Birds in St Martha Parish

Dr Ernest Garcia

Ernest Garcia

Dr Ernest Garcia hails from Gibraltar but has lived in the Parish since June 1994. Until recently he was Head of Biology at George Abbot School in Burpham. He is now a freelance ornithologist, editor and writer. He may be contacted by email at EFJGarcia@aol.com.

Parish Habitats

The key to the birds of any area is the quality and diversity of the habitats it offers. St Martha Parish, and its immediate surroundings, benefits from a considerable variety. I have listed these below, with an indication of a few of the typical birds which may be seen there.

Habitat	Typical Birds
Buildings	Swift, House Martin, House Sparrow
Gardens	Sparrowhawk, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Siskin, Robin, Tits, Thrushes, Wren, Dunnock
Chilworth meadows	Canada Goose, Kestrel, Pied Wagtail, Swallow, Stonechat (winter), Reed Bunting
Waterloo and other ponds	Mute Swan, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Little Grebe, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Coot, Moorhen
Tillingbourne stream	Kingfisher, Mandarin, Grey Wagtail
Tillingbourne woodlands	Jackdaw, Marsh & Long-tailed Tits, Chiffchaff, Blackcap
Blackheath	Nightjar, Woodlark, Tree Pipit, Dartford Warbler, Garden Warbler, Goldcrest, Stonechat
Downland	Green Woodpecker, Skylark, Jackdaw, Linnet, Yellowhammer
Overhead	Common Buzzard, Gulls, Hobby, Swift, Swallows & Martins

The Parish Bird Year

Summer (June to August)

Breeding birds are obvious and so, especially, are their newly fledged young. In gardens look for Starlings feeding their noisy offspring (from mid-May); baby Robins, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes and Dunnocks and broods of Blue and Great Tits appear. Peanut feeders attract young Great Spotted Woodpeckers, easily told from the adult birds by their red caps. Broods of Mute Swan cygnets, Canada Goose goslings and the ducklings of Mandarin, Mallard and Tufted Ducks appear on the ponds; the duckling numbers soon fall as Pike and other predators take their toll. Swifts, Swallows and House Martins hunt insects overhead and are regularly attacked by marauding Hobbies.


Great Spotted Woodpeckers		Mandarin Drake

Autumn (September to November)

Fieldfare

Summer visitors gradually disappear. Southbound migrants such as Wheatears and Whinchats turn up regularly on the downs and meadows. Spectacular movements of Wood Pigeons occur in mid-autumn and are accompanied by arrivals of Meadow Pipits, Redwings, Fieldfares and Siskins.

Winter (December to February)

Little Egrets may be present at the Waterloo ponds. Wintering flocks of Fieldfares and Redwings are often evident and Blackbird numbers are increased by wintering continental birds. Garden feeders attract many species, notably Siskins from late winter.

Spring (March to May)

Winter thrushes and Siskins depart and most have left by mid-April. Summer visitors arrive; Chiffchaffs in early March are usually the first to appear. Other Parish summer visitors include Hobby, Cuckoo, Swift, Sand Martin, Swallow, House Martin, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher, although most of these are present at very low densities. A range of other species may turn up locally on passage; recent examples have included Osprey, Whimbrel, Turtle Dove, Wheatear, Whinchat, Common Redstart and Sedge Warbler, all of which may also appear in autumn.

Little Egrets at the Waterloo Ponds

It is not so long ago that Little Egrets were rarities in Britain. However, following an influx in the 1990s, they have become increasingly common. They first bred in 1996, in Dorset, and the British breeding population is increasing steadily. Egrets now occur regularly over a large part of Britain. At first they were mainly seen on coastal estuaries but now they regularly occur inland. The situation has been paralleled in Surrey, where very recently there has been a spate of records, culminating with an influx in 2003 and 2004. The Parish is one of the best places in the County to see these small, white herons. They are often around the Waterloo ponds or along any open stretches of water and I frequently see them flying over the gunpowder mills. Most sightings are of one or two birds but up to five have gathered together at the Ponds. I suspect that these birds will become a regular feature of the Parish, appearing in autumn and departing in spring, presumably to breed at one of the colonies in other Counties. They may yet nest in Surrey and, who knows, may even choose the Parish for their breeding debut.

Garden Birds

It is probably true to say that most of us in the Parish feed our garden birds. Scraps of bread will soon be scooped up by Magpies and Jackdaws; I usually crumble bread very finely to stop the bully boys from eating the lot and to give the sparrows a chance. A wider range of food will of course attract and sustain more species. It really pays to obtain food and feeders from a specialist supplier; buying such items as peanuts and black sunflower seeds in bulk is far cheaper than purchasing small packs in supermarkets and pet shops. A useful guide to garden bird feeding can be found at www.birdfood.co.uk.

The Parish offers the potential of seeing a very good range of species. In my ten years here I have recorded 101 species either within or from my garden. The highlights have been a Wryneck in September 1995 and overflights by Osprey, Red Kite (twice) and Raven but more dependable regulars include Goldfinches (attracted by nyger seed), Reed Buntings, Bramblings (in some winters) and Siskins. A real oddity once was an Eastern Rosella, an Australian parrot - an obvious escape but nonetheless welcome.

Parish Raptors

Birds of prey, or raptors, are a particular interest of mine; a result of my upbringing in Gibraltar, my second home, where raptors occur on migration in enormous numbers. Raptors are comparatively thinly-spread in Britain and, until recently, Surrey was one of the worst counties in which to find them. The situation has improved latterly, however, and it is not unusual to see four different species over my garden on a warm summer afternoon.

Sparrowhawk eating a Woodpigeon

The most abundant raptor in the Parish is the Sparrowhawk. This is the one which raids our garden feeders and takes a toll of small and medium-sized garden birds. Female Sparrowhawks are much larger than the males and take larger prey; I have seen one carrying a Green Woodpecker and another recently killed a Woodpigeon in my garden. Sparrowhawks are often seen soaring overhead and are easily identified by their short, rounded wings.

Kestrels are scarcer but may be seen at Chilworth meadows and around Newlands Corner, often hovering as they scan the ground for prey. They eat many small mammals; unlike Sparrowhawks, which eat birds almost exclusively.

Hobbies are summer visitors, arriving with us in late April and remaining until September. Hobbies, like Kestrels, are falcons but they are aerial feeders which specialise in catching large insects, such as dragonflies, and also flying birds. They are dashing, agile fliers and make a habit of hunting swallows, martins and swifts, particularly in mid-summer when the young Hobbies are in the nest. Hobbies may be seen hunting over the Parish during most summer days and clearly nest nearby.

A recent and most welcome addition to the Parish avifauna is the Common Buzzard. Buzzards were exterminated in Surrey by game-keepers during the 19th and early 20th centuries; quite unnecessarily since they are harmless to game interests. Their prey often includes baby rabbits, of which the Parish has an overgenerous supply but they also eat carrion, birds such as Magpies and even earthworms. Common Buzzards have very recently returned to nest in Surrey and may now be seen over the Parish quite frequently, often in pairs, usually soaring on thermals.

Other raptors may appear within the Parish from time to time, generally on migration. During my time here I have seen an Osprey, two Red Kites, a Marsh Harrier and a Peregrine. These may turn up again at any time and other species, such as Goshawk and Honey Buzzard, are quite likely to put in an occasional appearance. Seeing all these is just a matter of looking up - often.