Nonsuch Park Birding: The Story So Far

So those of you who have keenly been following me up until now from the very start (only two posts - don't worry, plenty of time to catch up), will realise that I have been birding Nonsuch Park regularly since the end of July 2021.

The blog started at the end of August 2021. So, in lieu of many daily posts, I have committed to set the record straight and let you have a rough breakdown of the magical sightings and events I have so far seen at Nonsuch Park.

Let's begin with a very special day - the first day. This was a typical July hot day at the park and it was late morning. Plenty of people around with dogs and children. Call it beginners luck, but I'd been in the park for around 2.5 minutes and I had my first species and a mega one at that. I'd heard it before I'd seen it, and it was unmistakeable - a Buzzard. Perched in Tree Line 1, immediately on my right as I had entered, was a Buzzard in full view. Totally unphased by everyone coming in and out of the park, and everyone totally unphased by it. Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I have the most basic of cameras. I wasn't going to get a great shot, but it would be possible to get a good shot with a basic camera because of how close it was. I had to take a photo and here it is:

After watching it some more, I decided I needed to move on. Nonsuch is so vast that the only proper way to get to know it is to keep walking. I continued along the concrete path (The Avenue) which goes more into woodland. I was already hearing the chuckling of a Green Woodpecker. Further along the path, I was aware of some activity that made me think bird of prey. I also heard a call that wasn't familiar to me, but again, felt raptor-y. I used BirdNET to help me identify that it was in fact the call of a Sparrowhawk. This is a bird that I (ridiculously) haven't seen or heard as much of as I would like, but I was treated to an absolutely outstanding viewing of two Sparrowhawks in this same spot days later.

I then made my way to P1, where I had the Grey Heron, a Moorhen, and a Grey Wagtail land for a few seconds. Then, out of nowhere, a Little Owl flew right past me and landed on a fence post half a metre away, before flying off again.

My first day really set the standard, and has been one of my highest scoring days for species, coming in at 21.

The days after this and throughout August brought even more delight. The Buzzard was a regular sight, on the same branch. The Green Woodpeckers were audible and visible at various areas on the site. One evening I also followed (with my eyes) a Kestrel back to a branch where it enjoyed its dinner (picture below).

The evenings in August were quite special to me also. The evenings brought a different kind of light to the park (see below), and were quieter from a human perspective. This meant that birds would often come out onto the ground in the Zones and I would watch them go between the trees and the ground. I had a lot of Mistle Thrushes one evening in Z7, which, believe it or not, and rather embarrassingly, was a lifer for me.

One particular night, I was extremely lucky. Towards the end of August 2021 I was near P1 when I heard a sound that sounded a bit like a dog toy, and a kettle/pan that was at boiling point. I had heard this sound before faintly, and had written it off as a dog toy (there are lots of these types of sounds at Nonsuch). I followed it and used BirdNET to check what it was. It returned the result of a Hobby. I followed the sound some more to an utter commotion happening in TL4. All I remember was thinking 'why is there a giant Swift in the trees?', and then inspecting it some more and realising it had the classic red trousers. A Hobby isn't a lifer for me, but again, is a bird I've seen in a fleeting moment. On this night, I had the best views I've ever, ever had of a Hobby, and believe that they will be the best views I will ever have. There were three of them, and I had about an hour of them being perched, and doing acrobatics only a few metres in front of me and above me. Pictures below. When I made it home, I did some reading on my new friends, and had to laugh when I read that they are often described as 'giant Swifts'