25/11/2021

Today I had the day off work, so was able to spend a lot of time at the park, and it did not disappoint! 

I've popped by a few times since my previous post, but only in quick visits in between other arrangements, and there wasn't a lot to report.

First off, the day was absolutely glorious, and it was slightly less busy from a people perspective and therefore a dog perspective, which made the conditions ideal.

I arrived and, to my delight, there were some gulls on ND1! I'd read about the gulls on deck from David's post, and I think he was just as elated as me when he had finally had some on the deck. Photos below (as proof!). I did have an interesting duck-type sound from ND1, which just confused me. I wasn't able to place it, probably because I'd never heard the sound at Nonsuch before. It wasn't a fly over, and there's no body of water from where the sound was coming from. I was too slow with my sound recorder. It's also possible it could have been a dog.

After a great start, I made my way over to P1 where there was very little activity, and it looks like there has been significant pruning/tree felling since my last visit. 

I then headed to TL4 as I'd recently had Redwing there. This was an incredibly productive spot today especially when the dog walkers had moved on. Lots of feeding was going on and I got many of my day ticks here. It was looking like a particularly good day for beating my day list. While looking at a Redwing which was deep in the bushes, I heard a bit of a commotion overhead but ignored it (happens plenty of times, and is usually just disturbance caused by humans and dogs). I just so happened to bring my binoculars down and saw a whopping great big, brown wingspan. It could only mean one thing - a Buzzard. At this point, I was really annoyed that I'd missed a Buzzard in flight possibly 2 metres in front of me. Makes you wonder what you miss while you're looking at everything else.

Of course, I followed this into the next field (Zone 4) and couldn't see it. After some scanning, I was able to locate a Common Buzzard perched in a tree, as close as you like. It then took off with lots of crows after it and flew into another part further away. Photo below.

After that excitement, I decided I'd try to make it to the other no dog zones to see if any more gulls were on deck. Unfortunately there weren't. I made my way back through the park, trying to get a few more ticks. On the way, I had a completely white bird fly over, which I assume must have been a Dove, as it wasn't an Egret species. I was back at TL4 again because there was just so much activity. I had a couple of Blackbirds with totally black beaks, and I also had a few passerines both overhead and flitting between the bushes that I just wasn't able to ID. I think one overhead may have been a Meadow Pipit, but I'm not familiar enough with their flight calls yet, so we'll save that for another day. Having now listened back to their call, I am convinced it was - but I'm not happy ticking it this way, just in case.

Other suspected ticks were Goldcrest and Long-Tailed Tit (which absolutely must have been on site), Mistle Thrush possibly heard, same with Green Woodpecker and Little Owl. I really wasn't able to tell because they just didn't call for long enough and I wasn't close enough to the source. I also had a wagtail species overhead, which, if Pied, would have been a patch tick.

I think with a few more birds of prey (which I am sure were on site), I would have comfortably improved my daily list, but I was very happy with today's haul.

Ending the day on 22 species, and my overall list for the park is now at 38 species.

The extremely rare, Unhappy Gull in the bottom left.

Buzzard chase

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. 

30/08/2021 - Highlights

Today I was at the Park from around midday for a few hours.

Here are the highlights from today:

2 Grey Heron
1 Buzzard (mobbed by the Hobby)
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
Green Woodpecker (multiple heard on site, no more than 5)
Chiffchaff (multiple heard only)
Nuthatch (interestingly, heard only in Z2 and Z3 - usually only heard in TL1)
1 Hobby
7 gull sp. flying overhead
High numbers of Stock Dove, Common Woodpigeon, Ring-necked Parakeet, Magpie, Carrion Crow

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'

(giant Swift, right?!)

If you have made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read my Nonsuch journey up until the point of blogging.

Some additional pictures below of highlights:

(Sparrowhawk, Crow and Magpies)