A Grey Day.

After the pre-match euphoria emanating from the immediate neighbourhood yesterday evening everyone appeared  to be deathly quiet this morning including the garden birds ... I wonder why!

With a grey overcast sky I headed over to to the Stew Pond at Epsom Common where the only activity was a number of fishermen patiently waiting for something to nibble their baited hooks and the family of Canada Geese heading for an empty spot on the far bank. I scanned the Great Pond and only seeing one Grey Heron and two male Tufted Ducks I strolled through the woodland adding Blackbird, Song Thrush, Wren, Great Tit and Great Spotted Woodpecker to the morning list.

In a small glade where some grey light filtered through the canopy I spied a tatty Speckled Wood while unsuccessfully trying to locate the exact location of a nearby singing Blackcap.

As the sky darkened I heard the call of a Grey Heron and just managed to focus (heavily cropped) on one of two individuals as they noisily departed from the Great Pond to head elsewhere. A wander around the scrub beyond the ponds produced a singing Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Common Whitethroat plus several Green Woodpeckers, Jay, Magpie, Carrion Crow and a single Goldfinch.

With the hint of rain in the air I picked up the distant sound of a Yellowhammer and after scanning around I found the songster typically perched on the bare topmost branches of one of the highest trees so only another cropped image. At least its colours brightened up the grey sky.

My peripheral vision picked up the flight of a Meadow Brown at ground level just before it disappeared into the vegetation so I had to crouch low down to only be rewarded with a closed wing shot.

On my return towards the car park the Canada family were out of the water with all but one of the goslings taking a late morning nap.

Back at home their was a brief flurry of activity with both adult and juvenile Blue Tits, Robin and a colourful Goldfinch on the seed feeder.   FAB.

P.S. Some readers may notice that I have changed the title of this blog from 'The Early Birder' to 'Wildlife Watching with FAB' but still accessible at the existing web address: http://fabearlybirder.blogspot.com/.
The decision was not taken lightly but as I have for some time been taking a more relaxed approach to my varied wildlife watching excursions this change now seemed appropriate PLUS it will hopefully prevent confusion with another UK blog operated under the same title.

Wonders of Witley Common.

A foggy start to the day as I headed south-west to carry out some much needed garden maintenance for my parents ..... hedge trimming!

Knowing that I had time to spare before my expected ETA I paid a visit to the sandy heathland at Witley Common where a Jackdaw was patiently surveying the scene as the sun slowly began to break through and burn off the fog and eventually lift the temperature to simulate a summers day!

The common comprises a mixture of dry heath with Common and Bell Heather plus Gorse; wet heathland where you find Cross-leaved heath and ponds that often dry outin the summer; grassland and rich woodland consisting of Scot's Pine, Silver Birch, English and Turkey Oak, Willow, Sweet Chestnut plus Hazel, Elder and Aspen. A rich habitat that promises much in the right conditions. Check out this link or more information on Lowland Heath.

During my 90 minute stroll across part of the open dry heathland and surrounding woodland edge I logged the following species; Jay, Carrion Crow, Cuckoo, Linnet, TREE PIPIT, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Chaffinch, Common Redstart, Blackbird, Wren, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Woodpigeon, Nuthatch,  BRAMBLING, Stonechat, Common Whitethroat, Swallow, Pheasant, Kestrel and Yellowhammer. Most of my sightings were fairly distant so the following image have all been cropped.

Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis)

Obviously not the clear shot I would have preferred but sometimes you have to accept what is on offer. I watched this individual perform its distant display flight and parachute down to another lofty tree top perch unlike its close cousin the Meadow Pipit that generally lands on the floor at the end of its flight. 

Stonechat (Saxicola torquatus)

I am usually alerted to this chat's location by its repetative throaty clicking call and today was no exception. As soon as I lined up the distant shot it moved to another favourite perch ... ah well, patience I say to myself, it will probably come back in a few moments ... and it did.  

 Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus)

For once there were far more Willow Warblers around the heathland singing their descending verse than the Chiffchaffs on my local patch.

Three for the price of one ... Tree Pipit, Yellowhammer and Chaffinch.

Plenty of Brimstone on the wing in such lovely sunny weather.

So that was the easy part of my day, the following three hours wielding a hedge trimmer has left its mark on my arm muscles but tomorrow morning will hopefully be another relaxing few hours as I reconnoitre the landscape at Hatchlands Park in preparation for a 'Dawn Chorus' walk in two weeks time.   FAB.

For more WORLD BIRD WEDNESDAY images, please follow this link. 

Thursday am.

A slightly earlier start today found me treading the paths and bridleways around Bookham Common this morning. As I headed towards one of my favourite woodland glades birdsong was virtually nonexistent probably due to the repeated sound of gunshots from an adjoining property! 

In the glade there was plenty of early breakfast food for 'flutters' and other insects.

Ladybird seeking out its prey.

As expected there were masses of Ringlets plus Meadow Browns constantly on the wing together with a few Skippers perched low down all trying to keep out of the grip of a hunting Emperor Dragonfly that was making occasional forays around the glade and then disappearing somewhere deep in the grass.

Large Skipper (Ochlodes venata).

Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris).

Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia).

Above is the female, much darker than the males who were dashing around at much higher altitudes together with a few White Admirals. No sign yet of the elusive Purple Emperors but I did spot what I believe to be the much smaller Purple Hairstreak fidgeting high above the canopy of the mature oak trees.

Overhead the distinctive call of not one but three Common Buzzards soaring higher and higher while Jays, Crows and Jackdaws called from within the woodlands.

With nothing else new in front of the lens I headed to the new hide that overlooks the recently dredged Upper Eastern Pond. The resident Little Grebe was spending most of its time underwater while Moorhens with their chicks skirted the pond margins.

There were three seperate families of Mallard with youngsters at various stages of development on the pond and the mothers keeping a look out for their charges. 

One of the resident Grey Herons flew in and took up its sentry position before attempting to do an impression of a 'Bittern'! Nearby a Great Spotted Woodpecker was tapping away hoping to find its breakfast under the bark of a tree and a Green Woodie 'yaffled' as it flew across the pond.

Comma (Polygonia c-album).

Easily identified by its ragged outline when at rest but could be mistaken for a fritillary due to its overall colour and the rapid flight pattern interspersed with twisting glides.

Knapweed.

Leaving the common around midday with a Yellowhammer singing from atop of a telegraph pole I headed off to Stoke Meadows to see if I could find anything different.....FAB.