31/10/2021

After the worst of the stormy weather had passed earlier today, I went to Nonsuch to see if anything had weathered the storm, and who was playing out. I was pleased to get 15 species after ~24 hrs of gale-force winds and torrential rain.

Making my way around the Park following my usual route, I ended up at P1 (Round Pond), and heard the Little Owl calling. I was really excited about this, because I've only had it near there twice before. Annoyingly though, it was just teasing me, as I really wasn't able to locate it, and soon after it went quiet (so had possibly moved on).

Side note: if it weren't for dog activity, I am sure P1 would have regular Snipe numbers.

I had given up looking for the LO, and was disturbed by an eruption of Carrion Crows. I think I'd managed to pick out a Sparrowhawk in amongst them, but the trouble is that everything looks like a Bird of Prey in this weather.

Again there was a lot of gull movement, and, after some studious research this weekend, I was comfortable in ID-ing them as Herring Gulls (not sure what else I had expected them to be!)

I was also very pleased to see that the (usually) dried-up channel is in fact supposed to be a stream, and is now fully operational as a stream! Now the bridges make sense. You know the birdwatching is drying up when you get excited about a dried-up stream being...not dried-up.

I ended up in ND1 which is great for Corvidae. There was the usual Jackdaw and CC activity, of them flying into roost. I made it around 50 Jackdaw and at least 100 CC, and I also had at least 45 Parakeet.

Haven't had any Redwing yet, nor have I picked up any of the reported Siskins, and Teal from previous years on site. Hopefully I'll get a patch tick soon, otherwise there might be more dried-up content.

I had visited the Park on 27th because I had the afternoon off work. I was there for about 2 hours and the most interesting thing to report was a sighting of three Grey Heron all at once. I'd had the most exciting sighting on the way there (a Red Kite over Kingston Road). Entirely possible it had flown over Nonsuch, but I can't tick it unfortunately.

The patch watches might be even less regular now (if that's even possible) with losing the hour of light, but I'll see what I can do (and maybe even try a few early morning shifts 🤯 )

26/10/2021

Another brief visit before sundown.

The Green Woodpecker very vocal this evening and also seen quite a few times.

As I was leaving ND1 (just as I'd put everything away - typical), I heard the Little Owl. I've heard it there before, but haven't ever been able to pinpoint exactly where it is, but it must hold territory along some of the trees bordering ND1.

I was obviously seeing everything in 5s tonight - 5 Goldfinch, 5 Long-Tailed Tits, 5 Woodpigeons.

Lots and lots of gull movement - I counted over 50 and all were fly overs. A member of the public put something in the bin which attracted virtually all the crows in the area and two gulls. At one point I was certain they were going to land so I could finally get my first gull on the deck, get a picture, and hopefully ID it. It was about half a metre off the ground and then decided it would not bother.

There was also the usual late evening presence of thousands of Jackdaws returning to roost.

17/10/2021

Inspired by the local sighting of the Penduline Tit at Beddington SF, I decided to put a proper shift in today, in particular, I wanted to scan any tit flocks to see if they had brought any unusual visitors. 

It was generally a quiet day for bird activity, and a busy day at the park people wise, so I wasn't having much luck despite trying.

I noted all the usual visitors: Parakeets, Carrion Crows, Goldfinches, Magpies, although didn't note any Jackdaws today, which was slightly odd.

I had a Grey Heron fly over twice, and had the usual gulls passing through, but, while working my way back out of the Park, I had my first bit of hope.

I was working my way back slowly along Tree Line 3, keeping my eyes and ears out, and was able to hear the classic teetering/trill of the Long-Tailed Tit. I stopped to count how many - I made it 5 - and spotted something else. Flitting about in the spindly trees was my first Goldcrest for Nonsuch! It was just one on its own, and, admittedly, I'd tuned out of its sound because I haven't seen/heard one for a very long time (but it does also blend quite well with LTT). I was delighted with this patch tick, as I've wanted to get a Goldcrest for a long time and have been frustrated with not finding one. It quickly moved on, as did the LTTs, but it did a lovely Hummingbird impression/hover for about 3 seconds which was great to watch.

Final count for the day was 16 species, and my overall list for Nonsuch is now 35 species. 

09/10/2021

Quick evening visit tonight. Interesting because I stayed until quite late in the ND1 area to do a sky
watch. The day ended exactly as it started - super misty/foggy! I was able to see swathes of Carrion Crow fly over though, I reckon at least 100 went over in total. I also noted high numbers of gulls flying over. I would say around 20 in total. As usual, I wasn't able to ID the species from so far off.

Nothing unusual or new this evening. Hopefully I am due a patch tick soon...

Highlights:

1 x GSW
1 x Green Woodpecker
1 x Kestrel
20 x Gull sp.

ND1 pictured below just before I left:

07/10/2021

Early morning visit before I started work today. 

Not a huge amount to report - very quiet for birds, but lots of the usual suspects. Still quite a bit of human and dog activity in the park at this time, so some of the birds do get disturbed.

Highlights:

1 x GSW
2 x Gull sp.
1 x Green Woodpecker
3 x Blue Tit
1 x Great Tit
1 x Robin
1 x Sparrowhawk
2 x Parakeet
31 x Carrion Crow
8 x Magpie

 

01/10/2021

Finally managed to get to the Park this evening. A nice evening with a mega highlight as I was leaving. Lots of areas have been significantly cut back (noted on my visit last week), which was at first quite alarming, but it's encouraged some different bird activity/behaviour. In those areas, high numbers of corvidae and columbidae gather and feed from the ground, which makes them easier to count. 

Nothing further on the Hobby, so I think I can safely say that has now left. They're still being reported locally at other sites though. 

Highlights:

• 1 x GSW
• 1 x Green Woodpecker (seen only - and only just about!)
• 1 x Jay
• 2 x Robin
• 1 x Buzzard (see below)

The Buzzard was a real highlight tonight. As I was heading back, thinking to myself that it had been a very quiet night for birds of prey, I noticed a huge wingspan low to the ground about 7 metres in front of me. I followed it with my eyes to a branch where it perched. 

I watched it for about 10 minutes and then it flew off into an orange-y sunset. On its way, it had disturbed a group of mixed birds, which erupted out of the tree they were in.