THE HOLMETHORPE PATCH BLOG

As of tomorrow morning I will be managing the Holmethorpe Sand Pits blog and keeping it updated. It was originally set up and hosted by Graham James, the Pits patch birder extraordinaire, who lives in Merstham. Graham is one of the vital group of birders in Britain who keep a very detailed record of the birds that are seen on his local patch, but due to a situation out of his control, he felt it was time to hand over the reins.

Without this dedication most birders wouldn't get to see half the species they do, particularly now with Twitter, pagers and the like keeping everyone updated by the minute.

So, it is a privilege to be given the responsibility to look after the blog (see side panel for link) – and to be part of the British birding scene at the coal face. Holmethorpe is developing into a cracking birding area. It has a bit of everything - waders, ducks, geese, raptors, rails, owls, finches. Oh, and plenty of gulls.

Currently, the patch is going through a purple patch with Smew, Scaup, Goldeneye and Curlew currently featuring, while on a brief visit to Mercers Lake this afternoon I'm 99.9 per cent certain I saw an Iceland Gull (104) with some Herring, Lesser black-backed and Black-headed Gulls. It stood out a mile amongst all the other gulls. It was all white and it had a black tip to its bill.

This was another situation where I was just about to take a photo, when a helicopter flew over instigating a mass take-off of all the birds on the lake. I follow the Iceland Gull for as long as I could, but lost sight of it and couldn't relocate it. Pretty sure it was one, though.

I'd gone to the lake to find the Scaup, which I did successfully. It was sleeping in amongst some Tufted Ducks. Also swimming around were four redhead Smew.

I'll be patch birding more often this year - it's more satisfying than dipping Tundra Bean Geese like I did at the weekend. Talking of the Goose, it looks as if it has moved on to another area not far from Thorpe. It was seen roosting at the Queen Mary Reservoir late this afternoon with some Greylags and White-fronted Geese. It will be interesting to see if it ventures further south.

We get a lot of geese down on the Pits, and also in the fields along Rocky Lane - a road that links the A23 with Gatton Bottom. I'll be keeping an eye on these flocks just in case the odd scarcity decides to hang out with them.

TWO DIPS, TWO TICKS

Well, I went for the Tundra Bean Goose at Thorpe this afternoon. I fully expected to turn up, see the goose and leave. In short, and using Jonathan Lethbridge's words, a 'filthy' twitch.

It didn't cross my mind that it wouldn't be there, but as soon as I arrived along Mill Lane I knew it had left the scene. Four other birders were already loitering by the fence and none of them was looking intensely at a flock of Greylag and Canada Geese plus a solitary Tundra Bean Goose. They had all flown off sometime after 11.30pm. The geese returned later - at about 4.30pm - but I didn't have time to wait.

A flock of at least 40 Siskin were a distraction of sorts in the surrounding trees, but after about 20 minutes I headed home. I contemplated dropping in at Papercourt for a Short-eared Owl fix to make up for the disappointing dip, but a message flashed up on my phone from Johnny Allan. Eight Waxwings had been seen in trees by the Derby Arms car park on Epsom Downs.

I took a detour to Epsom. John Benham was there when I arrived, but we could find no sign of the Waxwings, just plenty of Redwings. Dip two of the day. One bonus, however, was a female Blackcap (102) close by, perched in some ivy. Another Surrey tick.

Earlier, I paid a brief visit to Holmethorpe. Looking along the brook by the Fordbridge, a flash of flourescent blue stood out against the snow. A Kingfisher (103) perched momentarily on a branch before flying low upstream. Tick two of the day.

On the other side of the road towards Mercers Lake I flushed two Water Rail that were close by the wooden bridge. One flew over the road to the brook on the Moors side - seeing one in flight, with its legs dangling, was a first for me. Over at the lake, I saw four redhead Smew.

I'm out all day tomorrow, so no doubt a whole host of patch megas will turn up at once. If they do, hopefully they will stay put for at least another 24 hours.