Wild Winkworth, late January-early February

Another mixed two or three weeks on the weather front here. The day after I posted my previous blog post we had our first, and so far only, notable snowfall of the winter and the arboretum looked lovely and wintry for a few hours until it all turned to soggy mush by lunchtime. Indeed, that third week of January saw Rowe's Flashe Lake frozen over for several days, and the ducks looked rather unimpressed as they huddled patiently on the surface for the thaw. 

Frozen Rowe's Flashe

This Little Grebe managed to find the only area of unfrozen water
- right in front of the boathouse

As I write this now (6th Feb), however, there is a fierce south-westerly wind roaring through the trees in the upper arboretum and the temperature is a balmy 12 degrees celsius. These extremes of weather have done little to detract from the fact that this winter has so far been exceptionally mild and the frantic rush of plants growing and flowering weeks or even months ahead of schedule continues. In addition to the carpets of Daffodils, Snowdrops and Primroses around the place, this past week the senior gardener and I have discovered the first Magnolias and Azaleas beginning to bloom, and just this morning I found this little flower spike out on Sorbus Hill amongst the myriad green spikes pushing through the leaf litter. Any guesses?

Yes, incredibly, it's a Bluebell! In February!
Don't worry though - I'm sure the best displays are still several weeks away yet

On the bird front it was interesting to note a little flurry (pun intended!) of cold weather movement on the 'snow day' (17th Jan) with eight Bramblings and nine Crossbills flying south in the afternoon, while on the 20th there were two Bramblings briefly in a tree along the Spring Walk before they flew off north-east.  Gull movement has noticeably picked up recently too, with plenty of Common Gulls moving west most mornings, and on the 20th a Great Black-backed Gull few south-east around lunchtime - my only record to date of this species here.

Common Gulls circling over the Spring Walk

On 20th Jan and 6th Feb I heard a Water Rail calling in the Phillimore Wetland - this species seems to have been a bit more elusive this winter than last. On the morning of the 25th, while I was carrying out the morning site check, I was surprised to see a Tawny Owl fly out of a conifer near the carved throne seat and disappear into the trees near the boathouse. In fact, so seldom have I seen Tawny Owls flying in daylight it took me a moment to realise what I was looking at! Meanwhile, on the morning of 3rd February I stumbled across a couple of Red-legged Partridges scurrying into the brambles at the south end of Rowe's Flashe Meadow - my first record of this species here in 2016. 

Looking east across the Badger's Bowl to the Wintershall Estate beyond

The amount of bird song here is increasing almost daily now, particularly on fine sunny mornings (when we get them!) when it's possible to hear at least ten species singing on a short walk around the upper arboretum, including Chaffinch, Stock Dove, Great Tit, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Collared Dove and Coal Tit. Great Spotted Woodpeckers can now be heard drumming regularly too. On the bird of prey side of things, both Buzzard and Sparrowhawk have been a regular sight recently, the latter beginning to display overhead, again on fine days. On 1st February there were two Red Kites circling together over the lower arboretum first thing in the morning, the local Jackdaws doing their best to chase them off! Just after noon on the 6th a Peregrine flew south over the gardeners' work yard, looking like it was struggling somewhat as it battled straight into the strong wind. My first one here this year.

The local Roe Deer are still around - I stumbled across this group of five on Sorbus Hill first thing in the morning a couple of weeks ago. They really are so well camouflaged against the carpet of dried bracken.

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Wild Winkworth, early January 2016

Well, after my ramblings about the exceptionally mild weather in my previous blog post, things have turned altogether more wintry, haven't they? In fact, so far in 2016, the temperature has barely made it in to double figures here at Winkworth. Whilst this may come as a bit of a shock to some of the plants and animals that were tricked into thinking spring had arrived early, the good news is it has also turned drier in recent days and there's been plenty of beautiful crisp sunshine to enjoy.

Come and enjoy the arboretum while the sun lasts; it really is looking stunning at the moment.

Birds-wise, it's been a rather quiet start to the year so far with nothing massively out of the ordinary to report. Saying that, the year got off to a good start with a Raven circling and calling over Bluebell Wood on New Year's Day, when there was also a Marsh Tit calling along the Spring Walk.

On 7th January I heard a Brambling calling near the tearoom towards the end of the day. Also on the 7th it was nice to see a handsome drake Pochard back on Rowe's Flashe Lake. It was a little too distant for my camera to capture but luckily John Rowland was on hand and got some great photos.

Pochard

Off he goes!

The wintering Kingfisher is still around although I've only heard it a couple of times so far this month.

On the 6th I noted the first Water Rail of the year calling in the Phillimore Wetland.

Bullfinches remain numerous and I've heard one singing along the Spring Walk on sunny days recently, but Redwing, Fieldfare and Siskin numbers seem to have dropped off a little lately.

I've recorded four raptor species here this month, with Buzzard and Kestrel the most frequently seen hanging around in the trees, while Sparrowhawk and Red Kite are rather less common and often soaring overhead.

Despite the cold snap, the spring feelings amongst the bird life here continue to increase, with Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Treecreeper and Coal Tit amongst many species now starting to sing, while drumming Great Spotted Woodpeckers are becoming a more commonly heard sound with each day.

I mentioned last time about the bare trees and shrubs enabling better viewing of our resident Roe Deer and this has been proven in the last few days as I've had some very close encounters indeed while doing the morning site checks. There are often two or three hanging about on the slopes between the Owl Bench viewpoint and Sorbus Hill. They can a bit hard to spot against the background of dead bracken but if you are quiet and patient you may be lucky enough to get as close as this.



Wild Winkworth, 2015's swan song

And so we reach the end of 2015, as what is touted to be the warmest December on record draws to a close. The strongest El Niño event for many years has in part led to a rush of warm air from the south-west, bringing with it a series of Atlantic storms to our shores. This has meant lots of wind and rain but also exceptionally mild weather for the time of year, with temperatures in double figures for most of the month. On the 19th a high of 16 celsius was recorded here in Surrey. The mild winter isn't just affecting Britain though as unusually high temperatures have been recorded across much of northern Europe and North America, and even the North Pole where the temperature reach a balmy +1 celsius this week; over 20 degrees warmer than average for this time of year.

The consequence of all this spring-like weather in midwinter has been some exceptionally early flowering plants, and even some fresh leaves emerging on some of the trees already, but more on that later.

As usual though I'll start with a round-up of the bird life at Winkworth in the past couple of weeks.

There have been noticeably more gulls moving overhead recently, mostly Herring Gulls and mostly heading south-west first thing in the morning.

Herring Gulls

 In amongst the gulls a couple of Egyptian Geese also flew south-west over Rowe's Flashe Lake on Christmas Eve. 

Egyptian Geese were also recorded flying over on the 21st and the 27th. Other noteworthy flyovers recently have included Raven, with one west on the 27th and another south-west on the 31st, and single Red Kites east on the 23rd and 24th.

Whilst opening the boathouse on the 26th I heard a 'te-zek' call high overhead and just briefly caught a glimpse of a roughly Chaffinch-sized bird disappearing over the trees, heading south, before it called again: 'tchuu'. I can't say for certain but the only bird I can think of with a call that matches that is Lapland Bunting. The sacrificial game crop fields across the Thorncombe Valley do, I know, attract good numbers of Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers at this time of year, so who's to say this bird hadn't stopped off there before heading further south?

Down at Rowe's Flashe there have been noticeably more Tufted Ducks recently, with over thirty recorded on some days towards the end of the month. Volunteer Ann Jacobs captured this nice shot of some on the 28th. 

Meanwhile a Kingfisher continues to maintain a regular presence, as do the roosting Reed Buntings in the reedbed on the eastern side. There were at least three in there first thing on the 23rd

Pheasants are a familiar sight all around the arboretum, particularly so at this time of year when there's rather less vegetation for them to hide in. Volunteer Ann photographed this male in Badger's Bowl recently.

Moving on to woodland birds, and there have been plenty of Redwings, Siskins and Bullfinches around, as usual. On Christmas Eve I noted five Bullfinches along the Spring Walk, including one singing. There's also regularly been a singing Dunnock here in recent days.  

Single Bramblings were noted on the 17th when one flew east and the 26th when one briefly alighted in a tree near the car park before flying south-east.

There was a Firecrest calling in the vicinity of the boathouse on Christmas Eve while on Christmas Day I was told there was one calling along the footpath just on the south-western edge of the arboretum.

The local Buzzards and Sparrowhawks have started to display over the arboretum in recent days; another surefire sign that spring is getting nearer.

Male Sparrowhawk

Meanwhile, I noted the first drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker of the season by Rowe's Flashe early on the 31st.

Also on the 31st there was a Red Admiral on the wing, flying high around the treetops in The Bowl. The last butterfly of the year!

The more open landscape at this time of year provides more opportunities to catch a glimpse of our resident Roe Deer. I had a close encounter with this group on Sorbus Hill the other morning.

If you've visited Winkworth recently you won't have been able to miss the swathes of golden daffodils around the upper arboretum, but they are not the only floral signs of spring to be found, as the mild weather has induced many plants to flower weeks or, in some cases, months earlier than normal. Here's just a small selection of some I've noticed this past week or so:

Primrose (Primula vulgaris) - Usual flowering time: March-May

Dog's Mercury (Mercurialis perennis) - Usual flowering time: February-April

Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) - Usual flowering time: April-July

Common Vetch (Vicia sativa) - Usual flowering time: May-September

However the biggest surprise for me was during the Boxing Day walk when I noticed these newly-emerging leaves on a Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur) in Badger's Bowl. 

Previous El Niño winters have ended with a blast of cold weather in February and March. If this winter follows suit then much of our flora and fauna is in for a rather nasty shock!

Tracks in the snow

One of the good things about last week's snow was the unique opportunity it provided me and the other gardeners to play detective and try and work out what had been out and about in the arboretum before we did our morning checks...

Fox

Grey Heron - long legs means big strides, hence these tracks were at least eighteen inches apart!

Mallard

Blackbird

Pheasant - the line between the footprints is from its long tail dragging in the snow

Roe Deer

Birds at Winkworth, 2nd-8th February 2015

I can't think of many better ways to start a grey, cold Monday morning than a close encounter with a Firecrest. So to have such an encounter twice while carrying out my morning site check on Monday last (2nd) was a real treat! The first was foraging in the vegetation along the stream through Phillimore, affording wonderful views just a few metres from me. The second bird was in a Camelia on the corner of the Winter Garden near the public toilets, the bright greens and oranges of its plumage contrasting rather beautifully with the pink of the flowers. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me to capture said beautiful moment, so instead here is a picture of one I took in the woods near my house at the weekend!

Firecrests were again noted in the Hollies at the northeastern and northwestern corners of Rowe's Flashe on Wednesday morning and Friday afternoon, respectively.

The other big excitement last week, of course, was the snow! A whole inch of it fell on Monday night into Tuesday morning, and Winkworth was looking really rather Narnia-esque, at least until lunchtime...

There was certainly evidence of some cold weather movements before and after the snow, with a Reed Bunting present in the reeds on the eastern shore of Rowe's Flash Lake on Monday, and several Canada Geese about (not all that common a sight at Winkworth, believe it or not) either on the lake or flying over. Despite being out on patrol in the upper arboretum on Tuesday morning I sadly wasn't able to pick up the three Brent Geese that Ed Stubbs had just seen flying south over Thorncombe Park. Thanks for the heads-up anyway, Ed! Talking of geese, Thursday saw the first record this year of Egyptian Goose, when I noted three flying south off Rowe's Flashe.

Bullfinch and Siskin numbers were high even by Winkworth standards last week, with at least a dozen of the former about the place on Monday, and over a hundred of the latter in Alders around the Rowe's Flashe on Thursday.

On Wednesday there was a pair of Grey Wagtails in the spillway towards the meadow end of the dam. On Thursday there was a Kingfisher at Rowe's Flashe, near the boathouse, and I also heard a Water Rail calling in Phillimore - the first I've heard for a little while, although I then heard it again during my monthly WeBS count for the BTO on Sunday (8th), when I also recorded Kingfisher again and ten Mandarin Ducks on Rowe's Flashe.

As the snow gave way to sunnier weather later in the week, so the birds and wildlife responded in spring-like fashion: on Friday there were at least three Buzzards and two Sparrowhawks displaying over Magnolia Wood, while on the ground the Primroses were beginning to flower and more Cherry blossom buds were looking to do the same. Spring is in the air!

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Wild Winkworth, 24th-25th January 2015

Well, this weekend got off to a glorious start with scenes like the ones pictured above and below replicated all around Winkworth on Saturday, as the arboretum was bathed in beautiful warming winter sunshine all day.

The birds were evidently feeling it too, as there was a great deal of singing going on, including Treecreepers and Stock Doves in Bluebell Wood, Goldcrests in Holly Wood and Bullfinch in Magnolia Wood. There were again good numbers of Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming across the site.

Talking of Bullfinches, I was pleased to get a half-decent shot of this handsome male on the edge of the Winter Garden while I was having my lunch on Sunday. After over three months at Winkworth I still can't quite believe how numerous this species is here given their increasingly scarce status in Surrey as a whole. Always a treat to see them.

Down on Rowe's Flashe there were three drake Pochards back on the water on Saturday, the first record here for a couple of weeks. On Sunday the lake was partially frozen and the Pochard count had increased to four - the highest number I've seen here yet.

Pochards doing what they do best...sleeping!

...and just to prove they do wake up sometimes...

(male Tufted Duck in the background. Fourth Pochard out of shot)

Also of note on the lake this weekend were seven Mandarins (six drakes, one female), two Little Grebes and a Water Rail calling at the southern end on Saturday.

A pair of Grey Wagtails were hanging around in the spillway north of the dam on Sunday afternoon, the male singing occasionally. The light was pretty poor by this point, so this was unfortunately the best picture I could get of the female, despite being very close.

Down in the Phillimore area of the arboretum I noted at least two Marsh Tits, and on Sunday morning there was a male House Sparrow singing from a bramble thicket in the Furze Field - a new bird for Winkworth for me! Also on Sunday a female Kestrel was keeping watch on me from atop a tree just to the east of Thorncombe Street as I did my morning checks in this area, while on Saturday a Sparrowhawk made a typically dashing flypast through Bluebell Wood. Buzzards are beginning to get territorial and I'm increasingly seeing them soaring and calling overhead.

The Alders around Rowe's Flashe and the Phillimore area continue to be excellent for Siskin, and two Redpoll flew over the upper arboretum on Saturday lunchtime.

First thing on Sunday I was treated to good views of at least two Firecrests on the eastern edge of the Holly Wood, although sadly I didn't have a camera to hand!

While walking the slope paths on Sunday morning I stumbled across these three Roe Deer, who were clearly in no hurry to run away! On Sunday afternoon there was a Fox lurking on the eastern shore of Rowe's Flashe, worrying the assembled Mallards.

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Winkworth wildlife, 2015 so far...

As is so often the case, January is flying by, so apologies it's been a while since my last blog post. It's been a rather mild start to the year thus far, with the thermometer climbing to an unseasonal high of 15c on the 10th - clearly some flowers have been tricked into thinking Spring is already here, like this Common Daisy (Bellis perennis) on the verge near the front gate...

The longer days and spells of warm sunshine have been having a noticeable effect on the birdlife in the arboretum too, with Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Great Tit, Coal Tit and Stock Dove amongst several species now heard singing most days. Great Spotted Woodpeckers, too, are getting territorial and have been drumming regularly, particularly in the trees around Badgers Bowl and in Bluebell Wood. On the 13th while I and a volunteer were protecting the emerging Snowdrops (picture below) on the front lawns a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker called in the trees near the Winter Garden before flying north through the trees in front of the tearoom, where I lost sight of it. 

Also on the 13th I added Raven and Kestrel to the Winkworth year list, the former flying south over the fields east of Phillimore and the latter low through the car park just after closing time. The only other raptors recorded so far this year have been fairly regular Buzzard, and a couple of Sparrowhawks, most notably the male I flushed from the top of Azalea Steps on the 15th, which flew off with a male Blackbird in its talons!

 The squealing of a Water Rail continues to be a regular sound in Phillimore, usually north of the boardwalk, or at Rowe's Flashe Lake, where I witnessed the incongruous sight of one flying between two patches of reeds on the 13th. On the lake itself there are still regular Mandarin Ducks, with numbers fluctuating between 2 and 8 - wildfowl numbers have generally dropped away since the cold spell at the end of December, although there was one drake Pochard present on the 7th.

7-Spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata) found in a log pile in Phillimore

The best area for Firecrest continues to be the footpath that runs from the southeast corner of the main car park all the way down to the Hascombe Road, with one calling at the car park end on the 7th, and one at the other end on the 14th. Interestingly, a friend of mine who lived and worked at Winkworth during the 80s said that area was always a reliable spot for them back then too.

On the 12th I recorded my first Marsh Tit of the year, in the trees near the goblin houses along the footpath through Phillimore.

On the 14th I noticed this Peacock butterfly caught in a cobweb in our workshop. Knowing that they often seek shelter for the winter in sheds and outbuildings I carefully removed it from the cobweb and put it somewhere safe - hopefully it'll be out and about in the arboretum come the Spring! 

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