Patch Birding 2020 - Beddington Farmlands

     Although I've still not finished my 2020 Review (blaming A Levels, and the current lockdown mess,) I thought I'd publish a (long) summary of my 'new' Patch.

    Ever since 2017, I adopted the National Trust site of Morden Hall Park, a place where I'd be nowhere without, as my main birding patch. From the urban birding to volunteering to meeting friends and role models, it's been somewhere that's helped me so much in my love for nature and birding. However, with the first lockdown meaning that travelling by public transport was no longer possible, I turned to Beddington Farmlands as my new and, at the time what I thought to be, temporary patch...

   Though I intend to write another blog about Beddington at some point given the controversial yet fascinating background of the site in a broader sense, the Farmlands is in summary a 400 acre site in suburban South London, about 7 miles due south of Westminster. It used to be a largely private landfill/sewage farm site, but in recent years it's seen real changes to say the least. The fact that little was done to protect the famous Beddington Tree Sparrows - now lost, despite there still being 61 pairs in 2012 - unfortunately says a lot about the recent past.

   Nonetheless, Beddington has recently (since summer 2019) become more public - a series of public hides, along an accessible albeit muddy footpath, has meant it seemed the best option for me to visit, at 3km walk from home, in year 1 of the pandemic and A Levels.

So here's a summary through photos and short captions of the year's birding here so far

Dusk at Beddington's new grassland

A cold, chilling start to 2021

South Lake

Scenic Biker's Field

South lake

South lake

North Lake

South lake

Grassland and ZP

Summer

South lake

North lake

Spring:

    This was probably the month where I decided that I'd most likely try and make Beddington my new patch - even without COVID. A reduced travel time, a long-term ankle injury, generally better birding and the desire to turn to 'greener' birding meant that Beddington seemed a good option. My first visit of the year was the first weekend of lockdown, where another Beddington birder Nick Gardiner found a lovely winter plumaged Spotted Redshank on the main lake. The arrival felt like, if I'm honest, the first day of 'proper' Spring - in addition to winter classics such as Water Pipit, 7 Snipe and vocal Teal, the presence of several singing chiffchaffs was nearly as much of a draw factor as the Spotted Redshank, as well as the first Surrey Little Ringed Plover of the year.

   My next visit, after deciding that my local exercise would keep me to the less busy, quieter areas of Little Woodcote for most of April, wasn't until the 29th. Spring had so far been successful and enjoyable, but I'd failed to see Sedge or Reed Warblers, Willow Warbler or an April Swift (see my previous blog about them.) I was greeted with some real classics on this visit - the first singing warblers of both of the above, Common Whitethroats, 2 singing Lesser Whitethroats and of course several hundred Swift. Little Ringed Plover were also around, whilst Common Buzzard continually moved through, making it another worthwhile visit. Normally, spring is my happiest time of the year, with birding and cricket giving me some much needed energy and happiness. As usual, the sounds of spring didn't fail to lift me here. Little can beat listening to some of the best British songsters, in warmer, brighter weather.

Common Whitethroat

Lesser Whitethroat

Common Chiffchaff

Reed Warbler

Pied Wagtail

Early Summer:

    Having realised how few people knew about the hidden path, I decided to start going more from mid-May onwards, as I would see no more than 3 people on most visits (socially distanced talks at several metres away has become a strange norm!) Even if migration and birding quality died down a little as most birds got on with breeding, there was still plenty to see and hear. Up to 4 Lesser Whitethroats were holding territories across the site, allowing me some fantastic sound recording opportunities (another blog post I'll eventually finish.) 5 other species of warbler were breeding within earshot of the public path, whilst a single Garden Warbler logged in May was my first and only thus far at Beddington. 

   Little Ringed Plovers were almost always vocal and active, possibly raising 2 young later on in the season (their 'pii-oo' call was audible before I even reached the lake at times.) Lapwings were present in small numbers, though sadly failed to breed successfully. A 3cy Mediterranean Gull calling and feeding over the path on the 19th May was my first and only of the year at the site. 

   However, as mentioned already, much of the summer was taken over by Swift watching (video here.) Even with all the other species, Swifts and Sound Recording became my main ways of spending time out walking. I missed a fair few things, failing to see common waders such as Dunlin and Redshank later on in the year, as well as Crossbill and unfortunately a surrey record, family group of Cattle Egret which spent a morning on the new grassland. Given how low times turned out to be in June, Swifts were one of several things that got me through (alongside a few of my closest legendary friends/family.) 

   Like many, butterflies and dragonflies became more of an interest for me when birding quality dipped - I was disappointed to not find any Brown Hairstreak, which I know were present in late summer. For dragonflies, Migrant Hawkers, Emperors and Broad-bodied Chasers were often seen within the Common and Ruddy Darters. Some of the better species seen included Brown Argus, Marbled White, Green-veined White, Silver-washed Fritillary and 3sp of Skippers. The Essex Skipper photographed below was one of my favourite photographs of the year...

Late Summer:

    He'll hate me saying this but one of, if not the, highlight of the year at Beddington for me was not a bird, but bumping into Zach Pannifer - having gone to the same junior school 7 years, it was a massive, pleasant surprise to find another young birder not only visiting Beddington but also living on my road which I later found out. I've often found it frustrating doing so little with others in the local area, waiting for months at a time before seeing my closest friends from across the UK again. Since then, I've been lucky enough to not only go birding with Zach most times I head down to Beddington, but also make a quality new friend out of it. As if there weren't any more reasons to show why nature is so much more than a hobby...

   Though the revival of cricket meant there were fewer visits to Beddington from July to late August, there were some clear highlights, in addition to all the usual species seen. The first returning Green Sandpipers and Teal marked the early arrival of 'birding autumn,' whilst warblers started to show signs of leaving by August. Wader migration was well underway - a Black-tailed Godwit was a welcome patch tick at the end of July, as was a fly-through Curlew. Several Common Sandpipers darted around the rocky shores of the lake, whilst Snipe began to return into double figures by late September. 

   My aim to improve my gull knowledge rewarded me with an adult Yellow-legged Gull, although I failed to find a juvenile (no scope at the time.) The disappointments of no local Flycatchers, and a single Beddington Willow Warbler, was made up for by all the other species, which were much harder to pick up elsewhere locally - even if Whinchat, Wheatear etc all turned up at Little Woodcote a little later on.

Great White Egret

Migrant Hawker

Orange Tip

Common Blue

Green-veined White

Marbled White

Small White

Ringlet

Small Tortoiseshell

Small Tortoiseshell

Essex Skipper

Essex Skipper - personal favourite photo of the year!

Autumn:

   Oddly, though the favourite time of year to be birding for the majority, autumn can often be less exciting for myself, signalling a time of transition into winter. This autumn however was without doubt one of the best yet.

   After going back to school in September, I was able to make it down midweek more often when it was much quieter. This got me cracking views of what was probably a juvenile Greenshank, 1 of 3 found on the wet grassland. Not only was it unphased by the gulls, but it proceeded to feed within 15 metres of the hide, even unfussed by 2 youths who burst into the hide making an absolute racket. It was probably one of the experiences of the year birding wise, as it was a half an hour spent admiring a bird I've always wanted to see up close (Tringa's have some of the best calls of waders.) The ridiculously good views of waders continued a fortnight later - after refinding his initial find, I eventually got down for Zach's Great White Egret, which showed superbly like many things at the time. After it retreated it to the southernmost corner, I then decided to go and have a look at the grassland, having had a juvenile Common Sandpiper briefly a few days prior. I was then treated to some similarly outrageous views of both 1cy Common and Green Sandpiper, with both feeding together metres below the hide. These 4 species were some of the most photographed of the year for me, yet I spent most of the time watching and admiring them rather than photographing them - who knows if I'll ever get as close to a Common Sand or Greenshank again...

   Besides the constant streams of Meadow Pipits, Redwings and Chaffinches, autumn at Beddington in terms of vismig (how myself and Zach spent most of our time from Oct to Nov) was not bad at all. Patch ticks of Brambling and Crossbill (seen another since) were pleasing, as were the Siskins and Lesser Redpolls. This is the first winter where autumn vismig produced absolutely dozens of both (as did my early morning nocmig.) Linnet, Yellow Wagtail, Reed Bunting and Fieldfare all moved through in smaller numbers to the above, making the overall vismig totals pretty satisfactory, even if the hoped for Woodlarks, Tree Pipits and Hawfinch stayed away. The occasional Red Kite cameo was also appreciated, with the only other notable bird seen on several occasions being a Raven. This cronking bird put almost everything up a number of times, especially the Crows. Peregrines were also a regular feature. 

   Stonechats became a regular addition to the day list at times, with up to 6 being seen in their peak passage. Alongside Wheatear and Swift, they're one of my favourite birds, so I never tire of seeing a pair flicking along the scrub-line and staring inquisitively back at the strange guy with a camera and binoculars. Wigeon and Pintail, up to 4 on some days, were regularly logged. Another regular occurrence has been Beddington's overwintering Water Pipits - after finding my first of the autumn fairly early on in October on the 14th, one or two have been seen or more often heard since, when switching between the private parts of the farmlands. Sadly, despite there being some of the highest numbers in the UK overwintering here, seeing them on the inaccessible lagoons is all but impossible. It's frustrating having to make do with brief 'tsweep's of birds in flight, but fingers crossed for the future... 

March Spotted Redshank

Greenshank

Green Sandpiper

juv Common Sandpiper

Common and Green Sandpipers

Snipe fly-over

Spot-the-snipe

Snipe

LRP

Little Ringed Plover

Black-tailed Godwit

Winter:

   Winter is my darkest time of year - if anything, even birding can become unappealing. Nonetheless, the sunnier, brighter and warmer days still see me trekking out in the hope of just 'bowling away cobwebs' if anything else. Winter classics at Beddington include Teal, Green Sandpiper, Snipe, Grey Wagtail, all the common things but also, less so now with no tip, gulls. 

   They've always been something that have, as a geeky birder, fascinated me, but above all else been tiresome due to how difficult they can be to learn to ID. With lockdown bringing more spare time, I managed to spend a little more time reading up on identifying gulls, most of all Caspian Gulls. Eventually, by late October, I'd finally got my head around identifying first winter birds a little better - even then, when I sent off one showing 'Caspy' features to several ever-helpful gullers (who are probably fed up of me by now, big thanks to Dante Shepherd, Ed Stubbs, Peter Alfrey, Theo de Clermont among others,) I was still shocked that I'd finally found a lovely 1st winter Caspian Gull at Beddington. It even lifted my confidence, for a tiny little bit. Over the course of the winter now, having worked at learning Caspian Gull ID of various ages from 1st and 2nd winters to adults, I've enjoyed finding and refinding 1st winter birds at Beddington. Even more pleasingly, the new year brought success in learning the arguably even harder Yellow-legged Gulls - a 1st winter bird was another small confidence booster, even if that lasted a very short while. 

   Even without Caspian Gulls and finding rare gulls, I've often found gulls oddly therapeutic to sift through. Whilst that can be due to finding other birds loitering at the back of the grassland, such as several Shelduck, the gulls themselves can be more than the mucky, brown, dull, ugly things people often dismiss. Common Gulls for example - when they end up acting like Arctic Skuas when food is found, relentlessly pursuing Black-headed Gulls - can be full of character. Even the larger gulls, sometimes they can be charismatic and just weirdly, peaceful to just study and learn about. I've now seen 8 species at Beddington (Black-headed, Mediterranean, Common, Herring, Yellow-legged, Caspian and Lesser and Great Black-backed.) Not everyone's cup of tea, and ideally I'd be seawatching or looking through waders, but I've learnt to enjoy gulling more than I ever thought I would!

   In addition to gulls, Water Pipits have remained elusive from the public path, as have several other species typically on the private areas. Regular Reed Buntings, Redwings, Lapwing were all nice to see. A Great Crested Grebe on the south lake in late December was also shamefully my only of the year - says a lot about 2020 birding wise...

    In October, a Knepp Estate White Stork made what we expected to be a brief appearance on Mitcham Common and then the grassland. 3 months later, it's still here...attracting an ever growing local audience of admirers to the path. It's really shown how few people even knew the Farmlands existed. The Stork, albeit tattered, occasionally bloody and not in the best state, remains alive and fairly well. Fingers crossed it continues to survive!

   However, without doubt, the highlight of the winter's birding so far at Beddington has been the brilliant Yellow-browed Warbler found by Zach in the period between Christmas and New Year. Though I saw a local bird along the Wandle last year, finding one at Beddington was something I'd been eager to do, especially after pishing (a sound technique that Phyllosc warblers especially are drawn to) and 'tsoest'ed (YBW call) my way through autumn and winter. The price (well, triumph) for probably annoying Zach to death with sound is that he found one going to roost with Goldcrest in ivy in the South End of the reserve. A brilliant find to end the year, and despite 2 brief heard only experiences last year, New Year's Day rewarded me with a priceless dusk experience with the bird, as well as my first Beddington Park Little Owls for many years.

juv Peregrine

Wigeon etc

Raven

Raven

Raven

Raven

Raven

Raven

Stonechat

Long-tailed Tit

Sparrowhawk

baby Rabbit

m Pintail

m Pintail

Juvenile Shelduck

Gadwall

Song Thrush

Kingfisher

White Stork

m Teal

female Crossbill

White Stork

Grey Wagtail

Stonechat

f Stonechat

f Stonechat

Redwings

Lapwing in the sun

Redwing migration

Green Woodpecker and incinerator

m Pochard

Great Tit

Song Thrush

Buzzard

Greenfinch

Goldfinch

Little Egrets

Sand Martin

Yellow-browed Warbler!

1st winter Common Gull - one of my favourite plumages of all gulls. 

1st winter Common Gull

1st winter Common Gull

adult Common Gulls

1st winter Common Gull

1st winter Common Gull

1st winter Caspian Gull

3cy Mediterranean Gull

   On the whole, Beddington birding was one of the highlights of the year - though I didn't find as much as I'd liked, a decent total of 109 species just along the public right of way wasn't bad. Who knows how much more would be seen if we were allowed on site, and if I could actually get down more often outside the quietest summer months. The continued growth of low-carbon birding (a topic I feel strongly about given how hypocritical some aspects of the nature community can be with twitching etc) has been a positive for me and so many others in a year where local was the only way to go about things. 

   In addition to the birding, the local community of nature and birdwatchers, even general public, along the path made it a place I wanted to visit for the people as much as the birds. The local WhatsApp group is now constantly buzzing with sightings and photos of all sorts of species. I've met local birders David Warren, Ian Jones, Peter Alfrey and many more much more regularly than ever before, leaning tonnes from Peter especially. I've also been able to show 3 other close mates - Luke Marriner, James McCulloch and Hannes Leonard - around Beddington, making more memorable experiences. I even dragged two school friends along in the summer, Ethan and Sam - legends for dealing with me for even more time. It just goes to show - the nature community so welcoming and friendly.

Luke Marriner + the special Kes. Luke has been one of several new, quality mates I've got closer to. Still a proper legend, even if he won't shut up about Long-eared Owls. Ever. 

James pootering in the Biker's Field woodland

Ethan

Sam

   To conclude, I thought I'd finish with a special Beddington bird. She may be common, but this female Kestrel has been another star bird of the year, showing outrageously well to all those who visit the site. She that never fails to entertain and thrill. Who can be disappointed when there's always this beauty to admire!

female Kes