SEPTEMBER 2010

Dungeness RSPB Reserve in Kent was the first reserve to be created by the RSPB in the 1930s and has expanded over the years as it has taken over various worked out gravel extraction pits. Dungeness is a place you either hate or love. In winter it can be a cold forbidding area visited only by the keenest of  birdwatchers and fishermen. In spring and summer as the vegetation turns green, with large areas of reed beds and strange flowering plants, the reserve becomes a beautiful but still strange habitat. The area is dominated by a nuclear power station, rows of electrical power pylons, odd looking bungalows, some now decorated in bright colours, sheds selling locally caught fish, a small gauge railway, two lighthouses and vast areas of shingle  making the place look ugly to some, but a source of inspiration to artists, nature lovers and birdwatchers. The area can hold a host of  interesting species of birds, butterflies and insects.

This year saw a pair of purple herons breed and hatch young among the reed beds of the reserve. This is the first time that this bird has nested in the British Isles, its normal breeding range in Europe being south of  the 51 degree latitude, except for a number of birds nesting in the Netherlands. The purple herons in Europe migrate to spend the winter in Africa, south of the Sahara. Bitterns have become a regular visitor to the reserve during the past few winters.

This year  up to three bitterns have been seen during the spring and summer, with at least one bird booming regularly. A pair of bitterns could well be nesting on the reserve but there is no positive evidence as of yet. At least two pairs of marsh harriers have frequented the reserve this year with one pair producing young. Several hobbys (a small summer raptor) can be seen chasing dragonflies, and a red-footed falcon was reported on a number of occasions during the spring. Good numbers of sedge warblers, reed warblers and a few Cetti’s warblers nest on the reserve, and breeding bearded tits can be seen flitting through the reed beds. In the last year such birds as great white egret, cattle egret, spoonbill, common crane, and glossy ibis have all turned up on the reserve. These birds together with the purple heron have all been birds of a more southern Europe distribution in the past, and it is thought that maybe climate change is allowing these birds to expand northwards. Being in the south east corner of England the area is a major thoroughfare for migrating wildfowl, waders, warblers and chats both in the spring and autumn. On the coast by the power station the spring migration of sea birds up the channel can be spectacular with gannets, auks, divers, terns and skuas passing through. At the nearby pub “The Pilot” one can have a fish and chip lunch that is something special, but you need to get there early as it quickly fills up.

The September indoor meeting is on Wednesday 8th, at the White Hart Barn, Godstone, starting at 8.00pm. The talk is by John Wyatt and is entitled “Pharaoh’s Birds” -  an insight into how ancient Egypt relates to modern birding. Everyone is welcome, admission £3.00.

The field trip in September is on Sunday 19th to Beachy Head, Belle Tout and Birling gap looking for passage migrants. Field trips start from Godstone Green car park at 8.00am,where we try to share cars -  bring a packed lunch.

JULY 2010

An evening visit to part of Ashdown Forest in the middle of June found up to four Dartford warblers in one area. After the cold harsh weather of the past winter, there was great concern that this bird would have suffered badly. Dartford warbler numbers are known to drop substantially through cold winters, but it looks as if their numbers may have not have suffered as much as was first thought, certainly in the Ashdown Forest area. Looking at the records coming in for Southern England the numbers of  Dartford warblers seem to be similar to the year 2009, but still down on the year 2008. In the same area of the forest there were good numbers of young stonechat, another bird that can suffer from cold winters. Also in the forest there have been good numbers of singing willow warblers this spring, a bird that has seen a drop in numbers in recent years , particularly in southern Britain. Ashdown Forest is probably the best site within easy reach to see redstart, a summer breeding migrant. The plumage of the male bird  rivals any colourful bird from more tropical countries. Crossbills  also now frequent the forest in good numbers.

June can be a quiet month for birds in the garden with young blue tits and great tits having left the nests and moved to mature broad-leaved trees to feed. Blackbirds and song thrushes are on their second brood of eggs and young and because the trees and shrubs are now in full leaf, their nests are usually well hidden. Greenfinches seem to have increased locally with young birds starting to come into gardens to feed and goldfinches, which usually only start to nest in mid May, have seen the first young starting to appear by the middle of June. Young great spotted woodpeckers will be on the wing and no doubt coming into gardens to feed on peanuts.

With this spring being good weather wise and hopefully a good early summer, most of our common local birds should have a good breeding season. By the time you read this article in early July, many birds will have finished breeding, and by the end of July the autumn migration south will have started. The year seems to roll round so quickly. The first of the waders will have started to move by the end of July and the majority of swifts will have left. August will see some of the warblers moving south, look out for young willow warblers coming into gardens.

The indoor meeting for July is on Wednesday 14th at the White Hart Barn, Godstone starting at 8.00pm. The speaker will be Nigel Choat who will give a talk on “Wild Surrey” -  a look at natural history photographed within a twenty five mile radius of Guildford. Everyone is welcome, admission £3.00. There is no indoor meeting in August, we start again in September on the 8th.

The field trip in July is on Sunday 18th which is our mystery trip, the venue being decided at the last minute, depending on where we think the interesting birds may be. The field trip in August is on Sunday 15th to Lullington Heath in Sussex to look for downland birds and butterflies. The field trips start from Godstone Green car park at 8.00 am.

JUNE 2010

The hobby, is a small raptor that is one of our more spectacular falcons and an uncommon summer migrant to our area usually arriving in May. In the past the hobby was very much a Surrey bird, with small numbers breeding in the western half of Surrey on heathland habitat, and was depicted on the jacket of the “Birds of Surrey 1900-1970” and also on the jacket of the latest “Birds of Surrey” published in the year 2007.

From a distance the hobby looks like a large swift and is probably the only falcon that can out- fly a swift, but is generally seen catching dragonflies and devouring them in flight. Generally its plumage looks similar to a peregrine but with conspicuous red flanks, and looks smaller and more elegant than a peregrine.

Historically, hobbys probably bred in Surrey in the early nineteenth century, but became scarcer later in that century, although one record quotes them nesting in the Caterham area in about 1897. The hobby increased in numbers during the twentieth century in Surrey, but their numbers were always held back by egg collectors and shooting. The typical nest site of hobbys is an old disused carrion’s nest, often in a scots pine. Their numbers seem to fluctuate from one year to the next, with forty seven being recorded in 1998, but this dropped to thirty two in 2001. Currently breeding hobbys are spread thinly across most rural areas of Surrey. They are generally seen in our area in the spring as they arrive and again later in the summer as they begin to migrate south, although they have bred in our area.

Hobbys are uncommon to common across most of Europe and western Russia, generally being more common further east. In the British Isles it’s a bird of the southern counties although it has been recorded as far north as Scotland. In the winter and on migration hobbys form small feeding flocks and communal night roosts, often in association with other insect eating small falcons. Most hobbys spend the winter in southern Africa.

The group indoor meeting for June is on Wednesday 9th  at the White Hart Barn, Godstone starting at 8.00pm. The speaker will be Chris Ward who will give a talk entitled “Birds of Aphrodite’s Island” – the birds and wildlife of Cyprus. Everyone is welcome, admission £3.00.

The field trip for June is to Lakenheath Reserve in Suffolk, on Sunday 20th. This will be an early start meeting at Godstone Green car park at 6.30am.

We are also running two evening trips to Ashdown Forest to see nightjars on Friday June 11th and Friday June 25th meetingin Godstone at 7.30pm and in the Long car park, Ashdown Forest, on the A22 at 8pm.

MAY 2010

We are now in the third year of the BTO Bird Atlas Survey. The survey is for four years running from the year 2007 to 2011, the idea of the survey being to map the distribution and abundance of our resident and migrant birds. This summer particular effort is being made to ascertain the abundance of our breeding birds. Last year was a particularly good summer for many of our commoner birds, but with the past winter being much harsher than many of our recent winters, it will be interesting to see what effect it will have had on the numbers of our local birds breeding in our area.

Early indications show that our commoner birds such as blackbird, song thrush, robin and dunnock have started to nest as early as in previous years, and by early April blue tits and great tits had started to show great interest in selecting nesting sites. The first of our summer migrants have turned up roughly at the same time as in previous years. The first week in April saw chiffchaff singing in many areas and blackcap starting to arrive in good numbers. Sand martins and swallows started arriving by the first week in April, with some  earlier records of swallows and even the odd house martin. The second half of April sees the main influx of  most of our summer migrants, while our blackbirds, song thrushes and robins could well be on their second brood.

Since the year 2007 I have covered a number of survey tetrads in the Godstone and Bletchingley area, and I have found breeding evidence of many of the birds one would expect to find in our area, but there are a number of birds that were relatively common a few years ago that so far are missing. Cuckoos were heard everywhere a few short years ago but their numbers have declined and I have a number of areas where I have not found them, so I would like to hear from anyone who hears a cuckoo this summer. Nightingales are relatively common in suitable habitat, and although we don’t have many areas locally that are ideal for these birds, I’m sure that we probably have the odd pair breeding locally. Old records show that nightingales have bred in our area, so again I would like to hear from anyone who thinks they have heard a nightingale. They usually sing from late April to the middle of June most years. Spotted flycatchers were a common summer breeding bird during the seventies but have been in decline since the eighties, and are now a rather uncommon summer visitor, so again I would like to hear from anyone who sees a spotted flycatcher this summer. Other birds that I would like to hear about include Lesser spotted woodpecker, willow tit, marsh tit and turtle dove. Any information on the aforementioned birds would be gratefully appreciated.

The group indoor meeting for May is on Wednesday 12th at the White Hart Barn, Godstone starting at 8pm. The speaker will be Sue Buckingham a well known visitor to our group. Sue will give a talk entitled “Flowers of South East England” - the species and habitat of the region including the Downs. Everyone is welcome, admission £3.00.

The field trip for May is a coach trip to Minsmere RSPB Reserve in Suffolk on May 9th, leaving Godstone at 7.30am, although this trip is almost fully booked.

APRIL 2010

A bittern was present at the Bay Pond, Godstone, through part of February and into March, which is the second  record of this bird at the Bay Pond in recent years. Locally this winter, bitterns have also been seen at Weirwood Reservoir, Boughbeech Reservoir, Sevenoaks and Nutfield. The bittern, a secretive skulking bird of the wetlands and reed beds, has become a very rare bird in the last hundred and fifty years. It is assumed that bitterns once bred in Surrey in swampy areas along the River Thames and perhaps elsewhere in the distant past, but there are no positive records. Nationally bitterns ceased to be a breeding bird  by the1860s due to land drainage, hunting and egg collectors. They were considered to be a good table dish, and it has been said that people seldom sat down to their Sunday meal without a roast bittern on the table.

The bittern became  a rare winter visitor with an odd record of a bird being seen in the Godstone area in the winter of 1879/80, with other records of wintering birds locally in such places as Lingfield and Gatton. In 1911 a pair of bitterns nested in Norfolk, and slowly their numbers increased slightly, mostly in East Anglia, until 1990 when they again became almost extinct as a breeding bird. Only very small numbers were reported during the winters. From 1970 to 2006 some hundred and thirty two wintering bitterns were recorded in Surrey, mostly these were birds from continental Europe. During this period bitterns were reported locally from Gatton, Hedgecourt, Holmethorpe Sand Pits, Old Oxted and Reigate.

This last winter has seen a dramatic increase in wintering bitterns, particularly in east and southern England. This is due to two factors i.e.  major conservation work to encourage breeding resulted last year in eighty two calling bitterns being recorded and thirty nine nests being found, plus the  harsh winter across continental Europe forced increasing numbers of bitterns into the slightly milder climate of England. It is hoped that newly created reed beds in many areas will encourage bitterns to become an increasing breeding bird to our country, although because of their secretive and skulking nature they will always be difficult to see, but their booming call in the spring may become a commoner sound in our countryside.

The indoor group meeting in April is on Wednesday 14th at the White Hart Barn, Godstone starting at 8.00pm. At the beginning of this meeting we have our AGM which is usually a very short affair. The guest speaker on this occasion will be Sue Armstrong Brown, the Head of Agricultural Policy for the RSPB. Sue will give a talk entitled 'Farming, Birds and the Countryside'. As this talk is preceded by our AGM we cannot charge admission, but donations are always gratefully appreciated.

The April field trip is on Sunday 18th to Stodmarsh and Grove Ferry in Kent. Meet at Godstone Green car park at 8.00am. We are also running a field trip to Seaford Head and Splash Point on Sunday 25th April with a 6.30am start at Splash Point for a sea watch. These sea watches at this site in the spring can be very productive with the chance of seeing skuas, terns, sea duck and divers.

MARCH 2010

The cold harsh weather of late December and early January with snow laying over several days and temperatures below freezing for days on end, may well have had quite an adverse affect on our local birds. The cold winter of 1962/63 where large areas of the country were under snow from Boxing day of 1962 until March 1963 had a terrible affect on some of our birds, (some of us oldies can still remember that winter)! Numbers of birds such as kingfishers, grey herons and many waders were reduced by up to ninety percent, and the small numbers of Dartford warblers were virtually wiped out.

Today we are in a much better position to see the recovery of our bird numbers. The cold spell of the past winter did not last too long, and with much greater numbers of people partaking in providing food for birds in gardens, and organisations such as the RSPB providing extra food in areas of high numbers of wintering birds, greater numbers of some birds should have been able to sustain themselves during the worst of the weather. One hopes that our bird numbers will recover quickly.

Although it is too early in the year to see what the lasting affect of the cold spell will have had on our bird population, much greater monitoring of bird populations these days should give us early indications of the affects of the cold weather, and there are some optimistic signs that the recovery should be rapid. Last year was a very good breeding year for many of our commoner birds, therefore greater numbers should have survived, and as not all of the country was under snow at any one time many birds will have been able to move to areas less affected by the weather. Birds such as kingfisher, blue tit and great tit that suffer badly in any prolonged cold spell produce large clutches of eggs and therefore young in a season, and can recover quickly. Many of our common birds such as robin, dunnock, blackbird and song thrush rear a number of broods in a year, and usually make up numbers lost quickly.

One bird that will no doubt take a long time to recover from this winter will be the Dartford warbler. Southern Britain is really at the northern edge of the breeding range of Dartford warbler, and after the winter of 1962/63 the only strongholds of this bird was on the Hampshire/Surrey border and the New Forest. Throughout the seventies and eighties its numbers increased only very slowly, but with the milder winters throughout the nineties Dartford warbler numbers increased and they moved into new areas. Locally we saw good numbers of this warbler breeding on Ashdown Forest in recent years, but the cold weather of last February saw a collapse in numbers and with the cold spell of this winter could see this bird back to the small numbers of the late sixties.

The BTO Breeding Survey is in its third year this year, and with many thousands of volunteers monitoring vast areas of the country, we should quickly be able to see how the bird populations recover from cold spell of this winter.

The group indoor meeting in March is on Wednesday 10th at the White Hart Barn, Godstone starting at 8.00pm. The speaker will be David Boag - a well known speaker at our meetings, who will give a talk entitled “Safari – a book in the making” about the excitement, spectacle and amusing moments of an African wildlife trip. Everyone is welcome, admission £3.00.

The March field trip is on Sunday 14th to Rye Harbour – Long Lagoon and Castle Water, with the chance of seeing some winter wildfowl, bittern and maybe long-eared owl. Meet at Godstone Green car park at 8.00am. Bring or wear cold weather clothing, packed lunch and a hot drink.

FEBRUARY 2010

The cold weather, ice and snow of late December and early January indicates that we may be in for a colder winter than we have had for a number of years. My garden, on the southern edge of Godstone village, produced an abundant crop of various berries during the autumn, but by the end of the year these had been stripped by blackbirds, song thrushes, mistle thrushes, redwing and fieldfare. Firstly they took the rowan berries , then moved on to stripping the cotoneaster, and finally taking the apples from a variety of Siberian crab apple tree. This variety of crab apple is good in that it retains the apples on the tree all winter, unless of course the birds take them in the first part of the winter, as is the case this year.

The colder weather has certainly produced larger numbers of birds into the garden, some days we have seen up to seven blackbirds feeding. Most of these no doubt are birds that have come from eastern Europe to spend the winter here. Mistle thrushes are a common bird in our area, but we rarely get them in the garden, although the easy pickings of berries was no doubt the attraction. Both fieldfare and redwing are regular winter visitors to our area, but so far this winter the flocks of these birds have been quite small compared to some years. No doubt if the cold weather continues it will drive the birds from further north into our area.

Blue tits and great tits had a good breeding year last year and this is reflected in larger numbers of these birds coming to the garden. Up to four great spotted woodpeckers regularly visit the garden feeding on peanuts and sunflower hearts. Chaffinches have now increased in numbers with over ten birds coming in each day, although goldfinches, which numbered over twenty coming into the garden in October, have dropped away to less than ten at the moment. A flock of over thirty siskin have been in the trees just outside the garden since October, but as of yet very few have come into the garden. No doubt there are still plenty of alder cones for them to feed on. Lesser redpolls numbers are down this winter compared to last winter, but it may be that like the siskin they are feeding on alder. Both the pied and grey wagtail have been in the garden which is always a sign of colder weather.

For the second winter running we have had a little egret in the garden. It lands in the garden then walks down to feed in the stream at the bottom of the garden, probably attracted to the stream because the larger bodies of water in the area are frozen over. A kingfisher has put in brief appearance over the stream, perching on a branch just outside the garden. Even black-headed gulls have come into the garden when the snow has been on the ground to take scraps, landing briefly to take a morsel before flying off. So keep a look out for the birds in your garden, as this could be a good winter for less common birds such as yellowhammer, reed bunting or a brambling.

The group indoor meeting in February is on Wednesday 10th at the White Hart Barn, Godstone starting at 8.00pm. The speaker will be Bill Coster who will give a talk entitled “Birds of the Shetland Isles” a digital presentation of this popular birding destination. Everyone is welcome, admission £3.00.

The February field trip is on Sunday 14th to East Head and Snowhill Marsh in Sussex, meeting at Godstone Green car park.

JANUARY 2010

In 2010 the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch is on the weekend of January 30th – 31st, the idea being to count the maximum number of bird species you can see in a one hour period over the weekend. You can choose any particular hour, but early morning or mid afternoon tends to be the time when the maximum number of birds are feeding. The Bird Watch is carried out in January because it is the middle of winter, and usually cold, which brings the birds into gardens looking for food and shelter. Picking one hour to do the survey means many more people, including children, are likely to take part, rather than having a survey over several hours. The RSPB is hoping that at least 450,00 people will take part, meaning that something like 250,000 gardens are being surveyed.

The Big Garden Bird Watch started in the late 1970’s, when the RSPB asked their junior membership to count the birds in their garden for one hour over the weekend at the end of January. The idea was so successful that it has been an annual event since 1979. Last year 551,000 people took part and 8.5 million birds were counted The results give us an insight into the number of birds in each region, and an indication of increasing or decreasing numbers of individual bird species. If you do not have a garden a local park etc can be used to carry out the count. For further information on the Big Garden Bird Watch go to the website :- www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch.

The popularity of bird food and feeders in recent years has meant an increasing numbers of birds coming into gardens to feed, either on feeders or other sources of food such as over wintering insects and larvae. Other than blue tits, great tits, blackbirds, song thrushes, we have seen such birds as goldfinch, nuthatch, great spotted woodpecker, collared dove and coal tit becoming regular visitors to gardens. Long-tailed tits, siskins, lesser redpoll and even goldcrest have been attracted to garden bird feeders and very recently bullfinches have been known to come to feeders on occasions. If your garden has shrubs that hold berries during the winter months, you may attract in mistle thrushes, and if the weather is really cold there is always the chance of seeing redwing and fieldfare in the garden. With more bird species using gardens to feed, it sometimes attracts in birds that are normally not associated with gardens, particularly in more rural areas. Yellowhammers and reed bunting are two birds that are seen in gardens very occasionally and, if you are lucky, you may see a wintering blackcap or chiffchaff. If you are really lucky one may see waxwing in the garden, although to date the numbers of waxwings reported in the country this winter is very low compared to last year.

The group indoor meeting in January is on Wednesday 13th , where the speaker will be Barry Wright who will give a talk entitled “Travels in South America”. (Well, it would have been but for the inclement weather! We hope to rebook Barry Wright in the near future. Web editor. )

The January field trip is on Sunday 17th to the Dungeness area in Kent. The February field trip is on Sunday 14th to East Head and Snowhill Marsh in Sussex, meeting at Godstone Green car park at 8.00am for both trips.