No.121 Autumn 2018 Photograph Gallery Fig 1. Great White Egret, Richmond Park, 31 Aug 2018. (Nigel Jackman) Fig 2. Little Gull, Walton Res., Fig 3. Red-backed Shrike, Thursley 8 Apr 2018 (Dave Harris) Common, 15 Jul 2018 (Dave Carlsson) Birding Surrey The Newsletter of the Surrey Bird Club Contents From the Chairman..........................................................2 Bird News -Winter 2017/18 part 2: early 2018................4 Savi’s Warbler - First for Surrey....................................11 Swifts!............................................................................12 Filtering Records in Going Birding Surrey ...................14 Woking Peregrine Project Update - 2018......................15 BTO Matters...................................................................21 What your Committee has been doing...........................23 Notes..............................................................................24 From your Membership Secretary..................................25 Data Protection Policy and Procedures for Surrey Bird Club................................................................................26 Privacy Policy of Surrey Bird Club...............................29 Minutes of Surrey Bird Club AGM 2018 ......................32 Field Trip Reports..........................................................34 Future Field Meetings....................................................35 President and General Committee..................................36 Front Cover: Woking Peregrines by James Sellen Birding Surrey is published by the Surrey Bird Club. Registered Charity No 248285 Opinions expressed in the Newsletter are not necessarily those of the Club. The Club accepts no liability for the services provided by advertisers, and makes no endorsement of the services of any organisation providing donations to the Club. Copyright. Please note that submissions are accepted on the basis that the copyright holder grants Surrey Bird Club an irrevocable, royalty free licence to publish and republish the copyright material in printed, digital or electronic form in perpetuity. © Surrey Bird Club 2018 No 121: Autumn 2018 1 Birding Surrey From the Chairman This is my first 'From the (Hansons). A former gravel Chairman' since taking over from working has been turned into one of Steve Chastell following the 2018 the best birding sites in Surrey, AGM. Steve served as Club with a range of habitats from open Chairman for 13 years, which is water to woodland. While TMBG more than anyone has the right to have already achieved a great deal, expect, and he will be a very hard there is more on the way, including act to follow. hides and a high-tech Swift nesting tower. There is the possibility that The 2018 AGM one of the hides might be put in The AGM was held on 29 June place by Chinook helicopter - now 2018 and was reasonably well that should be worth watching. attended. There were some SBC has provided some financial changes of officers, following the support, including a display board, decisions by Hugh Evans and Steve and has manned an SBC stand at Chastell to stand down as President the annual Tice's Bioblitz. If you and Chairman respectively. The haven't attended one of the Club owes a large debt of gratitude Bioblitzes, I can thoroughly to both, although we won't be recommend them. losing Steve's services because he has taken over from me as County Going Birding Surrey Recorder. Hugh was deservedly It won't (or shouldn't) have escaped elected an Honorary Life Member your notice that the Club while Stella Bignold was elected introduced a new on-line reporting President to follow Hugh. Happily system at the beginning of the year, she has agreed to carry on as Report Going Birding Surrey (GBS). It's Editor - we'd struggle without her. easy to use and makes sightings of note available to other Surrey Once the formalities were over we birders. The broad concept behind had a presentation from the Tice's GBS was that it would be used for Meadow Bird Group (TMBG) - the more interesting records and 'Tice's Meadow, Past, Present and BTO's BirdTrack would be used for Future'. It showed just what can be the remainder, but the division is achieved by a small group of not absolute, and if you would enthusiastic volunteers working prefer to put all your records on with a co-operative site owner GBS then please do so. There was 2 No 121: Autumn 2018 Birding Surrey some comment at the AGM that, is the number of breeding pairs of unlike the Club website which it Chiffchaffs, Reed Warblers and replaced, GBS was displaying Whitethroats. Numbers of records of common species which hirundines during autumn were of limited interest to other migration have been better, but birders. However, you don't have still on the low side, and Swifts to see such records if you don't have been staying quite late - there want to. There is a filter to allow are still two around as I write this you to choose the level of scarcity on 27 August. On a brighter note of the records displayed - you can three pairs of Common Terns tried choose one of eight levels from to squeeze onto a small raft on a Abundant to Very Rare. local farm reservoir. After a lot of squabbling one pair was chased off GBS is a good system and it is used and the remaining two pairs raised by a number of counties. At 5 young, all of which have now present the Surrey system is not departed south. being used as much as we had hoped. Please use it - it can be Maybe - hopefully - the low used to keep your records, it alerts numbers are not typical, but if it is, you and other Surrey birders to it's hard to see the reason. The interesting records and all records number of migratory species can be downloaded by the county apparently affected is quite large, recorder. (If you think I'm not so they winter over a large area, practicing what I preach, it's which seems to make adverse because these days I do most of my conditions at the wintering birding on my local patch, all of grounds an unlikely explanation. which is private land.) An explanation may lie in adverse conditions on migration, in which Where are all the birds? case the so-called 'Beast from the Perhaps I've just been unlucky East' may have been a factor. But with my local patch near Milford, other factors may also be involved, but I can't remember a summer because numbers of woodland when there seem to be so few birds birds on my patch also seem to be around. Hirundines have been few low. It's all a bit worrying. and far between, with Swallows failing to breed for the first time in Eric Soden the 25 years I've been watching the patch. Swift numbers are down, as No 121: Autumn 2018 3 Birding Surrey Bird News -Winter 2017/18 Shaun Peters - part 2: early 2018 ♦ Highlights of the quarter These included a Great White Egret, a Spoonbill, three Iceland Gulls, three Glaucous Gulls, a Waxwing, the overwintering Lesser Whitethroat, a Twite, and the flock of Parrot Crossbills, as well as the continued presence of Hawfinches. Also, a spell of cold weather and snow in late February and early March, dubbed 'The Beast from the East', produced cold weather movements and a number of displaced birds, particularly waders. Brent Goose There were single Gadwall The largest reported birds at Beddington SF and the numbers were 118 at Holmethorpe SP London Wetland Centre on Jan 11th on Jan 21st, 52 at Thorpe Water Park and a party of 15 flew SE at on Jan 21st, 69 at Beddington SF on Hedgecourt Lake on Feb 23rd. Feb 22nd and 85 at Walton Res on Mar 5th. Shelduck Birds were seen at Beddington SF, Berrylands SWks, Teal The largest reported numbers Frensham Great Pond, the London were 125 at Beddington SF on Jan Wetland Centre, Lonsdale Road Res, 21st, 108 on the Thames from Kew to QE2 Res, Tice's Meadow (Badshot Richmond on Jan 22nd, 112 at the Lea) and Walton Res, with the largest London Wetland Centre on Feb 10th number being eight at Beddington SF and 227 on the Thames from Putney on Jan 23rd. to Barnes on Feb 17th. Wigeon The largest reported numbers Pintail At Walton Res there were a were 97 at the London Wetland pair on Jan 21st and six on Jan 27th. Centre on Jan 13th, 106 at Island Barn The cold weather in early March Res on Jan 25th, 92 at Buckland SP on produced birds at five sites. There Feb 3rd, 152 at Burpham Court Farm were two males at Walton Res from on Feb 18th, 84 at Thorpe Water Park Mar 1st-7th, 15 flew over Beddington on Feb 18th and 79 at Tice's Meadow SF in two flocks on Mar 1st, a male (Badshot Lea) on Mar 3rd. was at Holmethorpe SP on Mar 1st, a female was at Stoke on Mar 2nd and a 4 No 121: Autumn 2018 Birding Surrey male was on Pudmore Pond (Thursley Centre, Longside Lake (Thorpe), QE2 Common) on Mar 5th. This latter bird Res, Thorpe Water Park and Tice's was then seen on Thursley Moat Pond Meadow (Badshot Lea). The last of on several dates from Mar 7th-21st. the winter was a first-winter male that The feral flock at the London Wetland remained at Holmethorpe SP from Centre peaked at 16 on Mar 5th-6th. Mar 2nd-May 2nd. Shoveler The largest reported Red-breasted Merganser The male numbers were 50 at Beddington SF on was seen at Pennymead Lake (East Jan 2nd, 138 at the London Wetland Horsley) on five dates from Jan 15th- Centre on Feb 18th, 41 at Thorpe 24th. It was only seen on the Water Park on Feb 18th and 50 at reservoirs in the Walton area on Jan Walton Res on Mar 4th. 5th and 14th.