Mandarin (Aix galericulata) I had a big surprise when I was checking to see if an old Tawny Owl nesting box had attracted any takers. It had never had anything trying to raise a family in it and was starting to get a bit flimsy with age. The box was about three metres up a Scot’s Pine tree on the edge of a ...
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Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) Heads up! The troops are on their way and will soon be passing by. Those in the advance guard this month often travel solo or in pairs. But reinforcements are already on their way and we can expect a steady trickle of the cavalry over the next few weeks in the Surrey Hills. ...
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Brown Babblers (Turdoides plebejus) Many of the birds we see in Cranleigh remind me of some of us – they sensibly get away from it all and take a warm winter break further south. So I thought it would be fun to see what life is like for them at this time of the year in their vastly different environment. I ...
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Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) If you had your eyes set on a 2020 vision this month, and want to see something often overlooked, then why not kick off the New Year with a trip down on the beech? Among the trees I mean, not by the seaside – although that is an increasingly popular destination on 1 January ...
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Robin (Erithacus rubecula) Birding can have its laughs and crazy moments. Sometimes it’s truly crackers. Like the time I was on the Isles of Scilly and near panic ensued after a once-in-a-lifetime bird, a Nighthawk from America, was reported resting in a field. People rushed to get to the site and were ...
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Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) The apples are ready and now I’m waiting for the ‘chock-a-chock chock’. No, it’s not some sort of sweet fireworks night treat for the kids but it is my recipe to attract a rather shy type of thrush to the garden. Last month I wrote about the autumn’s rusty tones arriving with the ...
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What a pretty, innocent, and fresh-looking face. There I was, only feet away from a Redwing on the pavement. The ‘go faster’ white stripe above the eye was clear to see. But obviously in this case it had failed to work because this member of the thrush family had been nabbed, perishing at the talons of one of the ...
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Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) A flash or shining iridescent sky-blue shoots by like an arrow – and before you can fully register its magnificence it has gone. That’s about all most people see of a Kingfisher and even then they count themselves lucky. Lots of people have told me they’d love to see one but never have. ...
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Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) Eyes will be looking up to the skies above Cranleigh, Ewhurst and surrounding villages this month for August’s annual free firework display. The spectacular shooting star show, the Perseid meteor shower, is predicted to be at its best from Friday 9 August to Wednesday 14 Aug 2019. ...
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'Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes): singing like it is four times bigger’ The variety of shops run by much-loved local entrepreneurs in Cranleigh has tailed off in recent years as costs prove increasingly unaffordable. Nationally known chain stores have moved in alongside a High Street now notable for its plethora ...
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