to attract garden/woodland species and allow people some close up views of them. Plus there was a screen showing live footage from the Buzzard nest, with the volume set so that you can hear the birds and use that as an alert that something has happened, such as the mother coming back with food for the chicks. All in all it's an excellent set up, and other than parking costs it's all free. In terms of facilities there is nowhere to get anything to eat but there is a hot drinks machine and toilets (that were open after the visitor centre closed) so a decent effort I think.

There are numerous trails marked around Arne (there is a map in the visitor centre and plenty of trail markers around to help guide you) and is often the way with us we set out on the longest one first. This took us up past the farm, through the fields, through woodland and out towards the bay before heading back to the visitor centre. It was on this route, quite early on in fact, that I heard my first Cuckoo. We stopped and looked around but didn't see it but it was an unmistakeable sound. I say my first Cuckoo but I suppose what I actually mean is my first since I started birding, and keeping a list. After all, everyone knows what they sound like don't they? But this was the first one I was conscious of hearing. It was quite a touching moment really. Not long after that I caught sight of my first Buzzard too, swooping above the treetops over one of the wooded areas and rising off into the sky. Quite beautiful, and another tick I was really pleased to get. I don't know about anyone else but I feel my list (and thus life) is somewhat lacking if I don't get the ticks that aren't that hard to come by. Buzzards are by no means scarce in the UK so it feels like one of those ticks I ought to have, but
until Arne I just didn't. And now I do - hurrah!

In the afternoon we did the trail out over Coombe Heath before coming back to do another of the shorter trails that take in some areas we hadn't already covered. We were hopeful of Dartford Warbler on the heathland but didn't see any, unfortunately. We did see a few pipits, all of which turned out to be Meadow Pipits which is a shame as having seen them up on Ilkley Moor I was hoping for another tick in the form of a Tree Pipit but it was not to be. Ah well. The lovely lady in the visitor centre said, when we showed her the photo of one of the pipits amongst some heather, that she thought it was either a pipit or a Woodlark and yeah, Meadow Pipit indeed.

Overall I really enjoyed Arne. It's a beautiful reserve and Wareham is a very quaint little town/village too. It has a very pretty quay area on the far side of town from the train station that I really recommend visiting in the sunshine. And if going by train it's worth taking a walk towards town and stopping on the bridge as you cross a small river to have a quick look for birds as we spotted at least one Reed Warbler around there. So yeah, good day but I still slightly resent having to pay so much to the local taxi firm.

Birds:
Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Cormorant, Cuckoo (heard), Curlew, Dunnock, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Grey Heron, Greenfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Little Egret, Long Tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Nuthatch, Oystercatcher, Pigeon, Redshank, Reed Warbler, Robin, Shelduck, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Woodpigeon, Wren

Mammals:
Grey Squirrel, Rabbit, Sika Deer

AWAY DAY - Hengistbury Head, 18th June

Looking back this was probably by favourite day of the whole holiday. It's hard to pin down the exact reasons why that should be but seemingly trivial factors such as ease of access play a part. Hengistbury Head was easy to get to by public transport so that's a big plus for me. A bus ride through town and out the other side followed by a short(ish) walk and that's it, you're there. The facilities were good, the scenery was beautiful and there were enough birds - in terms of number and variety - to kep me interested. And after lashing out on taxis the previous day it was nice to enjoy some easy-to-get-to, cheap (free) birding.

Before I get on to the main points, such as the birds, I want to touch on the facilities more. Decent public toilets, an excellent cafe and a brilliant visitors' centre, the latter with a sightings board, various trail leaflets and even cameras on nests (including a Grey Heron nest). In other words there is enough to satisfy pretty much anyone who visits the headland for whatever purpose.

Our visit started with a wander round the areas between the car park and the cafe. There we picked up a good number of Greenfinch, House Sparrows and also picked up a few Linnet too. An enjoyable lunch in the cafe (complete with dozens of bold Starlings trying to pick crumbs and scraps of people's plates) was followed by a quick look in the visitors' centre where we picked up a booklet on the birds of Hengistbury Head, showing a couple of interesting trails to follow. So we set out to follow them and ended up covering most of the headland, fortunately. We walked right round the Christchurch harbour side of the site, to the point where the little ferry crosses the harbour, then back around the rest of the site, including a brief tea & cake stop in the cafe again.

The headland has a variety of environments and habitats. On the shoreline of the harbour we saw the usual gulls (Herring, Black Headed) and a few Little Egret, in keeping with the rest of the holiday really. There were a few ponds and semi-wetland areas with a few birds on interest. A field just near Christchurh harbour held a few Lapwing, unexpectedly. Some of the scrubbier areas held good numbers of Whitethroat plus Skylark and Meadow Pipit.

With the site not closing (the cafe & visitors' centre shut around 5pm) there was nothing to determine our timings for the day, no trigger for us to leave really. So after covering the main areas of the headland we decided to follow a path we had seen marked on the map towards Wick, just to see where it went and what we might see along the way. Yes, there was a clue on the map about the path leading to Wick, I know that, but what's there? That's what we intended to find out. Along the path we caught a very brief
glimpse of a raptor seemingly being mobbed but it was long gone before we got to a point where the foliage eased to such a point we could have attempted a better sighting. We did pick out some unexpected warblers on the way though - Cetti's Warbler and Reed Warbler included. We also spotted a young Fox, the first we had seen on this trip which stood out as we're pretty used to seeing a few urban foxes back at home and it was only when we saw this fella that we realised we hadn't seen foxes around town.

The area around Wick/Tuckton is gorgeous! Strolling through the grassy banked marina area between Wick and the Tuckton roundabout was really relaxing and I can see how that would really appeal during the summer evenings. It somehow didn't feel like Britain, it felt like being abroad. I can't put my finger on what makes me say that, especially when you consider there is a quintessentially British tea garden at the top end of the marina area, but that's how it felt. It made for a really pleasant end to what had been a really enjoyable day.

Birds:
Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Cetti's Warbler, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Coot, Cormorant, Great Black Backed Gull, Greenfinch, Green Woodpecker, Goldfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jay, Kestrel, Lapwing, Linnet, Little Egret, Magpie, Mallard, Meadow Pipit, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pheasant, Pied Wagtail, Reed Warbler, Robin, Sandwich Tern, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Skylark, Starling, Stonechat, Swallow, Swift, Whitethroat, Woodpigeon, Wren

Mammal:
Fox

AWAY DAY - Monkey World (Wool), 19th June

This was not a birding trip and I'm not really going to review a primate rescue centre but the birds seen on this trip make it worthy of mention here.

The day started early, much earlier than planned thanks to a bird outside, not far from the bedroom window, that decided 5 in the morning was the right time for a good old sing-song. It didn't help that once I had been woken by the noise I lay there thinking "what's that?" and couldn't place it. Soon I decided I may as well get up and solve the mystery. Thanks to listening to various audio files on my phone and the RSPB website I tracked down the culprit - I had been woken by a Wren. At least I knew what a Wren sounded like now so something positive came of being woken up at such an ungodly hour.

Monkey World involved a very similar train journey to that undertaken in order to visit Arne the other day, only this time we were going to Wool not Wareham. The other difference was once we got to Wool we planned to walk up to Monkey World. It didn't look that far - a mile and a bit, maybe half an hour - and so it proved. But what we didn't realise is the start of the walk involved going over a little river allowing us to pick up a few unexpected species for the day including another Cetti's Warbler. Better than that, on the way back, in the same area we caught sight of a raptor we are convinced was a Red Kite and as we reached the platform at Wool, heading back to Bournemouth, a Sparrowhawk flew over. We don't see many raptors on our local patch so to see two different species in less than five minutes was pretty memorable.

For me though the standout bird of the day was the Swallow. There were at least two Swallow nests around the Monkey World site, including one in one of the areas set up for visitors to watch one of the chimpanzee groups in their 'house'. We got a lot of strange looks from other people who wandered in to this area, saw us with the camera out taking lots of photos then realising we were looking up, above where one could view the chimps and were focusing on the Swallows. The young had all fledged but four of the
five of them were back in the nest, waiting for mum or dad to bring food, while the fifth chick sat on various perchs around the nest area, including the antenna of a wireless router at one point. The parents seemed to be quite attentive and brought food back regularly, something marked by a cocophony of noise from the young birds. But within a few minutes of us watching the nest it seemed the parents were encouraging the young out of the nest. One had already made its way out, unsurprisingly since the nest looked pretty crowded as the young were a similar size to the adults, and the others were clearly ready to come out and I assume had already been out previously as they seemed to need little encouragement to come out and enjoy the sunshine outside. The adults spent time encouraging the young further and further away from the nest and out into the open before sitting with them on the barriers round the top of the chimp enclosure. They didn't seem to mind the various House Sparrows that were about either. Maybe the Swallows, like me, found their dust bathing behaviour quite amusing and cute.

This was by far the best view I had ever had of Swallows, especially nesting ones. I know what they look like and have seen them darting about but never have I been able to get a decent photo of a Swallow as they're just too damn fast. But finally I was able to take my time and get some nice photos of what is quite an attractive bird.

This trip report is the one that started to make me question how I maintain my daily lists too. As the train goes between Poole and Wareham it passes a couple of areas (presumably at least one of which is part of Poole Harbour) that are good for spotting gulls and waders, not that there were many about but even so. It was only as I was writing this up and putting together the list of species seen that I started to ask things like "where did I see a Grey Heron that day?" I know it wasn't around the little river in Wool I mentioned earlier and I certainly didn't see one at Monkey World itself. It was a while before it struck me that I saw it from the train yet it goes down on
my list as Monkey World. I may need to revisit this method of listing. That said, having had a bit of a play with BirdTrack it could be the way they require sites to be defined will force my hand on this issue somewhat.

Birds:
Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Cetti's Warbler, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Great Black Backed Gull, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Jay, Little Egret, Mute Swan, Pied Wagtail, Pigeon, Red Kite, Robin, Sand Martin, Shelduck, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Swallow, Swift, Woodpigeon, Wren

Mammals:
Rabbit, Sika Deer

AWAY DAY - Studland, 20th June

The last birding trip of the holiday saw us take the ferry across from Sandbanks to Studland. The number 50 bus was called into action again, as it was for our Brownsea Island trip, only this time we stayed on the bus as it made its way across on the ferry. Our crossing was delayed for a few minutes by a tall ship coming into Poole Harbour (later identified as Tenacious, owned by the Jubilee Sailing Trust and the largest wooden tall ship built in the UK in the last 100 years). Something a bit different to see, certainly. The bus took us to Sudland village, where we got off and initially planned to walk round to Old Harry rocks but after finding the intended path blocked (something about it possibly eroding and becoming dangerous) we walked in the other direction, back towards Sandbanks instead.

Our relatively aimless pottering took in the Fort Henry (Operation Smash) bunker (unintentionally, I must admit), where people like Winston Churchill, Eisenhower and King George VI watched a practice run of the D-Day landings. We had lunch at a little cafe around Middle Beach where we sat watching two large military aircraft flying what looked like predetermined patterns leading me to wonder if they were practicing search and rescue drills or something. We'd seen the same planes flying over the same area when we were at Hengistbury Head a couple of days back too. Turns out they were apparently SBS (Secret Boat Service) planes and occasionally they do drops in that area so the military tradition of the area continues to this day.

After a spot of lunch we walked along the sand up to Knoll Beach where I picked up a trail leaflet & map to help find the various hides I knew were about the place. The nearest was Rees Cox hide a few minutes walk away, looking out onto Little Sea, from which we saw absolutely nothing. This was to become a bit of a running theme for these hides, unfortunately. From here we walked up along the peninsula, past the naturist area (I was very careful where I pointed my bins after catching sight of more than I bargained for as I tried to track a bird in flight) and through the heather towards Shell Bay where we expected to find a cafe, based on the map we had, but completely failed to do so. There was a restaurant by the chainlink ferry back to Sandbanks, which by now wasn't far away, but all we wanted was tea & cake but no joy. Instead we walked back down the main road (Ferry Road) towards Studland village once more taking in the remaining hides around Little Sea and the hide overlooking part of Poole Harbour. The story was basically the same as for the earlier hide - nothing happening. We'd timed it all wrong for the harbour hide (Brands Bay?) as the water had risen and the variety of birds we had seen earlier when we passed on the bus had more or less all gone leaving the usual gulls and Shelduck but little else.

The peninsula was another area, like Martin Mere the other week, that I felt I didn't know how to bird or what to see where so I was unsure how to get the best from the day. We were hopeful of Dartford Warbler and saw something we thought was such a bird but at the time, in the strong light, we couldn't be sure we weren't seeing features that weren't actually there. The one or two photos we grabbed were able to confirm it as a Dartford Warbler though so that was a good tick. I had worried late on in the day that we should have been over on the heath more than the beach in order to stand a better chance of seeing more interesting species such as the Dartford Warbler.

By the time we had wandered down Ferry Road, taking in the various hides, and made it back to Knoll Beach the cafe there was shut so tea and cake were definitely off the menu. I had seen a shop in Studland village so I convinced the missus we should walk back down there and see if that is still open. This was a pretty hard sell at the time as we had been on our feet for a long time (both today and this week) and she had sore knees but we had also just about run out of water so I managed to convince her that our
best chance of getting a drink was that shop in the village. And had we got there 10 or 15 minutes earlier I'd have been right but as it was the shop was shut. The nearest pub (Harry's Bar) didn't open for another 45 minutes so that wasn't an option. There are other pubs in the area but given the frequency of the buses (every hour) we had decided to head back home rather than hang around in Studland too much longer. So we sat on a bench near the village green for a short while till the bus was due. It was sat
there that we were given a rather unexpected reminder of home, as a small flock of Ring-Necked Parakeets flew over. We looked at one another with one of those "were they really what I thought they were?" looks on our faces so I had a quick google to check and yep, it seems Studland supports a small population of Ring-Necked Parakeets. Well, well, you learn something new every day.

As I said above, the missus had sore knees and wasn't refueled by cake mid-afternoon otherwise we may have covered the area better and more thoroughly and so could have picked up several more species than we actually managed. The various hides offered some very pretty views but ultimately no birds, really.

Birds:
Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blackcap, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Cormorant, Dartford Warbler, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron, Goldfinch, Herring Gull, House Sparrow, Jay, Little Egret, Magpie, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Reed Warbler, Ring Necked Parakeet, Robin, Shelduck, Stonechat, Swallow, Woodpigeon, Wren

Mammals:
Grey Squirrel, Rabbit, Sika Deer

Richmond Park, 29th June

Back on my local patch after the recent holiday and this was another solo jaunt into Richmond Park as the missus opted to go shopping instead. I ummed and ahhed about where to go having not visited the park for four weeks now. I couldn't decide what I was aiming to see, which would determine where in the park I would go, or where I would go and thus what I was likely to see. In the end I decided to more or less follow what has become our standard route through the park, but with a little twist so I went in Kingston Gate, up towards Ladderstile Gate, through Isabella Plantation, round Pen Ponds and then home. Right up till the last minute I wasn't sure how the route after Pen Ponds was going to turn out - I couldn't decide between going out of Ladderstile Gate, and thus get a different walk back to the one I took to get there, or go back out of Kingston Gate and take advantage of the excellent ice cream van that is often parked there. In the end Kingston Gate won but that was because I fancied a different route through the park rather than an ice cream, but the ice cream was a well deserved reward at the end of the day.

It had occurred to me on the walk to the park that we were now into that time of year when there should be a number of deer fawns, Red and Fallow, but remarkably I didn't see many deer at all while I was in the park. I saw odd singles of the two deer species but nothing more than that really, despite my route around the park taking in a number of areas that are known deer areas. It wasn't until I got to the White Ash Pond area, after leaving Pen Ponds, that I saw any deer at all. There are around 700 deer in the park and I saw around 4! Mind you, in some places the bracken is now so high that it could be hiding a number of fully grown deer, let alone the young fawns.

Isabella Plantation held a couple of surprises this time round in the shape of a young Fox cub and a Treecreeper, neither of which I had seen in there before. In fact I had only ever seen one fox in the park in the few years we have been going there. The fact it was a young cub suggests there are probably adult foxes in the area too so perhaps the chances of seeing foxes in the park may be better than before. I've seen Treecreepers in a few locations around the park but this was the first I have seen in Isabella Plantation and was more remarkable because it was on what I am sure is rhododendron rather than on a proper tree, which is where I have seen them in the past. I thought I had seen a Stock Dove around Pegs Pond too but after looking at the photos I took I realise now it's just a standard Rock Dove so the Stock Dove still eludes me.

There was a good showing of Grey Heron at the park too, including several occupied nests on Pen Ponds. One of the nests had two quite well developed young in it so the future looks bright for these birds. They are one of the species I really look out for around here and am delighted to see them doing so well. Pen Ponds also saw a remarkable number of Canada Geese, there were probably 70+ in the corner where people often gather to feed the birds. There are normally a good number of these geese around but this time there were certainly more than normal. There were also a decent number of Swift around the two ponds as well. When I first saw them the Swift were quite high but they soon dropped down, swooping right over the water at such a low level that I was slightly concerned about them catching their wingtips on the surface but thankfully that didn't happen. They're obviously pretty well practiced at this flying business!

After saying recently I felt I had more bird song and calls nailed I found myself getting a bit confused on this trip. At times I found myself confused as to whether I was hearing the "teacher teacher" of a Great Tit or the "chiff chaff" of a Chiffchaff (obviously). In hindsight it would make more sense for it to have been Great Tit but at the time I wasn't really sure. More practice required, methinks.

Birds:
Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit juv, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Common Tern, Coot, Great Crested Grebe, Great Tit juv, Grey Heron, Greenfinch, Jackdaw, Jay, Magpie, Mallard, Mandarin Duck, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pigeon, Reed Warbler, Ring Necked Parakeet, Swift, Treecreeper, Tufted Duck, Whitethroat, Woodpigeon, Wren

Mammals:
Fallow Deer, Fox, Grey Squirrel, Rabbit, Red Deer

River Thames & Home Park, 30th June

An unusual spot of Monday afternoon birding for me. For reasons I won't (can't) go into a managed to get an afternoon off work so decided the best way to spend it was out among nature and having done Richmond Park the day before I felt like a slight change of scenery so I walked down the Thames from Kingston Bridge to Raven's Ait, in through the gate (Surbiton Passage?) to Home Park and then back through Kingston. In Home Park I wandered round The Rick Pond, up the golf course side of Long Water, back down and round the overflow ponds/pools, up the other side of Long Water, across to the stud house then over towards Hampton Wick Pond.

I was hoping to be at one with nature and to get away from various issues at work but it seemed nature had other plans because there wasn't a lot of anything about. In terms of bird species seen it was especially disappointing. Home Park is home to a herd of Fallow Deer but they were all off in the distance so I didn't really see them. I did see a few individuals on my travels, and at least one of them helped determine my route as it was settled on the path on the north side of Long Water so I changed my intended route to give it a very wide berth, especially since there was a good chance it had young with it.

The walk along the Thames was pretty unremarkable. The section of the river I covered didn't even hold Great Crested Grebe like it normally does. The Mute Swans and Canada Geese where there as normal but not much else of interest. Home Park was more interesting, but not by much. Long Water hosted a wider variety of birds than the Thames had, including a Pied Wagtail family and the Great Crested Grebe I hadn't seen on the river. The area just north of Long Water was home to the first Skylark I had seen for a couple of weeks too. There was a possible/probable pipit that flew low overhead but I didn't get a chance to ID it. The only other thing worth noting was that I was out for around two and a half hours and it wasn't until I was leaving Home Park, a couple of hours into the trip, that I saw & heard my first parakeet of the afternoon. Most unusual for that area. I don't think it's a reflection on how the population is faring though, just one of those things.

River Thames:
Black Headed Gull, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Grey Heron, Jackdaw, Long Tailed Tit, Mallard, Mute Swan, Pigeon, Sand Martin, Song Thrush, Swallow, Woodpigeon; Rabbit

Home Park:
Black Headed Gull, Carrion Crow, Coot, Egyptian Goose, Great Crested Grebe, Green Woodpecker, Grey Heron, Jackdaw, Magpie, Mallard, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Pied Wagtail, Ring Necked Parakeet, Skylark, Tufted Duck; Fallow Deer; Rabbit

Garden update, 5th & 6th July

I haven't been out and about this weekend, partly because the weather didn't really seem up to it for most of the weekend and also partly because I didn't really feel like it. I felt like having a lazy weekend instead. But that doesn't mean I don't have something vaguely interesting to report.

The other day, on another thread, I jotted down the variety of birds I get in the garden and in doing so surprised myself because it was a wider variety than I thought. In that post I said Starlings were winter and spring visitors but over the weekend we got several visits from a couple of juvenile Starlings who were keen to take advantage of the easy food on offer. One in particular seemed quite happy to sit on a feeder tray pecking at mealworm fat balls in a nearby feeder. They're at the age where they look quite odd - half of their feathers are browny juvenile feathers and half are the glossy, speckled adult feathers. It's almost like the front half is a different bird to the back half.

The other unusual visitor we've had many times this weekend is a Magpie, a juvenile I think but it's a little hard to tell. I have seen Magpies in the area quite often, especially in the trees in the gardens around ours but they don't usually come into our garden itself. But this weekend one made several landings on the top of the shed and from there made the short hop/glide down to the feeders. Like the juvenile Starling he sat on one of the trays pecking merry hell out of the fat balls. I did see him fly up into one of the trees behind our garden a few times and yesterday afternoon I saw him up there with another Magpie but I'm not sure if it was a parent or sibling. Only one Magpie has been coming down into our garden though.

The Goldfinches are back too. It's been a quiet few weeks for goldies but they were back on Saturday and Sunday to take advantage of the free food. They amuse me when they eat from our feeders as they usually seem to be in a pair, one either side of the feeder. It's as though they can't manage on their own, without a partner to balance the feeder. They're unusually bright and attractive for British garden birds though so it's always a delight to see their splash of colour when one looks out the window.

The Grey Squirrels have been out in force too. A lot of the weekend saw three individuals all taking it in turns to raid the nuts and seeds. I think it might have been two parents and a young but that's based mostly on tail size & bushiness rather than anything else. It's a touch unusual to see three together in the garden as there aren't that many feeders to go round. On Saturday afternoon one squirrel was content to sit below the mixed seed feeder and pick up the bits that the squirrel above was flinging out as he munched away. At least the feeders we have now seem to be surviving the squirrels. We had to invest in metal ones as they had eaten their way through several plastic ones. And I like the squirrels coming round so don't want to get squirrel-proof feeders or any sort of baffle. I just wish they wouldn't destroy the feeders we do have out.

Woodpigeons are the other species we see a lot of in the garden and this weekend has been nothing unusual in that respect. I haven't noticed any significant variation in their numbers of behaviour. But on Saturday night I'm pretty sure I spotted a new garden tick from the bathroom window - a Stock Dove. This would be the second time in recent weeks I have been pretty sure of seeing a Stock Dove in the garden but by the time I have spotted it then got the camera out to record the visit for posterity it has gone. We don't get many feral Rock Doves or 'city' pigeons out around us, only Woodpigeons really so when I do see other dove types they tend to stand out for me. I was even more sure of this sighting as last week in Richmond Park I spent a while photographing and studying a bird I suspected of being a Stock Dove but on closer inspection was one of the closest things to a genuine Rock Dove I have seen in a long time. But that led me to paying close attention to the differences between Stock Dove and Rock Dove, in particular around the eyes and beak so when I saw the dove out the bathroom window on Saturday night I was much more confident in my ID. I'm still not listing it yet though, I can't quite persuade myself to commit to it. Having seen the bird a couple of times in the garden over the last couple of weeks I am hoping it will show again soon and I can confirm the ID once and for all.

Finally, on Sunday evening I went out into the garden to play with, and pet, a local kitten that has been coming round quite a lot in the last week or so. It has no fear whatsoever, much to the chagrin of my two cats who don't seem to like it when the young upstart shows a great deal of interest in them and runs over to get a closer look before getting hissed and growled at. I do worry about the young fella but he seems to be doing OK. He may become trouble when he's older though. Anyway, we were playing in the garden when I heard a strange noise and looked up to see three Grey Heron flying over. It looked like two adults and a juvenile, based on size, but I didn't get a great look at the middle bird and it could have been a single adult with two juveniles. They would have flown right overhead (at not much above roof height) unnoticed had the lead bird not made this odd-sounding call as it approached our garden. Grey Heron flying over is not that unusual and occasionally I have spotted them resting on local rooftops but it's certainly not an everyday occurrence and brought the curtain down on quite a busy and interesting weekend from a birding point of view, and all without going anywhere.