Drift

Some fantastic visible migration today at Beddington in classic drift conditions. I did nearly twelve hours and between us we logged the following migrants: 1 Black Tern, 18+ Common Tern, 1 Turnstone, 1 Sanderling, 6 Common Sandpiper, 1 Grey Plover, 6 Ringed Plover, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 5 Dunlin, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Cuckoo, 40+ Swallow, 150+ Swift, 1 Yellow-legged Gull, 2 Great Black Backed Gull and 35+ Black-headed Gull. Also present were 1 male Shelduck and the 1st sum Iceland Gull.

Interesting to see some of the detail of this regional drift event. As far I could tell- not too much in the way of sea movements except for Dungeness where there were a few Skuas, 2500+ Commic Terns and 81 Black Tern , a huge influx of Black Terns (also some Arctics, Little and Common) was mainly inland and only the east side of the country, good numbers of inland waders (e.g. Sanderling, Dunlin, Turnstone) mirrored the Black Tern influx, there was a major fall of common migrants at Portland but not much at somewhere like Spurn and also a peppering of scarce drift migrants- Red-rumped Swallow, Icterine Warbler, Melodious Warbler, Bluethroat, Short-toed Lark, Golden Oriole, Kentish Plovers etc along the south and east coasts. Black Terns and large flocks of Common heading out of the Thames Estuary were probably birds re-orienting back towards the continent.

120509 Beddington

Well that weather didn't do anything spectacular yet. The only migrant of note was a Greenshank. The 1st summer Iceland Gull was still present, also one Peregrine, three Common Sandpipers and about 60+ Swift. Three male Gadwalls were present on the lake. About 20+ Black-headed Gulls about- mainly first summers. Still about 1000+ large gulls- mainly Herring with about 10% L.B.B Gull.

Interesting weather?

These strong east to northeast winds are fairly atypical in my opinion for this time of year. Perhaps migrants won't be expecting these strong cross winds as they cross the fairly calm Bay of Biscay and Channel. Surprises for migrants equals surprises for birders. As an occluded front moves north and settles over the southeast on Wednesday (see chart) low cloud might also be thrown into the mix. Who knows. Forecasting birds is a dark craft, that only fools practice:-) But I've got my eye on the next few days.

Spoonbill

The fifth Spoonbill for Beddington was present today from around lunch time to about 1500. It eventually headed east then came back, climbed to a great height and then decided to fly strongly into the head wind in a northerly direction. The record coincides with a White-winged Black Tern at Staines and a scattering of Black Terns- perhaps indicates new drift migrants.

Also a 1st summer Iceland Gull present- exceptional for May.

Wood Sands at Beddington

I missed another good bird at the farm on Tuesday- this time two Wood Sandpipers which flew off from the lake at around 0700. Interestingly two Wood Sandpipers were seen flying into Brent in North London at 0935. If these were the same birds- that is is a flight speed of 3.5 mph (I could walk faster). The London Wetland Centre, Hyde Park and Regents Park lie in between Beddington and Brent so perhaps they stopped off there for a bit too. Of course they might not be the same birds.

Also it comes to light that the Lea Valley is pretty poor for Wood Sandpipers (only two in 20 years) and a record at the EIDB would warrant a flag flying for Paul Hyland- so perhaps the small number of Wood Sands that pass through London generally follow the Beddington to Brent line. There are only two records from Regents Park (August 1969 and 1977) so obviously not a favoured stop over site on the (hypothetical) flight line.

That small number of London Wood Sands may well be on the decrease as at Beddington (a key site), since the landfill operations, the status has changed from five to six records of up to two to three annually to, for example, no records in 2003 and only one in 2005. On August 14th 1999 there were ten on the farm- since then the sludge beds have decreased in number to make way for landfill.

Information sourced from The Birds of Beddington Farm (unpublished), and London Birders Yahoo Group http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/londonbirders/: Thanks to Des Mckenzie, Dave Lambert, John Archer and Paul Hyland.

030509- Beddington

Two Common Sandpipers on the lake must have come in last night. A few more Sedge Warblers today and a new group of Swifts. The brothers and Keith had a Raven- only the fourth record for the Farm. Whinchat has gone.

Breeding positions are being taken swiftly at the moment. Sand Martins are busy nesting in the Sand Martin bank (5-6 pairs), there is a pair and a spare of Gadwall, only a male Shelduck, one to two pairs of Little Grebe, perhaps 10 pairs of Lapwing and Grey Heron juveniles are already out- there is about 30+ Grey Herons on the farm. Must be 60 pairs of Whitethroat on site.

So far this spring at Beddington:
UP AND OKAY: Buzzard, Red Kite, Whitethroat, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, House Martin, Swallow, Lesser Whitethroat,
DOWN or OUT: Willow Warbler, Turtle Dove, Spotted Flycatcher, only one Cuckoo, wader numbers are low.

Patchwatch

Well, thanks to a Crested Lark, an Eastern Bonelli's Warbler and a Collared Flycatcher hardly anyone turned up for the Patchwatch.

We managed 65 species the highlights being a male Whinchat, one Common Buzzard and two Common Tern.

Despite a generally quiet birding day there was plenty of action. Factions of the Beddington Birders included the IBB (Independent Beddington Birders) staking out Hangman's Bridge, the ABFBG (Alternative Beddington Farm Bird Group) on the viewing mound and very little showing of the core BFBG (Beddington Farm Bird Group). The IBB were forced to retreat prematurely from the Whinchat (within the perimeter fence from whence the IBB are banned) when the approaching ABFBG was spotted coming back from Portland.

Most significant event of the day was when members of the ABFBG were re-fueling in the local cafe (Andrews) when suddenly the front glass was blown out by a drive by shooting. I had to leave my set breakfast and coffee because it was covered in shards of glass. Luckily nobody was hurt. The IBB have not been totally ruled out as suspects, although the reported three men in a transit did not fit the IBB description- they can't drive . (I WISH THIS WASN'T A TRUE STORY!!)