Rachel and I spent the afternoon at Thursley Common. Spent half an hour watching the male Common Cuckoo that photographers are feeding with mealworms at the moment in Parish Field. The bird comes down to a few perches set up just a few metres from admiring birders and photographers. The views were ridiculous! I'm not sure how comfortable I am with a Cuckoo being fed, but then I'm not sure why I should be uncomfortable with it either? The bird seemed very comfortable being so close to people and even started calling from one of the perches at one point!
Other birds noted included 1m Common Redstart at Shrike Hill (and others heard), 3 Woodlark (inc. 2 in Parish Field), 1+ Eurasian Hobby, 2 (1m, 1f) Dartford Warbler, 7 (4m, 3f) Stonechat, 1H Eurasian Curlew, 1H Willow Warbler, 3 (2m, 1f) Tufted Duck (bog), 5 Canada Goose (bog) and 1 Mistle Thrush (Parish Field).
Also tried the Emperor Moth pheromone lure again at SU905418 and had 3-4 males come in after a few minutes, although none of them settled.
Found a pair of Dartford Warblers Sylvia undata nesting right beside the path and fluked this pic of the male as we walked past
(Dartford Warbler is a Schedule 1 species so we didn't linger)
Plenty of Red Mason Bee Osmia rufa action in the garden over the last week or so. A single female is nesting in our homemade bee hotel and it has been fascinating watching her building the cells and bringing in pollen for the larvae. Several males are also kicking about and frequently rest on the bee hotel waiting for females to appear. Witnessed one trying to mate with the female by grabbing her when she emerged from the nest cavity and forcing her to crash to the ground. But females only mate once and he was quickly seen off. So far only three nest cavities have been completed. However, the temperature has dropped by several degrees over the last few days which has no doubt slowed egg-laying.
All photos below taken with a Samsung Note 4 smartphone. It looks like Google have changed the image compression applied to images uploaded to Blogger and therefore photos on Blogger now look utter shite.
Female Red Mason Bee Osmia rufa after exiting her nest cavity, Worcester Park, 16 April 2017. Note the dusting of pollen - like all
solitary bees, Red Mason Bees do not have pollen baskets like Honey Bees do.
Red Mason Bee Osmia rufa, Worcester Park, 16 April 2017. The males have whitish hair on the face (blackish on females) and much
longer antenna.
Female Red Mason Bee Osmia rufa guarding her nest cavity, Worcester Park, 16 April 2017
Red Mason Bee nest cavity - penultimate cell sealed with mud (left), mud seal after last cell completed (right)
Our homemade bee hotel made from a salvaged piece of felled willow - took hours to drill the holes
Some excellent information about Red Mason Bees here.
Spent a few hours at Thursley Common this afternoon to try out a recently purchased pheromone lure for Emperor Moths Saturnia pavonia. The lure worked incredibly well. I tried two areas at the north end of Thursley Common and at the first site 2 male Emperors showed up within seconds of opening the lure (in fact moths were flying around me before I had even got the lure out of my bag, seemingly attracted to the lure before I had opened it!). Unfortunately it was quite breezy and none of the moths would settle, so no photos today.
Times:
Site A: SU905418
Set up lure: 15:21
First arrival: 15:21 (15:26 confirmed)
Total: 2m
Site B: SU908419
Set up lure: 16:04
First arrival: 16:06
Total: 1m
Site A: SU905418
Set up lure: 16:36
First arrival: 16:44
Total: 1m
Birds noted include: 7+ Barn Swallow, 2-3 Dartford Warbler (including 1m singing), 5 (2m 3f) Common Stonechat, several Linnet, 1 prob Woodlark and 2 Greylag Geese.
A few quiet hours at the patch. Staines Moor 'highlights': 1 Water Pipit (Colne) with a metal ring on right leg, 6 Stonechat (4m, 2f), 3 Red Kite, 1 Common Buzzard, c. 30 Fieldfare (swamp) and a few Skylark (now singing). Also, photographed a few fruiting fungi that I will try and identify. On Stanwell Moor 3 Canada Geese were just about noteworthy.
A rather tedious day at the patch with 1+ Water Pipit (Colne), 3 Water Rail (all along the Colne - 1 at willow clump, 1 on mud by southern footbridge, and 1 in reeds at south end), 11 (5m, 1 1st-w m, 5f) Stonechat, 3 Little Grebe (Colne), 4 Red Kite, 1 Common Buzzard S, 4+ Linnet, 4+ Skylark, 5+ Meadow Pipit, 1m Kestrel and 1f Common Pheasant (swamp).
Weather: Hazy sun, very light W wind, wet (rain previous night and in morning).
My first visit to the patch of 2017, and with the added bonus of meeting Jess on site for an hour or so. A European Golden Plover beside the Colne (just north of the southern footbridge) most of the day was very approachable and seemed to have a parasite or deformity preventing it from closing its bill fully. Also noted were 2 Jack Snipe, 2 Water Pipit (Colne), 3 Water Rail all along the Colne (1 at willow clump, 1 in reeds by southern footbridge, 1 in reeds at south end), 1f Eurasian Wigeon (Colne near dusk), 8 Little Grebe (Colne), 4 Stonechat (2m, 1 1st-w m, 1f), 7+ Skylark, 1 Grey Wagtail (Colne), 1 Pied Wagtail (Colne), 1 Red Kite W, 1f Kestrel, 7+ Fieldfare, 6 Moorhen (4 ad, 2 1st-w) and 1 Grey Heron.
European Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria, Staines Moor, 14 January 2017. A rather poorly looking individual with a deformity of the bill
or maybe a parasite in the mouth. It seemed unable to close its bill but was feeding okay.
Weather: Mainly cloudy (7 oktas) with some sunny periods later, showers mid afternoon, light cold WNW wind.
To say that 2016 on the patch was tough going is an understatement. It was a particularly poor year for birds - migrants and breeders alike - with one Red List species failing to return to breed for the first time. Despite this, two warbler species occurred that are potential additions to the Staines Moor list. It was also a poor year for fungi, probably as a result of a very dry last quarter. However, butterflies put on a great show, with the best autumn Red Admiral migration ever recorded at the patch.
All reports below refer to Staines Moor unless otherwise stated, and include unauthenticated records pending acceptance by the London Bird Club recorders (records that are not my own are credited in brackets).
The mild conditions the first half of winter 2015/16 continued into the January and February. End of winter highlights include 2 Eurasian Treecreeper along Bonehead Ditch on 1st January9, a high site count of 18 Stonechat on 5th January3, 7 Water Pipits on 16th January, a singing Eurasian Treecreeper by Slips Pond on 11th February, single Jack Snipes on 11th February and 25th February, 1 male House Sparrow on the Moor Lane unit of the Staines Moor SSSI on 19th February (a very rare bird for Staines Moor), and 2 Water Rail along the Colne, with one bird showing extremely well under the willow clump from 12th to 17th March. 6-8 Water Pipit on 17th March is another good site count.
Water Rail, River Colne, Staines Moor, 17 March 2016. Water Rail occasionally winter in the willow clump along the Colne just south
of the northern footbridge.
Spring migration was very slow. Another singing Eurasian Treecreeper along the old railway on 2nd April was presumably the bird seen here throughout the winter, and a Grasshopper Warbler and 3 Common Redstart were all present on 12th April.
Migrant Grasshopper Warbler, Staines Moor, 12 April
The highlight of the spring was a pair of Bar-tailed Godwits feeding beside the Colne all day on 12th May. The female was ringed as an adult on 11 May 2006 in the Netherlands at Polder bij Lies on the island of Terschelling in the western Wadden Sea. A single Grasshopper Warbler returned to breed (seen on 5th and 7th May and heard on 12th May), but depressingly, there was no sign of any Common Cuckoos at either Staines Moor or Stanwell Moor this year - the first year of absence for the patch that I can remember.
Bar-tailed Godwits, Staines Moor, 12 May
Redshank returned to Staines Moor in mid March, with 2 on 17th increasing to 5 on 20th5. 2, presumably a pair, were still present on 22nd May but breeding was not proved. Sadly, although 4 displaying Northern Lapwing were seen on 22nd March, not a single pair bred successfully.
First arrival dates of common summer migrants at Staines Moor or Stanwell Moor for 2016:
Species
Arrival date
Location
Observer
Barn Swallow
20 Mar
Staines Moor
Iain, John & Kath Darbyshire
Northern Wheatear
26 Mar
Staines Moor
Lee Dingain
Sand Martin
26 Mar
Staines Moor
Lee Dingain
House Martin
3 Apr
Staines Moor
Tim Rymer
Common Redstart
12 Apr
Staines Moor
Lee Dingain
Grasshopper Warbler
12 Apr
Staines Moor
Lee Dingain
Willow Warbler
12 Apr
Staines Moor
Lee Dingain
Lesser Whitethroat
12 Apr
Staines Moor
Lee Dingain
Sedge Warbler
17 Apr
Staines Moor
Jim Sweetland
Eurasian Hobby
20 Apr
Staines Moor
Sue Middens
Common Tern
20 Apr
Staines Moor
Sue Middens, Thomas Gibson
Common Swift
20 Apr
Staines Moor
Thomas Gibson
Ring Ouzel
21 Apr
Staines Moor
Lee Dingain
Whinchat
21 Apr
Staines Moor
Lee Dingain
Reed Warbler
21 Apr
Staines Moor
Lee Dingain
Common Whitethroat
21 Apr
Staines Moor
Lee Dingain
Yellow Wagtail
21 Apr
Staines Moor
Lee Dingain
Garden Warbler
5 May
Staines Moor
Lee Dingain
Spotted Flycatcher
7 May
Staines Moor
Lee Dingain
Coverage over the summer months was almost non-existent. After a very poor spring I really needed a long break away from the patch and so didn't make a single visit, but neither, seemingly, did many others. A Barn Owl at the south end of Staines Moor on 13th June is an unusual summer record5, and an intriguing report of a Marsh Warbler on the 27th August2 will be a site first if accepted.
Autumn passage began with a huge influx of migrant Red Admirals butterflies provided a fantastic spectacle as their feed on blackberries in their hundreds, peaking with at least 554 counted on Staines Moor and Stanwell Moor on 8th September.
Red Admirals Vanessa atalanta feeding on blackberries, Staines Moor, 8 September 2016
Early October provided the autumn passage highlights. A tame Red Knot feeding beside the Colne on Staines Moor for an hour on 7th October must have been a fantastic sight and is only the third site record4. The next day the national Yellow-browed Warbler influx reached the patch with Staines Moor's first seen in a tit flock in the north-west corner6.
The first Short-eared Owl of the autumn appeared on 8th October8, with 2 together on 16th October5 and 20th October5, and the first returning Water Pipit and Jack Snipe were both noted on 22nd October. A Mediterranean Gull on 27th October is, surprisingly, only the third record for Staines Moor and a Dartford Warbler that showed up in the south-east corner of Staines Moor on 11th November is the seventh site record. 2 Jack Snipe were along the Colne on 15th November7 and a juvenile Marsh Harrier south-west over Staines Moor on 4th December1 was the last notable record of the year1.
Personally, 2016 on the patch will be remembered as a highly frustrating and infuriating year, with a huge number of hours spent in the field during spring and autumn migration in particular producing absolutely naff all. This is the nature of inland patch birding of course, but I really hope 2017 is a little better.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to the following observers for reporting their records: 1Nick B, 2Ed Bates, 3John Edwards, 4Hugh Evans, 5Thomas Gibson, 6Rob Innes, 7Steve Portugal, 8Jim Sweetland and 9Jim and Tony Sweetland.
