On Friday I sat my final A level exam a whole month after I had sat my first. It is such a relief now they are all done and I can start to focus on the next few months (I have a very busy summer ahead). But of course my first day of freedom I headed down to Beddington Farmlands to do my first bit of birding since the Purple Heron day.
It was light very early on Saturday morning so I actually slowed down in Beddington Park to appreciate the birds that were just waking up - all too often I rush through the park in the dark to get to the Farmlands for first light. I was delighted to see that the pair of Mute Swans on the main Boating Lake currently have six healthy looking cygnets. Last year they lost two of their four young to idiots who decided to slingshot them, so I certainly hope that nothing like that happens this year! There was also a pair of Egyptian Geese with eight goslings, different aged juvenile Coots, juvenile Moorhens, and nesting Grey Wagtails in the same place as the previous two years. Nine Tufted Ducks were on the main Boating Lake and at least four Rooks were in the trees nearby (perhaps they nested here just as they have done historically). A brief singing Mistle Thrush and a Nuthatch using the same nest hole as last year were nice additions as I approached the Farmlands entrance. Ebird list from the park
here.
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| Adult Mute Swan with cygnets |
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| Common Swift |
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| Grey Wagtail |
In June 2020 the Grey Wagtail pair successfully fledged three young:
This Red Fox above and below was rather curious of what I was doing
As I moved into the Farmlands and approached the South Lake hide I was greeted by a family of Common Whitethroats which included at least three recently fledged juveniles. There were also some juvenile Golfinches close by and two Sedge Warblers called between each other in the scrub immediately north of the hide. On the Southernmost Lake a female Pochard had three young chicks with it (another year of breeding Pochards at Beddington - last year four were successfully raised on the North Lake). I also spotted an eclipse male and female Shoveler in the background. On the South Lake a female Gadwall had nine chicks. Whilst I was watching them I saw a small bird hop up in the vegetation in front of the hide. I got some photos as I expected it to be one of the juvenile Whitethroats but when I looked at the photos I was clearly looking at a Lesser Whitethroat! Although a few Lesser Whitethroats are present on the Farm each year around now, they are usually secretive and even go long periods without even being heard so it was great to catch a brief view of one.
I then decided to move on and stand at Mile Road gate for a while. A juvenile Goldcrest was flitting around in the trees on the bend and there were also a couple of Chiffchaffs. There was a noticeably greater number of Swifts present compared to my previous visit. A Little Ringed Plover flew up off of the North Lake whilst calling and flew south east over Mile Road. As I walked a bit further along the path to head towards the North Lake hide I spotted a dead Common Shrew in front of me. I then heard what I hope was a very good Song Thrush impression of a Bee Eater (otherwise there was actually a Bee Eater and I was in the worst place in terms of how much of the sky I could see!). From the North Lake hide there was a second Little Ringed Plover still out on the main island, at least two male Teal, four Lapwing, at least three Reed Warblers. When I checked out the Wet Grassland hide there wasn't much at all but I did pick up my only three Long-tailed Tits of the day.
I started to head back towards Mile Road where I would meet Anand. Before he arrived I had a cracking view of a 2cy Hobby cutting through the centre of the ball of Swifts over the lake. Thankfully later on we picked up another Hobby. There was a flock of 54 Stock Doves on the southern area of the mound on the bend heading towards the Phase 3 Wet Grassland and three Rooks flew around too. On Phase 3 there were two Little Ringed Plovers (one presumably the bird that flew over Mile Road earlier). A Red Kite drifted west over by the Incinerator. Anand also spotted a Hummingbird Hawk Moth in the South East Corner (my first in the UK I believe) and then we think we possibly had a second individual. A Painted Lady butterfly was also on the border of the Phase 3 Wet Grassland and we found a Lesser Pearl Moth.
On 100 Acre we had two juvenile Black-headed Gulls, three Green Sandpipers (my first since the 30th of April), and a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker. The two dead foxes (one is only a skull) that Anand had seen previously weren't the nicest to see. We also had another Painted Lady. Anand then headed off and I stayed to do a bit of a skywatch before heading off myself. I had a Hobby circle above my head and a Buzzard fly south east over Phase 1 Wet Grassland, but the best and most shocking bird I spotted was a House Martin that briefly flew above Mile Road. This is only the third House Martin I've seen this year after two birds on the 27th of April!! On the way out I had a Green Woodpecker around the South Lake and saw lots of butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies. Farmlands Ebird list and more photos
here.
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Female Pochard with chicks
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| Gadwall family |
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| Lesser Whitethroat |
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| Juvenile Goldcrest |
Chiffchaff below:
Common Swifts above and below
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| Dead Common Shrew |
2cy Hobby below:
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| The brown colouration to the upperparts of the regimes visible in this photo are the main feature I used to age this as a 2cy bird, along with the pale-tipped coverts |
Hummingbird Hawk Moth above and below
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| Painted Lady |
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| Lesser Pearl Moth |
Green Sandpiper above and below
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| Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| Red Fox skull |
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| Record shot of the House Martin |
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| Cormorant |
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| Male Black-tailed Skimmer |
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| Essex Skipper |
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| Large Skipper |
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| Marbled White |
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| Ringlet |
Black-tailed Skimmer above and below
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| Blue-tailed Damselfly |
