Keep it local

Only made it as far as Beddington Park today. Surprising amount of dog walkers for one small park!! Still that kept me close too and in the River Wandle for a while. Good to see Grey Wagtails and a Little Egret fishing around the leaf litter and litter trying to find some food.

Chatting in Chaldon

This morning a trip down to Chaldon to the church of St Peter and St Paul was the order of the day. Its a modestly small church which I'm guessing indicates how many people lived here during the medieval period. Amazingly the church is left open and it was hard too leave as it was cosy inside.

Inside the church is an amazing mural dating from the late 12th century depicting Heaven, Hell and the deadly sins.

Wittering in Wotton

Spent a couple of hours in Wotton on Sunday. Its just West of Dorking and was surprisingly chilly. Wasn't happy with most of the pics so below are the best of a bad bunch. The church is the burial place of John Evelyn ( diarist ) though i never got in the church to have a look. To the West of the church are some fields crammed full of corn and it was above these fields that the Buzzards kept me entertained during my chilly stay by mewing loudly, constantly, the Jackdaws racing up to meet them in menacing black clouds that soon evaporated and Black-headed Gulls arguing over who had rights to the spilt corn.

Ooh its me 

Away to the coast

So a long weekend comes to an end. Staying at the Haven in Caister, just up the coast from Great Yarmouth which is a Martin Parr kinda town i feel. The beach right next to the camp showed close views of a seal in what can only be described as a force 40000 gale!!! The camera fell over twice and it was almost impossible to get a sharp image as the wind blew dogs and dog walkers past at an alarming rate. A quick trip to Sheringham amazed me with a walk by flock of Turnstones actually on the main road - follow this with Brent Geese, Gannets, Little Gulls, Knot, Curlew, Lapwings in flooded fields ( i thought that was a long gone tradition ) and it almost restored hope.

Caister Beach

These are the gates to the camp site from the beach

Apparently it has a Little Tern colony during the Summer

Storm chasing

Well the plan was to go back to Epsom race course and catch some cloud movement over the grandstand. So i was gutted to pull up just as a huge storm covered the sky in moody grey cloud and persuaded me not to get out of the car. So where to go? I decided back to Ranmore to photograph the lych gate at St Barnabas. It gets harder to find churches that aren't flood lit these days but this is one that stays nice and dark. So 70 second exposures and see what happens.

St Barnabas lych gate

c 1859

104 sec @ f22 iso 320

73.0 sec @ f22 iso 320

72.0 sec @ f22 iso 320

All taken with a canon 5d and a 17-40mm f4 at 17mm and me running about with a torch filling in the blanks on the lych gate.

A chilly day

Today was the first truly chilly day of the Autumn. Standing on Ranmore common was a struggle, enlivened by a couple of Raven that were resisting all encouragement from the local Crows to leave the area. Then a quick stop at Epsom race course for a coffee - skies were empty.

The quest still goes on to get a blurry look from the camera, today the light was to bright and a 30 second exposure wasn't making much of a blur.

Ooh, erm, not sure which way to look!!

Took a trip down to Ockham Common this morning. Wanted to try out a new filter on the camera. If you're wondering about the blog title, type ' Ockham Common ' into google!! Wish i had. Anyway some pics of the trees.

This one seems to show the 'Ockham Ghost' walking towards me!!

Ooh birds

as the death star nears completion and the farmlands under the watchful eye of a conservationist are destroyed beyond repair imagine my surprise when i saw some birds!!!

iforgot

 So sitting in the garden the other day with the daughter, she's 9 going on 21 and to be honest its all quite scary. But I was quite happy watching the feeders as the birds came and went - I had 30 Greenfinch at one point!! I'm not sure I have ever seen that many before, along with a cloud of Goldfinch a few Chaffinch and the odd Coal Tit it was all quite an enjoyable time. But then as a complete break from the accepted protocol a voice piped up ' theres some birds up there ', i'm not sure what was more shocking, the fact that Mol had looked up from her iPad or that she had noticed that there is another world out there. Im guessing that the iPad had either lost wifi or the battery had died therefore creating an almost meltdown in her world, which however temporary, had forced her into mine. ( I do her a bit of a disservice as she twitched the Red-backed Shrike in Coulsdon a few years back with me and I hasten to add the only binoculars we had were her Barbie specials, oh and she managed the Hoopoe on Farthing Downs which is more than some of the birders I know!! And not long ago stood with me outside the Virgin building while the Alpine Swift put on a no show ). The birds she had noticed were a flock of 7 Redwing, they have been present for most of the Winter now and are slowing getting through the Symphoricarpos berries in the garden. But its what she said next that most struck a chord ' Daddy, there aren't many birds are there ' and with this she disappeared into the house looking for either wifi or a power socket.

Mol and the Barbie binoculars


               

' Aren't many birds ' she had said, and this got me thinking back to the 70's when I was a mere whipper snapper and doing a garden bird watch. Yes, amazingly it's not a modern phenomenon and I had my pad, pencil and some vintage binoculars that had only recently given up the ghost. But on one Garden Watch in the 70's I do remember not getting a visit from a Greenfinch and yet here I was in 2017 with 30 in front of me. Were there more birds then? I couldn't honestly remember and as you know i don't keep records so couldn't check anywhere. So if all else fails resort to an age old tradition - ask an old person. So I did. I spoke to Mols nan who lives up in New Addington and after listening to her bleat on about her ailments and how young people are so rude these days a moment of clarity struck and she explained that she remembers huge flocks of ' Sparras ' everywhere and some mornings the garden would be full of bird song; a natural symphony that just seemed to set the day up. But now all she hears is the odd Starling if she is lucky.

     A quick search on utube reveals several videos of Sparrows in London and local farmlands. ' they are a plague ' cites one London Park warden as the video shows dining tables covered in House Sparrows and of course there is the ubiquitous videos of pigeons being fed in Trafalgar Square by crapped on tourists. 

     But what happens when Mol has children of her own? Will they say the same to her and if they do how will she reply? Am I witnessing the birth of generational amnesia? When the older generation decide to move on to the Strictly come dancing ballroom in the sky and its left to us to explain what it used to be like what will we say? Im guessing the easiest option will be to send them to Eastern Europe on a short break, cleverly disguised under the title of a tech detox weekend, somewhere that has remained poor so the local farmers couldn't afford pesticides and insecticides and the soils remained healthy and lush. Somewhere where the big chemical giants don't subsidise their poisonous cocktails to sterilise the land leaving the farmers to become more reliant on chemicals to keep the whole show turning over while the majority share holders rub their hands together and pat each other on the back. But then again that would leave them having to listen to the god awful song of the Corn Bunting banging on and grinding in their ears, a fate I wouldn't wish on anyone. So maybe when I'm asked what it was like I will reply " It's always been like this - ooh look Pigeon with a limp "

Gawd awful racket bird

All in retrospect

I first got a key to Beddington Farmlands in 2007 the same year that the Glaucous Winged Gull was found. I have to admit that at the time i had no idea what a Glaucous Winged Gull was but its amazing how quick you learn from the birders around you. The best year was definitely 2010 when I ended the year with a list of 154 birds!! I don't keep records of when I have seen birds so if you asked I would be hard pushed to give you exact dates of when I had seen stuff, but my back up plan is Frankie as he always seemed to know when stuff had turned up. An amazing encyclopaedic knowledge for dates!!
I set myself the target of 200 birds when I first got my key and in late 2016 I reached that target. There can be nothing better than self finding your own birds. Just that joy as the bird fills your binoculars or camera lens. And i'm sure there can't be an even better way to reach 200 birds then a self found first for the farm. The bird in question was a Yellow-browed Warbler, there had been an influx of these little birds down the entire East coast so it wasn't a complete shock that one had finally made its way to the Farmlands. I first heard it on the Friday when it called a couple of times further up the North lake. I put the news out but no-one managed to track the bird down and then after the weekend when I returned to the farm it started calling and then popped up in the same tree that the Black Redstart had been in.
Don't think though that it has been an easy target to achieve, my almost constant companions during these years have been Frankie and Swifty, the three of us have put so much time in during those years and lets face it for the most part with little to show for our collective efforts. Hours upon hours waiting and watching with the odd highlight which would last for a couple of minutes in total, but when the birding gods were smiling it would be amazing.

Here are two days that really stick out for me:

 The first was 2nd May 2010 during our annual Bank Holiday birdwatch. The weather had been forecast as a North East wind overnight and a wet front coming in from the North around 10 am. I met up with Frankie and Grant in the hide at a ridiculous time and it wasn't long before we were rewarded with an arrival of Bar-Tailed Godwits that came in from the East and not far behind them was a mob of Ringed Plover and Dunlin.

Ringed Plover and Dunlin

There were various other waders and terns flying through when I then picked up a single bird coming in from the East i started taking pics and various calls of ' golden no grey, no golden no grey plover ' were heard. Luckily the bird landed at Barnes and was identified as a Pacific Golden Plover!!! The last one recorded in Surrey was shot on Wimbledon Common some time in the late 19th Century.

Pacific Golden Plover

It was an amazing morning. As soon as the rain started though no more birds of note came through. If memory serves me right it was all over within 3 hours, but 3 hours that won't be forgotten.

The second day that really sticks out is the 1st December 2010, there had been some heavy snow over the previous week and it was starting to push birds from their wintering grounds. I was in the hide with Johnny ( remember him ) and Frankie. Frank decided to go for a pee and in true friendship I thought it would be fun to throw a snowball at him, I bent down picked up some snow, made it into a ball and was just about to throw it when I saw a line of geese going East, i shouted ' GEESE' and I still don't know how but Frankie stopped mid stream and the three of us stood and stared as 10 Bean Geese flew over. After watching them disappear I walked back to the hide looked up and there were 2 Goosander going over and then a Grey Plover going North. Again even though it lasted about 5 minutes it will never be forgotten.

Goosander

Bean Geese

What was also amazing that day was that several Pink Footed Geese were seen at Holmethorpe. Shame they didn't come over as well.

Memorable birds usually just fly through. As opposed to memorable days when there seems to be something going on all the time. 

On the 5th December while standing on the Taliban ( the failed Sand Martin breeding bank ) the gulls had gone up and this usually means a raptor somewhere. I scanned the gulls and saw nowt, then Frankie said ' Lads, i've got a faking Crane!! ' and there in the middle of the gulls was this beauty. 

During that December spell on the 20th again while standing in the hide I could hear the unmistakable jingle of Waxwings. They flew over the hide and settled in a tree just long enough to get some pics

Waxwings

December 2010 ( click the link for the video )

There have been other birds that have been amazing, Honey Buzzard flying past so low I could count individual feathers, Short-eared Owl taking of a couple of feet in front of me as I was walking around the mound, 2 Bearded Tits causing me panic when they peeped once but then nothing for another hour or so and in 2016 I had an adult Sabines Gull which is mind blowing in itself

Bearded Tit

Sabines Gull

But was is amazing is that the birds are still coming through even in 2017. Devil Birder has proved that if you watch a piece of farmland for long enough then you will get good birds as he has so often at Cannons Farm just down the road. In Randoms Ramblings,  Neils Blog he has an award ceremony each year - he mentioned that Beddington always gets the highest year list total - I feel though that that title will probably move to Tice's Meadow in the near future, unfortunately our current landlords at Beddington don't look too favourably towards wildlife, in fact I would go as far as to say that as a company they have a hatred of wildlife. They have systematically ripped up all that was good at Beddington often citing ' operational needs ' as their modus operandi. Cutting down an Elder copse, a tree that is famous for its shallow roots so as not to disturb archaeology of an already excavated villa, even though the copse had over wintering Long-eared Owls and Woodcocks present. They have single handedly destroyed the largest population of Tree Sparrows in the South of England a bird that is a Red data species by removing almost all the habitat the birds depend on. The restoration of the farmlands is now so far behind schedule its beyond a joke and just shows their disregard for wildlife. They often allow the rubbish from the tip during East winds to blow down the slopes into the water courses and pollute the lakes and only make a half hearted attempt to clear the rubbish after complaints. They have sluice gates that are installed under water!!! Because they couldn't get the very basics correct and their levels right so the water level can't be controlled which means that every Spring we watch ducks nests get swept away by rising water levels. The restored North lake with its wader scrape that has no where for waders to land as its full of willows and purple loosestrife. The man behind the North lake restoration on the last day of works said that it was a disaster and he was contracted by them!! Even the ecologists on site make one raise an eyebrow - I'm reminded of one person asking if we had seen any House Martins breeding in the Sand Martin Bank in February!! WTF. I think its quite obvious that as soon as they can they will be selling off 100 acre and the South East corner for development, why let all this green crap get in the way of money. I could go on about them but they are all just nasty horrible people with money as their mistress and I think you get the point.

Tree Sparrows - we used to have lots of these

Unfortunately this is a common problem for wildlife now. Big companies are given free reign to exploit an area with little in the way of mitigation for the local area or wildlife. We will see this kind of destruction Country wide as fracking and population densities take their toll on our green spaces.

Im just glad that i managed to reach my target of 200 birds as it will just get harder and harder to see so many birds at the farm. 

dodgy birds 2017

1. Arctic Tern
2. Avocet
3. Bar-tailed Godwit
4. Barn Owl
5. Barnacle Goose
6. Bearded Tit
7. Bewicks Swan
8. Bittern
9. Black Redstart
10. Black Tern
11. Black-headed Gull
12. Black-necked Grebe
13. Black-tailed Godwit
14. Blackbird
15. Blackcap
16. Blue Tit
17. Brambling
18. Brent Goose
19. Bullfinch
20. Buzzard
21. Canada Goose
22. Carrion Crow
23. Caspian Gull
24. Cetti's Warbler
25. Chaffinch
26. Chiffchaff
27. Coal Tit
28. Collared Dove
29. Common Crane
30. Common Crossbill
31. Common Gull
32. Common Sandpiper
33. Common Tern
34. Coot
35. Cormorant
36. Corn Bunting
37. Cuckoo
38. Curlew
39. Curlew Sandpiper
40. Dartford Warbler
41. Dunlin
42. Dunnock
43. Egyptian Goose
44. Fieldfare
45. Firecrest
46. Gadwall
47. Gannet
48. Garden Warbler
49. Garganey
50. Glaucous Gull
51. Glossy Ibis
52. Goldcrest
53. Golden Plover
54. Goldeneye
55. Goldfinch
56. Goosander
57. Goshawk
58. Grasshopper Warbler
59. Great Black-backed Gull
60. Great Crested Grebe
61. Great White Egret
62. Great Spotted Woodpecker
63. Great Tit
64. Green Sandpiper
65. Green Woodpecker
66. Greenfinch
67. Greenshank
68. Grey Heron
69. Grey Partridge
70. Grey Phalarope
71. Grey Plover
72. Grey Wagtail
73. Greylag Goose
74. Hawfinch
75. Hen Harrier
76. Herring Gull
77. Hobby
78. Honey Buzzard
79. House Martin
80. House Sparrow
81. Iceland Gull
82. Jack Snipe
83. Jackdaw
84. Jay
85. Kestrel
86. Kingfisher
87. Kittiwake
88. Knot
89. Lapland Bunting
90. Lapwing
91. Lesser Black-backed Gull
92. Lesser Redpoll
93. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
94. Lesser Whitethroat
95. Linnet
96. Little Egret
97. Little Grebe
98. Little Gull
99. Little Owl
100. Little Ringed-plover
101. Little Stint
102. Little Tern
103. Long-eared Owl
104. Long-tailed Tit
105. Magpie
106. Mallard
107. Mandarin Duck
108. Marsh Harrier
109. Marsh Tit
110. Meadow Pipit
111. Mealy Redpoll
112. Mediterranean Gull
113. Merlin
114. Mistle Thrush
115. Moorhen
116. Mute Swan
117. Nightingale
118. Nuthatch
119. Osprey
120. Oystercatcher
121. Pacific Golden Plover
122. Pectoral Sandpiper
123. Peregrine Falcon
124. Pheasant 
125. Pied Wagtail
126. Pintail
127. Pochard
128. Raven
129. Red Kite
130. Red-breasted Merganser
131. Red-crested Pochard
132. Red-rumped Swallow
133. Redshank
134. Redstart
135. Redwing
136. Reed Bunting
137. Reed Warbler
138. Ring Ouzel
139. Ring-necked Parakeet
140. Ringed Plover
141. Robin
142. Rock Dove
143. Rock Pipit
144. Rook
145. Ruddy Duck
146. Ruff
147. Sabine's Gull
148. Sand Martin
149. Sanderling
150. Sandwich Tern
151. Sedge Warbler
152. Serin
153. Shelduck
154. Short-eared Owl
155. Shoveler
156. Siskin
157. Skylark
158. Snipe
159. Snow Bunting
160. Song Thrush
161. Sparrowhawk
162. Spoonbill
163. Spotted Crake
164. Spotted Flycatcher
165. Spotted Redshank
166. Starling
167. Stock Dove
168. Stonechat
169. Swallow
170. Swift
171. Tawny Owl
172. Teal
173. Tree Pipit
174. Tree Sparrow
175. Treecreeper
176. Tufted Duck
177. Tundra Bean Goose
178. Turnstone
179. Turtle Dove
180. Water Pipit
181. Water Rail
182. Waxwing
183. Wheatear
184. Whimbrel
185. Whinchat
186. White Stork
187. White-fronted Goose
188. Whitethroat
189. Wigeon
190. Willow Warbler
191. Wood Sandpiper
192. Wood Warbler
193. Woodcock
194. Woodlark
195. Woodpigeon
196. Wren
197. Yellow Wagtail
198. Yellow-browed Warbler
199. Yellow-legged Gull
200. Yellowhammer