Author: Tony Cummins

Papercourt Water Meadows

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An impressive attendance as thirty members were fortunate to have a mainly sunny if breezy afternoon for an afternoon walk.

A tit flock by the car park comprised blue, great & long tail tits. The field opposite held mainly rooks & jackdaws and the first of several pairs of Egyptian geese, not the hoped-for winter thrushes. A small flock of redwings was foraging in the next field & on closer inspection included some handsome fieldfares. A few more redwings were seen later on.

Sailing was in full swing on the lake, so bird numbers were limited. There were coots in abundance with a single moorhen, black-headed gulls, and a few great crested grebes, with ducks represented by mallard and one male gadwall. Raptors for the afternoon were two circling common buzzards, a red kite and a perched kestrel. For the finale, viewing from vantage points along the canal path (avoiding the waterlogged meadows) most people had good sightings of two barn owls quartering in the water meadows.

38 species were identified.

Stoke Meadows – Riverside Park

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Despite a cold and gloomy morning 28 members marked the New Year with a walk around Riverside Park in Guildford.

The towpath resounded with the song of birds responding to the lengthening of the day. The robins and great tits were in fine voice while a couple of song thrushes were asserting their territories. Blue tits were abundant while the odd wren or dunnock was glimpsed. The water meadows initially appeared empty but eventually a handful of teal and wigeons were spotted through thick vegetation. Cormorants regularly hurried by while a grey heron gave a flypast. A kestrel and buzzard allowed decent views of their perches, the latter causing a jay considerable agitation. Finches were in very short supply being represented only by a few chaffinches and goldfinches.

By Stoke Lock there was a greater variety of birds including chiffchaffs, goldcrests, pied wagtails and a single meadow pipit. At the end of the circuit a small flock of long-tailed tit entertained for a while. The lake was covered in gulls. Conservatively black-headed numbered 150 but among them were a few herring gulls and singles of common and lesser black-backed. A dozen tufted ducks and one pochard were present. A great crested grebe was close while three little grebes were tucked into a distant corner. The final sighting was a great spotted woodpecker.

The species list totalled 44.