White Stork, (Ciconia ciconia). Impressive glider: Look what conservationists are bringing back The day was hotting up and as I gazed down from my vantage point in the Surrey Hills I noticed a slowly circling Red Kite below me. As it rose gradually on a thermal until it was at eye level I then spotted three ...
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The Osprey searching high above the landscape looking for fish A magnificent bird attracting more media coverage than most others put together was back in the headlines last month. And what a sickening story it is. Two days after a pair of rare Ospreys laid their first egg at a north Wales site they were ...
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‘Fancy meeting you here!’ Rustic Bunting and Little Bunting - in the same Surrey bush, Photo by David Carlsson Have you ever been somewhere hundreds or thousands of miles from home and then got the shock of your life when you unexpectedly bumped into someone you knew? It happened to me once while hitchhiking ...
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Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) - so surprised to see you Is there any bird sillier than a Pheasant? They stand there beside the road, you cover your brake and slow down, and you just know what is going to happen next. Just as you are a few yards away they suddenly decide to jump out in front of you. They are ...
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Little Owl (Athene noctua) giving you the eye It’s a moonlit dusk in early March when suddenly a two-syllable scream breaks the silence. There it is again, a gently rising repetitious ‘ooo-eee’. Is it a stoat or rabbit being strangled by a fox? You could be forgiven for thinking so. Whatever it is, it is taking ...
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Russian White-fronted Geese It was one of those mornings we had this winter when a foggy grey blanket hung heavily overhead. Some nearby house lights pierced the murk but I could not see beyond them. On such a morning birds get confused and disorientated. In the garden a flock of over 100 dark shapes ...
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A Merlin with a capture (Falco columbarius) With no traditional pantomimes available to us right now I am pleased to report that, at least in the bird world, the show goes on. Oh yes it does! And top entertainment has been provided recently to a few excited observers in Surrey who have witnessed a headline act. ...
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I can report a happy little - or should I say huge - Christmas story this month from the birding world. Regular readers may recall the massive White-tailed Sea Eagle I wrote of last June following its brief visit to the Cranleigh area. A flying ‘barn door’ with a wingspan of over two metres. How could we miss it? ...
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A Eurasian Wryneck (Jynx torquilla) in full flight A surprise early Christmas present came my way back on one of those still and lazy September days we fondly remember now the nights have drawn in. The sun blazed brilliantly in an ever-blue sky and fallen fruit from the hedgerow attracted the fast fading ...
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A Sparrowhawk eating a Collared Dove in a Surrey garden © Mark Davis Suddenly all peace in the garden is shattered. The ever-watchful Blue Tits switch tracks from soft twittering to explosive anxious alarms – and I know what will happen next. Wood Pigeons immediately crash out of the oak trees. It sounds ...
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