Staines Moor: 8 September

A little better for migrants at Staines Moor today with 2 Whinchat, 6 Yellow Wagtail (around the livestock), 2 Sand Martin S, 118 Barn Swallow S (then W from mid afternoon) noted, and 2 Common Whitethroat and 1H Lesser Whitethroat in the hawthorns (which could be local birds). Also noted were 1-2 Hobby, 1 Red Kite, 4+ Skylark, 8 Meadow Pipit, 3 Reed Bunting, c50 Goldfinch (including many juveniles feeding on the thistles) and c100 Eurasian Starling (mainly around the livestock).

Red Admiral butterflies once again stole the show, with an amazing 530+ counted around the blackberries in the NW corner, west side, along the old railway, and in the NE corner, amounting to a spectacular sight. Their origin is a bit of mystery. They are very fresh and so presumably hatched fairly locally, and I suppose they are heading south stopping to feed on the abundance of blackberries currently on the moor. In addition another 24 Red Admirals were seen along the Colne Valley Way through Stanwell Moor in the morning.

Other butterflies on Staines Moor today include 1 Painted Lady (feeding with Red Admirals), 4 Small Copper, 9 Small Heath, 3 Comma and 2 Speckled Wood. Several Migrant Hawkers Aeshna mixta were also noted.

On Stanwell Moor 3 (2H) Chiffchaff were also noted.

Painted Lady Vanessa cardui feeding on blackberries with about 20 Red Admirals Vanessa atalanta in the NW corner of Staines
Moor today. Heading north or south I wonder?

Red Admirals Vanessa atalanta feeding on blackberries, Staines Moor, 8 September 2016

Camera trapping at REGUA: 11-16 July

Rachel and I put the camera trap out in two locations at REGUA last week - two nights in the forest just off the trail to the São José Tower (11th/12th-12th/13th) and then three nights along a stream in the forest along an unmarked trail off the Forest Trail (13th/14th, 14th/15th and 15th/16th), baiting both sites with bananas. I messed up the positioning of the camera on the São José Tower trail so nothing worth posting from that site, but I managed to capture a few nice videos from the forest stream site (to watch in HD click on the cog icon, click on Quality and the select the highest resolution).

Forest stream

This is the same stream along which I have placed a camera trap in the past, but this time the camera was placed further upstream into the forest.

Rusty-margined Guan Penelope superciliaris, 15 July 2016. Rarely encountered around the lodge area trails just a few
years ago, today Rusty-margined Guan are occasionally seen around the wetland and up to 4 birds visit the lodge
feeders daily.

Yellow-headed Caracara Milvago chimachima, 15 July 2016

Pale-breasted Thrush Turdus leucomelas, 14 July 2016

Red-rumped Agouti Dasyprocta leporina, 14 July 2016

Capybara Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris, 14 July 2016. Capybara appear to range widely from the wetland at night.

Atlantic Forest Nectomys or South American Water Rat Nectomys squamipes, 15 July 2016

Atlantic Forest Nectomys or South American Water Rat Nectomys squamipes swimming past, 15 July 2016

A small fruitbat species attracted to the bananas, 14 July 2016

Big-eared Opossum or Brazilian Common Opossum Didelphis aurita, 15 July 2016

Staines Moor: 12 May

For me, birding is all about finding my own birds. I have little interest in seeing birds that others have found, even on the patch. This spring I've been determined to find a good bird at Staines Moor, especially as last spring was so piss poor on the patch. Over the last week alone I've been up before dawn three times and spent no fewer than 29 hours traipsing around covering every millimetre of the patch, with one eye fixed on the sky. While seemingly every other London site has been awash with Arctic Terns, Little Terns, Black Terns, Sanderlings, Wood Sandpipers, flocks of tundra Ringed Plovers, Grey Plovers and Wood Warblers, Staines Moor has yielded nothing!

But with a good passage of waders through London over the last few days I was hoping today would produce a Wood Sandpiper or some other wader along the Colne. Imagine then how I felt when soon after arriving on site this morning, another birder arrives, walks past me, then comes back a few minutes later and tells me there are two Bar-tailed Godwits along the Colne! Now maybe I am being greedy and ungrateful (and well done to the birder who found them as this is a great patch record), but really, FOR FUCK'S SAKE!

Staines Moor records today: 2 Bar-tailed Godwit ((1m and 1f in summer plumage, seen feeding and resting beside the Colne where they appeared to be catching a lot of food, and also on the east pool. The female was ringed and flagged - I'll try and find out where it was ringed), 20 Common Swift (mainly N), 2 Barn Swallow N, 1 Grasshopper Warbler (heard several times and probably glimpsed in flight), 3 Hobby (hunting together over the NW corner), 3 Redshank (2 Colne, 1 east pool), 1m Gadwall (Colne), 1+ Common Tern (Colne), 4 Common Whitethroat, 4 (1m, 3H) Blackcap, 4 (3H) Sedge Warbler, 3H Chiffchaff, 10 Reed Bunting (8m, 2f), 1 Little Egret (Colne), 4-7 Red Kite (1 high W and the others presumably local birds), 2 Stock Dove (Bonehead Ditch), 1m Kestrel, 1 Pied Wagtail W, 2 Common Buzzard (including 1 pale phase NW), 1+ Grey Heron, 1 juv. Robin, and plenty of Skylark, Meadow Pipit and Linnet. No sign of the Stonechats today in a brief search, and still no Cuckoos!

Today's pair of summer plumage Bar-tailed Godwit - check out the size different between the male and female. Still present
beside the Colne at 13:39 when I left.

The female was ringed as follows - left leg: pink flag top, 2 yellow rings bottom; right leg: metal ring top, 2 red rings bottom. Can't make out
much on the metal ring - perhaps 147..? I've reported it to the BTO so maybe they can shed some light.

Found some Yellow Meadow Ants Lasius flavus on an anthill on the west side - only my second ever sighting at Staines Moor (or anywhere for that matter) as the workers rarely stray above ground. The hairless lower sections of the antennae and the tibiae, which are diagnostic of this species, could be seen on the terrible photos I took with the Samsung Note 4. Butterflies today included my first Green-veined White of the year and a Small Copper.


Stanwell Moor added 1 Reed Warbler and 1 Little Egret W.

So I think I am done with this spring and with the patch for a while - it's all far far far far far far far too much effort for little reward and I'm desperately trying to remember why I keep bothering. Who knows though, maybe I can muster enough energy and motivation for one more day this spring of finding bugger all?

Weather: Sunny with some thin cloud, freshening NE wind, rain previous night.

Staines Moor: 7 May

Little change from two days ago with passage migrants again almost non-existent in the fine weather, presumably passing straight through high overhead. 2 Spotted Flycatchers together at the south end of Bonehead Ditch were the highlight, and 1 Reed Warbler (in scrub at the north end of the Colne), 4 Common Swift and 8 Barn Swallow (4S, 3N, 1W) were the only birds seemingly moving through.

1 of 2 Spotted Flycatchers at the south end of Bonehead Ditch today

Migrant Reed Warbler singing in scrub along the north end of the Colne today

Summering warblers were very much in evidence today. The Grasshopper Warbler showed briefly twice, and 1m Garden Warbler (singing in the west hawthorns), and 1 Reed Warbler (bridge to Stanwell Moor), 9 (1H) Sedge Warbler, 13 (2H) Common Whitethroat, 1H Lesser Whitethroat (west hawthorns), 6 (4H) Chiffchaff, 9 (3H) Blackcap (inc. 4m, 2f), and 3 (2H) Cetti's Warbler (Butts Pond, bridge to Stanwell Moor) were also logged.

Other summer visitors noted include 3 Hobby (hunting insects over the two wooden bridges late afternoon), 1+ Common Tern (Colne), 2+ Redshank (Colne), 2 Common Shelduck E, 10 Reed Bunting (6m, 3f) and plenty of Skylark and Meadow Pipit. Found a Long-tailed Tit building a nest close to the predated nest and another pair nest buiding in a hawthorn in the NE corner, though I couldn't get close enough to find it. Also found a Carrion Crow sitting on a nest in the Bonehead woodland. Worryingly, where are our Cuckoos?

Long-tailed Tit nest in the early stages of being built in the NW corner today

Also noted were 1m Stonechat with what was probably the female, but very distant (SE corner), 2m Goldcrest (both singing in Bonehead woodland), 3+ Little Egret, 6 Red Kite, 1f Kestrel, 1-2 Eurasian Sparrowhawk, 2 (1m, 1f) Pied Wagtail (Colne), 1 Coot (Colne), 1 Mistle Thrush, 2 Canada Geese S, and 1 Grey Heron.

3m Banded Demoiselle Calopteryx splendens along Bonehead Ditch were my first of the year, and butterflies seen include 1 Speckled Wood, many Orange-tip (including 1f), several m Brimstone, and 2 Peacock. Finally, found a dead Grass Snake beside the Colne at the north end today - only my second record for Staines Moor (thankfully my first record was a live one).

Devon weekend highlights: 23rd - 24th April

Rachel and I spent the weekend visiting our good friends Jaffa and Helen in Budleigh Salterton in south-east Devon. Walked the coast path through the Otter Estuary, across White Bridge and eastwards around Otterton Point on Saturday, and on Sunday we walked northwards along the River Otter from Otterton Mill. No sign of the European Otters on Saturday evening that have been showing very well along the River Otter near Otterton Mill over the last month, and very little in terms of bird migration noted over the weekend either, but a few records made it into the notebook.

23rd: 1m Northern Wheatear (Otterton Point), 1H Common Sandpiper (River Otter at Otterton Mill), 1-2 Kingfisher (River Otter), 1 Cetti's Warbler (showed well by White Bridge - take note Staines Moor birds), and 2 Barn Swallow (White Bridge). Also, 1f Black Oil Beetle Meloe proscarabaeus found on Otterton Point and 1 Stoat Mustela erminea seen briefly from the car near Otterton (at the junction of Frogmore Road and Fore Street).

24th: 3 House Martin, 6 Sand Martin and 3 Barn Swallow (all near Otterton), and 1m Black Oil Beetle Meloe proscarabaeus and 2 Bloody-noded Beetle Timarcha tenebricosa along footpath beside the River Otter just north of Otterton.

Female Black Oil Beetle Meloe proscarabaeus, Otterton Point, 23 April 2016

Male Black Oil Beetle Meloe proscarabaeus, River Otter near Otterton, 24 April 2016

Bloody-nosed Beetle Timarcha tenebricosa, River Otter just north of Otterton, 24 April 2014

All photos and the (shakey) video above taken with a Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Good guides to oil beetle identification can be found on John Walter's website and also from Buglife. Take part in the Buglife survey here.

Barred Warbler at Staines Moor: 2 September

What a day! After several hours thoroughly searching the patch for a Pied Flycatcher or Wryneck, it was mid afternoon before I reached the scrub in the north-west corner. Scanning from a distance, I noticed a large pale warbler crashing about in the hawthorns. Immediately an alarm went off - that really looks like a ******* Barred Warbler! But it can't be, this is Surrey! Approaching slowly, increasingly closer views eventually clinched it as Staines Moor's first Barred Warbler, and one of very few London records. A fantastic bird that showed very well eating blackberries and catching flies, and even sunbathing for about 15 minutes at close range! Many thanks to Peter Alfrey and Darryl Spittle for help with the ID and providing a much needed sanity check.

1st winter Barred Warbler, Staines Moor, 2 September 2015

1st winter Barred Warbler, Staines Moor, 2 September 2015

The bird spent a fair amount of time gorging itself on blackberries

A couple of videos - best watched in full screen with HD 1080p selected (click on the play icon and then the cog icon).



Other grounded migrants included 1m Whinchat (SE corner), 2 Northern Wheatear (east side), 1 Sedge Warbler (SE corner), 2 Common Whitethroat, 5 (2m, 3f) Blackcap, and 1 Willow Warbler and a Goldcrest in with a large Long-tailed Tit flock along the old railway. Noted overhead were 1 Grey Wagtail (over high W), 1H Yellow Wagtail, 9 Sand Martin (mainly S) and 33 Barn Swallow.

Also logged were 4 Hobby, 1 Eurasian Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel (including 1 catching dragonflies), 1-2 Common Buzzard, 1 Bullfinch (west side), 3 Little Egret, c300 Goldfinch (feeding on the thistles at the south end), 1 Grey Heron, 3 Reed Bunting, 40+ Eurasian Starling, and just 1 each of Skylark and Meadow Pipit. To top this lot off, 2 Barn Owl showed very well hunting over the east side at dusk.

Stanwell Moor added 2 Little Owl (first horse paddock from Stanwell Moor Village), 1 Kingfisher (over the first horse paddock), 1 Red Kite, 22 Northern Lapwing, 1 Kestrel, several Chiffchaff (H) and 1H Cetti's Warbler, and 1 Red Kite and 4 Barn Swallow were noted at Stanwell Moor village.

Other bits that made it into the notebook today were a small colony of Least (Small) Water-pepper Persicaria minor around the edge of the round pond in the NW corner (many thanks to Rob Innes for the heads-up), 1 Red Fox, 1m Banded Demoiselle, 2 Comma, 2 Speckled Wood, 1 Small Heath and a Meadow Brown on Staines Moor, and 1 Red Admiral and a Speckled Wood on Stanwell Moor.

Least (Small) Water-pepper Persicaria minor, Staines Moor, 2 September 2015

Good to see the bulrush clearance we carried out in this pond last November has paid off with a nice colony of Redshank Persicaria
maculosa growing in its place

Camera traps at REGUA

For a long time now we've been wanting to find out more about the nocturnal and more elusive animals at REGUA - which species are present where, and what their habits and movements are. We decided to buy a small number of camera traps (with a view of getting more if these proved successful), and after investigating various options we chose three Bushnell Trophy Cams. In order to maximise our chances of capturing a range of animals, we set up the cameras in three very different places around the reserve.

Lowland forest stream

The first camera was set up in a couple of places along the bank of a small forest stream that crosses the Brown Trail (at post 1200) which passes through recently planted lowland secondary forest, near the lodge. Last year, lodge co-ordinator Helen Cavilla, found tracks of Crab-eating Fox Cerdocyon thous and Crab-eating Raccoon Procyon cancrivorus in the sandy river bank here, and we were keen to see if these and other animals were using this tiny forest stream on a regular basis.

The forest stream where it crosses the Brown Trail at post 1200. This stream drains into the wetland.

Camera trap positioned along the forest stream.

During the day the stream appears largely deserted, with just a pair of Long-billed Wrens and a couple of species of damselfly in evidence. Throughout the trip, the camera didn't capture any mammals, but did, however, reveal a couple of surprises.

The first was an adult Boat-billed Heron. A very scarce bird at REGUA, Boat-billed Heron are only occasionally found roosting during the day around the wetland, often in the company of Black-crowned Night-Herons. If this nocturnal species has a preference for feeding along these narrow secluded forest streams rather than out on the wetland, then this might explain the paucity of sightings.



Another surprise was a Limpkin captured feeding in the stream. This part of the stream is quite far in to the forest for a bird more usually associated with open wetland areas. Limpkin are locally uncommon, and are most often found in wet grassy pasture near the reserve.



Slaty-breasted Wood-Rail is common around the wetland and I'm surprised we didn't capture more on camera.

Primary forest

Evidence of Puma Puma concolor, such as prints, territorial marks and kills, are frequently found while walking the Red, Grey and Blue Trails. Over the last few years we've found most signs on the Red Trail so we positioned the camera high up on the trail at post 1650, and hopes were (perhaps unrealistically) high that we'd capture images of a Puma activity. These trails are also the most likely spots to capture images of other cats such as Ocelot Leopardus pardalis, Margay Leopardus wiedii and Oncilla Leopardus tigrinus.

Frustratingly, after retrieving the camera a week later we discovered it was faulty, recording only audio and no video. However, there were some interesting sounds picked up, so maybe next time we'll have more success. We moved another camera to the Blue Trail for a few nights. Still no cats but we did capture this pregnant South-eastern Common Opossum Didelphis aurita.

Lodge garden

The third camera was positioned in the lodge garden beneath the bird feeders. Each day bananas and manyock are left out to attract mammals, and a few years back a Paca Agouti paca was found to be visiting the garden. We were keen to see if any were still around, and the camera revealed at least one visiting the garden each night. Paca are highly prized by hunters and their presence here is a good indication of the effect the REGUA rangers are having at deterring hunting on the reserve.





A less surprising visitor was this South-eastern Common Opossum. These animals can be seen most nights in the trees along the Brown Trail near the lodge. Note that this animal is also a pregnant female.



Next year we'll try a few other places and hopefully capture some cats on camera.