21st JANUARY 2007.

MUD, MUD AND MORE MUD! (BEDDINGTON 2)

As promised, the day started as clear and bright as you could possibly expect for this time of the year. We had dreaded the possibility that it might rain as much as it did the last time that we were here!
We were at Barnes station by 07:50 having learned last time not to leave too early and have to stand around for an hour or so with nothing to do at Hackbridge! Once again our journey was to be broken only to continue on a ‘special’ bus. This time, however, we did not have to travel half-way around the county to get to our destination!
We arrived in good time, just as some of the others who were to join us started arriving as well. The sky had clouded over by now and there was a light rain falling. It was so light that I didn’t bother putting my waterproof jacket on and my new heavy fleece kept me warm enough.

BRIGHTER AFTER INITIAL LIGHT RAIN

Photo: Leon Rusk

Our guide for the morning, Mr Derek Coleman, turned up a little before we were due to set off and introduced himself and the site to those that did not know him. We waited for the next ‘special’ bus and then made our way towards the site.
Our group was to cover the opposite end of the site to the one we covered on our last visit, stopping first at the hide by the main lake. Here we were able to see the Tree Sparrows close-up at the feeder. We then headed south along the top of the ‘bund’ to have a look at some other lakes on the west side of the site. We had seen them on our last visit but it was lashing down with rain then, so much so that visibility was almost impossible. Today some of us were lucky enough to snatch a quick glimpse of a Water Rail. He popped back into the vegetation and was then only available to those with ‘scopes and the luck to see him move! Whilst we were straining to see the Rail we were joined, close to, by a Skylark who watched us as intently as we watched both him and the other bird!

FOLLOWING THE TRACKS OF A HEAVY PLANT!

Photo: Leon Rusk

We moved on to cross the site and it was now that Dereks’ warning about wearing wellingtons or other stout boots gained credence. The mud was getting quite thick and deep as we crossed a stream. Some people had made a very hard job of this passage and I was a little concerned for some, who only had fairly light shoes, as I knew it would probably get a lot worse! And it would!
As we moved around the site our tally of birds seen was growing steadily. One sight that I will always remember was that of a large group of Herons (about twenty or so?) taking off and circling. I realised that I had forgotten my camera but was pleased to see that Leon was snapping away. I asked him to take more photos for this entry on the blog, as you can see, he did!

MASSED HERONS

Photo: Leon Rusk

We came to an area where the heavy plant of the site had churned the pathways into rivers of mud, some quite deep. It was alright if you had wellies on but almost impassable for those without. A way was found for everyone to continue although there were a few instances of people losing their balance and falling base-over-apex!
Most people were looking for the Water Pipits that had been seen on the site and a few did manage to get a glimpse of one. I was with a group that was scanning another area, a group that spotted a Green Sandpiper which is somewhat of a ‘Beddington Bird’!

GREEN SANPIPERS SEEN HERE!

Photo: Leon Rusk

We had come nearly full circle and mounted the ‘bund’ again to finish off the walk at the hide once more. Just before mounting the ‘bund’ we were presented with a flock of Linnets that flew around in formation for a few minutes.

LOOKING THE WRONG WAY AS USUAL!

Photo: Leon Rusk

As we approached the hide most of the people with ‘scopes concentrated on the small island and the foliage on its’ banks. They were looking for a Jack Snipe that had been present for some time. At the hide we looked once more at the Tree Sparrows and some looked again for the Jack Snipe although they were to be disappointed once more.
We made our way home via the Half Moon in Putney where we stopped for a few swift halves and then some more. I think that Leon will invest in some wellies before we go to Beddington again. He didn’t get very muddy but having them is a must as it allows you the freedom to go nearly anywhere on site with ease.

BIRDS SEEN: Magpie, Collared Dove, Black Headed Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Tree Sparrow, Blackbird, Mute Swan, Carrion Crow, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Coot, Teal, Wood Pigeon, Jackdaw, Lapwing, Little Grebe, Great Tit, Gadwall, Pied Wagtail, Mallard, Common Snipe, Starling, Sparrowhawk, Shelduck, Heron, Canada Goose, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Water Rail, Moorhen, Ring Necked Parakeet, Long Tailed Tit, Cormorant, Green Sandpiper, Linnet, Shoveller, Little Egret, Blue Tit, Robin, Feral Pigeon.

14th JANUARY 2007.

LEG OF MUTTON NATURE RESERVE, THIRD VISIT.

A nice early start again today as we wanted to visit the Leg of Mutton Nature Reserve once again. Although it was fairly chilly the forecast for a bright day was proving to be correct. The sun was coming up bright and clear as we reached the Reserve. The birds were up and about and their songs and calls were a joy to listen to. I wonder if the nice weather was an encouragement for them to sing so well?

SUNRISE AT LEG OF MUTTON

Photo: Reg Norman

We decided to walk around the North side of the site, nearest to the river, as the sun would be higher when we were coming back on the South side and would aid in any photography we might attempt! It did not turn out quite as we expected and we would probably go round the other way in the future, having first thought about the sun position for each season!

LOOKING NORTH TO THE THAMES

Photo: Reg Norman

The river was quite high and this was reflected in the number of gulls present. The woodland areas were full of small birds busily going about their business. These were nearly all members of the Tit family and there were plenty of them!
Leon had brought some stale bread with him as he wanted to feed the ducks! The minute that he opened the bag there were birds coming from all directions! There was an almighty feeding frenzy and lots of skirmishes amongst the birds were started!
We had a quick look at the river although there were only a few Mallard in evidence along with the odd Black Headed Gull and then continued our walk around the site. It was here that we came upon a small group of Goldcrests. Up until a few weeks ago both Leon and I had never seen these birds and lord knows we tried! Now we see them everywhere and in groups! Perhaps we have just learned to see them. We can both recognise them by their calls now.

PRE-FRENZY ARRIVALS!

Photo: Reg Norman

It turned out that Leon had brought two lots of stale bread and was eager to feed the ducks again! The same thing happened when he opened the bag, birds flocked in from everywhere! This time though, he had selected an area where the birds could leave the water and he was able to hand feed Swans and Canada Geese! Gulls would suddenly drop in and snatch the odd morsel from both ‘birdman’ and their avian friends. The feeding frenzy here was so great that even Leon was having the odd mouthful!

FEEDING THE DUCKS

Photo; Reg Norman

Concluding our short stay we made our way out of the Reserve and headed off towards the wetland Centre. We will be going to the Reserve again soon; it really is a pleasant way to start the day!

WHO STARTED THE FEEDING FRENZY?

Photo; Reg Norman

BIRDS SEEN: Great Tit, Wood Pigeon, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Coot, Robin, Magpie, Heron, Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Green Woodpecker, Blue Tit, Starling, Carrion Crow, Wren, Ring Necked Parakeet, Moorhen, Goldcrest, Tufted Duck, Black Headed Gull, Jay, Mallard, Gadwall, Cormorant, Kestrel, Collard Dove, Long Tailed Tit, Teal.

13th JANUARY 2007.

FIRST PUTNEY HEATH / WIMBLEDON COMMON VISIT.

I had been looking forward to todays’ visit for some time as I had not been to the Common for about thirty years. Shameful really as it is a wonderful, local resource. It is actually not quite true to say that I have I have not used the Common for thirty years, I have crossed it many times in the dark on the way home from Wimbledon before we had night buses!
Having entered the ‘LondonBirders’ Patchlist competition I needed to start gathering bird info as soon as possible. Unfortunately I have not had the time to go to the common so far this year, today I had to go to Wimbledon so I thought that I would walk all the way and start my Patchlist at the same time!
Although not cold, the weather was very grey and overcast with the occasional patch of that awful, fine, misty rain. The wind was light and a little blustery, becoming stronger as the day went on.

BIRCH FUNGUS!

Photo: Reg Norman

I started at Holy Trinity church, moving south through the woodland between Roehampton Lane and the ‘Frying Pan’. I was quite surprised by the number of birds all around me and the woods were full of their sounds. Within minutes I had seen a Kestrel, good sized flocks of Tits and a small group of Fieldfares. These small woods were just as nice (and overgrown) as I remembered them as a youngster when I was last there. I eventually came to Scio Pond; it used to be overgrown and difficult to approach but now has a landscaped feel to it and is easily accessible. I am not sure if I like the new layout. I had only covered a small part of Putney Heath and promised myself to come back to cover more of it as soon as will be convenient. I crossed the A3 using the underpass near to Gravel Pit Cottage and onto Wimbledon Common.
I was immediately aware of the great change in my surroundings. The tracks on this side of the A3 seemed to me to be much wider, no doubt helped by the fact that the trees seemed to be quite a way distant. I could not hear much in the way of sounds from birds although there seemed to plenty of sound from dogs! I took the main track towards the Windmill and was mightily disappointed in the number of birds that I saw or heard. I put this down to the fact that, wherever one looked, there were joggers and people walking their dogs. Do not get me wrong, I am pleased to see the Common being used so well. It’s just that all of this activity, especially that of the dogs running all over the place, is hardly conducive to the well-being of the birds. I made my way to the Rangers Office to introduce myself, to buy copies of the ‘Bird Report’ and perhaps a copy of the map that I have seen posted about the place.

THE FAMOUS WIMBLEDON COMMON WINDMILL

Photo: Reg Norman

I spent quite a good time talking to Assistant Ranger and Wildlife Liaison Officer, Dave Haldane. I explained about the ‘Patchlist Competition’ and that, although I was a novice, I would be pleased to send him a list of anything that I saw while filling up my list. He in turn told me about the measures that were being undertaken to improve the habitats about the Common itself.
Leaving the Rangers Office I made my way eastwards towards Wimbledon Village where I had some business to conduct. The main path in this direction was again a very wide tract of land between two woodland areas. I was not to see too many birds as they were either too distant or there were people around with dogs.

THE WIMBLEDON TO WINDMILL PATH

Photo: Reg Norman

Having concluded my business I decided to walk back to the Windmill going via the woodland areas rather than using the path. This improved the number of birds that I was able to see although the wind was now picking up quite strongly and most birds seemed to be taking shelter! It was just going to be one of those days!

THE POND AT WIMBLEDON / PARKSIDE

Photo; Reg Norman

Queensmere was my next stop; I thought that there was bound to be some action down by the water! I had not been there since doing a surveying exercise whilst at school and was pleasantly surprised to see that it had not altered at all! This was to be the only place on the Commons that I could say this about all day. Although there was not a lot of variety, there were a good number of birds and gulls to be seen. I had my coffee and sandwiches whilst seated at the pond and watched both the birds, and, what appeared to be a rather large Cross Country event taking place. As I opened my sandwiches a large group of crows landed, as if by magic, appearing from nowhere! Their antics in chasing small pieces of pork pie crust were quite amusing, although it was not so good for the individual crows. If one was lucky enough to get a piece of piecrust the others immediately pounced on him and pecked him until he relinquished his food and another grabbed and swallowed it!
There were also lots of dogs about, apparently they like pie as well! They also knock coffee over and squeal when kicked! I couldn’t believe the owners standing by whilst I was trying to save my lunch and keep my coffee upright, just standing there saying nothing!

QUEENSMERE LOOKING SOUTH-EAST

Photo; Reg Norman

Finishing what was left of my lunch I made my way to the Kingsmere, where possible making use of the woodland. Although there were generally more birds about, hey kept well into cover as the wind was getting stronger (and colder!) by the minute! When I arrived at the pond I must say that I was not a little disappointed. The last time that I was here I remember seeing a larger variety of birds. Perhaps they were all off sheltering somewhere! The area around the pond had changed somewhat as well; it was now wooded right up to the edge of the pond in places whereas it was always very open. I do not remember the island being there either. On the whole, I prefer the new layout.

HOLY TRINITY, MY START AND FINISH POINT

Photo: Reg Norman

Leaving Kingsmere, I made my way back to the underpass and then back on to the Heath. I had a mooch about for a short while but unfortunately there had been a major accident on the A3. The HEMS helicopter was in attendance and was circling around very low in the sky. This had the effect of keeping most birds deep in cover.

A TREE THAT I USED TO CLIMB YEARS AGO!

Photo; Reg Norman

BIRDS SEEN: Wood Pigeon, Long Tailed Tit, Kestrel, Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, Magpie, Robin, Starling, Great Tit, Fieldfare, Treecreeper, Ring Necked Parakeet, Wren, Song Thrush, Coal Tit, Dunnock, Green Woodpecker, Greenfinch, Jay, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Black Headed Gull, Mute Swan, Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Canada Goose, Jackdaw.

6th JANUARY 2007.

PULBOROUGH BROOKS FIRST VISIT.

Photo: Reg Norman

Leon and I had been looking forward to this trip for a long time. We had been in touch with a local group from ‘BirdForum’ for a while and were keen to meet up with them on one of their ‘events’. Leon had even contacted the group via the forum, a first for this naturally shy lad!
The weather forecast, unfortunately, did not promise much in the way of comfort. We thought that it could not be as bad as predicted as all weather reports were rubbish. This one, of course, was absolutely spot on! Although the day started fairly nicely, the Ring Necked Parakeets in the Yews outside the flat were at it early, it was to deteriorate rapidly and in direct proportion to the approach to Pulborough!

Photo: Reg Norman

We left Barnes station at 06:40, the train being about ten minutes late, on what was to be a nightmare journey. Our connection at Clapham Junction was caught just in time, but we had the news, via tannoy, that there were works going on and we would be required to travel by coach from Redbridge. At Redbridge there was, indeed, a coach. There were also about three hundred passengers with more arriving with each train. We decided to go by local bus. This was very scenic, took in most of East Sussex and the journey lasted about one and a half hours. We arrived at Three Bridges station (one stop on from Redbridge!) and continued our journey by train. We still think that this saved us some time! We ‘phoned the group to tell them to go on without us and that we would catch up with them at the site, linking up by ‘phone. Our train journey was not unpleasant and we admired the surrounding countryside, noting that it was getting very dark outside this early in the day. Surely the shortest day had been and gone! Then it started raining.
Arriving at Pulborough, we called for a cab straight away and it arrived in short order. Whilst waiting we saw several other people getting into cars, these were to be some of our fellow ‘birders’ a little later on. The cab driver was a very pleasant man. He was also a very pleasant extortionist! If cab drivers in London charged fares like that they would be strung up!

Photo: Reg Norman

At the site we were pleased to note that the group had not moved off, although just about to do so. We were made most welcome and the whole group seemed to be very amiable. After paying our entrance fees and the introductions were over we moved off. There was a slight delay as I had to hire some ‘glasses as I thought that I had left mine at home!
A very nice man called Pete, an RSPB warden, started to lead the tour around the site. He asked us to put as many questions as we wanted to about the site and was quick to answer even the most trivial of enquiry. Fortunately Leon only had the one! Different habitats and the work in progress on them was all pointed out and explained, as were the different types of bird that he saw. The weather was deteriorating steadily and we were pleased for a little respite when we reached one of the hides. It was from this first hide that Leon and I saw our first White Fronted Geese.
Visiting this site made me realise that although we had many species in common, different areas had different levels of birds. We saw Bullfinches in numbers, something we never see a home and Pintail outnumbered Mallard by at least five to one! Some of our expectations were to be dashed, however, due to the severe weather; some of the raptors and owls would not be putting in an appearance.

A WET LEON

Photo: Reg Norman

In a break in the rain we went to some of the viewpoints where there was no shelter. I would imagine that in fair to good weather the views from these places would be phenomenal!
As we moved around the site we got to now some of our new friends better. I had spoken to most of them via the forum and found that they were even more agreeable in real life. One lovely young lady, who obviously new all about journalism and was possessed with impeccable taste, said hat she had read our blog and had enjoyed it!
We spent most of the day moving from hide to hide or viewing-point. For some reason one of our young ladies kept falling, suddenly, to the floor. Was this some kind of Sussex tradition? Perhaps I had missed something! Perhaps it was just the mud!
We all met up in the tea rooms to agree our final list for the BirdForum ‘birdrace’, this was after all what had prompted the day out in the first place. Whilst waiting to go in I saw my first Hen Harrier and was glad that many others saw it too. Unfortunately Leon missed it.

Photo: Reg Norman

Mark, one of the chaps on the trip, very kindly offered us a lift back to the station which we accepted gratefully. Some of the others had decided to go on to a pub for a ‘few’ but we decided that we should make a move homewards in case the trains were still murder. It was one of the hardest decisions we have had to make in our short ‘birding’ history!
Of course, the train journey back was uneventful and swift. You could have put money on it! It would have been possible to stay for a few hours (did they mean a ‘few’ hours or a ‘few’ beers I wonder) to get to know our new friends a little better! By way of compensation I allowed Leon to think that he talked me into going for a beer in the Half Moon!
It was a lovely end to a lovely day. We shall be going back to Pulborough again (although we shall wait for the ‘bus not the taxi) as I was a lovely site, spoiled only a little by the weather.
We also hope to be meeting up with our new friends again fairly soon as they are thinking of organising a day out to Cuckmere Haven and, maybe, a weekend to Norfolk!

Photo: Reg Norman

BIRDS SEEN: Redwing, Song Thrush, Bullfinch, Blackbird, Green Woodpecker, Little Grebe, Canada Goose, Lapwing, Pintail, Teal, White Fronted Goose, Rook, Shelduck, Common Snipe, Jackdaw, Dunlin, Wigeon, Jay, Fieldfare, Chaffinch, Herring Gull, Shoveller, Stock Dove, Greylag Goose, Peregrine, Common Buzzard, Magpie, Wood Pigeon, Mute Swan, Common Gull, Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Long Tailed Tit, Coot, Moorhen, Cormorant, Kestrel, Mallard, Starling, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Stonechat, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Hen Harrier, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Carrion Crow, (+ Pied Blackbird!).

BIRDS SEEN (on way): Pheasant, Collared Dove, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Jackdaw (100+), Little Egret, Starling, Wood Pigeon, Blue Tit, Blackbird, Great Black Backed Gull, Herring Gull, Black Headed Gull.

NB. This is not the complete list of birds seen on the day, only those that Leon and I saw.