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Report of Stapleford Bird Club - October 2015

Saturday 3rd October was foggy at 8am as five members met in the car park where a magpie, robin and four blackbirds were active.  The South Down was fairly quiet with just a magpie and carrion crow flying over, both calling raucously.  Magog Wood held several robins, wrens and a chiffchaff. 

Approaching Jane’s Piece, we saw at least four small birds flitting in and out of the hedge, their behaviour different from that of the robins we sometimes find there.  They were all blackcaps and it became obvious we were witnessing the spectacle of migration of birds that probably were grounded earlier by the fog and were intent on feeding on berries until flying conditions improved.  Some “near passerines” – the green woodpecker and woodpigeon – flew over the Down and a skylark called over Feoffee’s Field.  A chiffchaff and two blue tits approached the edge of Little Trees Hill – how many more birds were hidden further in and unobserved?

Three skylarks and a yellowhammer were feeding in the wheat-stubble field adjacent to Villedomer Wood.  50+ woodpigeons were feeding on the uncropped ground at the end of that field; this area was bare soil earlier on and has gradually become overgrown with “weeds”, perhaps intentionally so to provide valuable winter seed-food to the farmland birds – we shall see.  More migration was on show; this time four chiffchaffs were moving along the field hedge. Some of the inner arable field has been cultivated and 22 lesser black-backed gulls were seen there at close range.  A covey of 20 Red-legged Partridges was in full view.

Robins featured in Vestey Wood, and among a mixed tit flock in Memorial Wood was a Goldcrest, Britain’s smallest bird weighing less than a 2p coin. More tits were active in Youth Wood and two goldfinches there were first detected by their twinkling call.   Two more goldcrests were seen suggesting an influx of this species. Altogether, nineteen bird species were recorded (we had also encountered some chaffinches, great tits and long-tailed tits, not mentioned above).       

      Mike Foley

The next walk is on Saturday 7 th November starting in the car park at the later time of 8.30am.