Treecreeper (Certhia familiaris) Our long hot summer has born a butterfly bonanza all around the south of England, enabling many of us to enjoy some unusual garden visitors. I’ve counted 17 species in my small plot so far and two of those I’ve only seen a couple of times there before. First up was the ...
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Starling singing (Sturnus vulgaris) If they were rarities then birdwatchers would travel hundreds of miles to see them. Starlings! Surely most people can identify one. A little smaller than the Blackbird and the adults are blackish. Quite drab really. But perhaps we are too familiar with what is still a ...
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Wood Pigeons in flight © Andreas Trepte It’s the month when many bird species notably flock up after breeding. There are various reasons why they do this but taking advantage of safety in numbers is a key one. Getting together affords protection while feeding, hunting, nesting and roosting. For some, forming ...
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Falco peregrinus The Blue Tits’ alarm calls earlier this Spring signalled a likely raptor was approaching and as I looked up to see what it would be a magnificent Peregrine Falcon powered south east against the grey sky. It was a particularly memorable moment as this was the 100th species I have seen or heard ...
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Woodlark Lullula arborea Lots of people think Spring is truly sprung when they hear the first Cuckoo or see the first Swallow. But for me it is long before then. The signs that Summer is on its way seem to emerge earlier every year. Blackbirds were singing in the early days of January this year, despite the ...
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Lapwing Vanellus vanellus March madness socked Cranleigh and surrounding villages right between the eyes, shutting roads, closing schools and offering a new generation of children their first ever experience of a deep freeze – something they will surely always remember. The much-predicted ‘Beast From The East’ ...
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Parrot Crossbill (male) Loxia pytyopsittacus In my Crane Spotter column last April, I wrote about the irruption of the Common Crossbill into the Cranleigh area and several readers subsequently enjoyed seeing them. Some years you get them and some years you don’t. They are never ‘common’ here. I said then it was ...
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Brent Goose (Branta Bernicula) Geese are an increasingly common sight over and around Cranleigh. Greylag Goose numbers have rocketed in the last 20 years. From just the odd one or two pairs you can now regularly see flocks of 200 or more flying to and from their roosts in the mornings and evenings. Canada Goose ...
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Hawfinch (male) Coccothraustes coccothraustes Cheers to the New Year! Over Christmas I’ve enjoyed the fruits of last Autumn’s labours in one of the prickly mini forests bordering Cranleigh’s country footpaths. Picking the shiny ripe bluish-black berries from the blackthorn bushes doesn’t come without a cost ...
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Great White Egret (Ardea alba) I was dreaming of a white Christmas as I began scanning the skies for ducks that day in deep mid-winter. This month, on 22 December, it will be exactly 20 years ago. And not a moment I’m likely to forget. Suddenly there it was. I could hardly believe my eyes to see a most ...
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