Steve Gale

Dungeness, Kent Day 8 A calm start to a gloomy day then a fresh SW5-6. 1600 Goldfinch bossed the vis-mig while headliners at sea included a Euro Storm Petrel, 12 Sooty Shear and a Grey Phalarope (Leach’s and Puffin missed). Easily 250 Little Gulls across land and sea

Dungeness, Kent Day 6 A relatively passive morning with a steady vismig that included a highly impressive 23 Woodlark (mostly SW-NW) amongst Mipits and mixed finches. A close offshore feeding GN Diver was prelude to a wild, very wet & windy afternoon that meagrely rewarded a few intrepid seawatchers

Dungeness, Kent Day 5 Storm Austen brought SSE to NW f6-8 winds and rain, feisty seas plus 8 Leach’s Petrel, a few Sooty Shearwaters and a rather brave ring-tail Hen Harrier coasting east. Also Woodcock, Black Redstart and Dartford Warbler

Dungeness, Kent Day 4 A morning vismig that modestly provided 216 Goldfinch, 77 Chaffinch, 26 Swallow and an assortment of finches & pipits (all S to SW) plus a notable 4 Woodlark. Star turn of the day goes to the tatty Long-tailed Blue that kept faithful to a small sunny glade all morning.

Any ideas Bluesky birders? Found this afternoon at Dungeness, Kent. Thanks!

Dungeness, Kent Day 2 A most enjoyable ‘proper’ obs day, a murky morning blessed with an easterly wind. Birds were dropping in with modest numbers of thrushes, (inc 6 Ring Ouzel), 4 Woodcock and a Jack Snipe. We joined in with the incoming geese - 5 Tundra Bean (thanks Jacob) and 345 White-fronted.

Dungeness, Kent Day 1 A smart Yellow-browed Warbler in a private garden was backed up by a GW Egret, a skein of 9 White-fronted Geese and a Dartford Warbler; the first 2 hours of the day saw close to 1k of Goldfinch heading SE out to sea. White-speck in the obs MV

CC Prem South Sutton Common Rovers 6 Eversley & California 2 If it was not for the away keeper it would have been a cricket score

Banstead, Surrey: a Blackbird in full wistful song. Is it early Spring already? This just feels plain odd.

Change of tack northdownsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2026/10/half...

Skuas do cut through the lighthouses @brightonbirder.bsky.social !

UMA Day41 Denbies Hillside, Surrey Star billing went to this confiding BLACK REDSTART, a scarce passage migrant in the county. It spent all morning at the bottom of the scarp slope. Also: Red Kite, 8 Stonechat, 12 Chiffchaff, Raven, 50 Chaffinch, 2 Reed Bunting. + a helice form Clouded Yellow.

Denbies Hillside, Surrey: this am, of 8 Clouded Yellows there was one obvious helice. I was able to get a shot of it at rest. Illustrations of this form’s underwing vary from washed out buttermilk to something similar to this. And what about that bold black blotch on the edge of the top wing?

50 years ago today. Bluethroat trapped at Beddington SF, Surrey. The teenage me could scarcely believe it… Mike Netherwood extracted it from the mist net, Ken Parsley ringed it, I gawped on from the sidelines. A special day that has never lost its allure. October 10th always remembered.

UMA Day40 Leatherhead and Fetcham area, Surrey Undoubted highlight was a calling YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER in riverside wood/scrub near the town (only my 3rd in the county). Also: 4 Little Egret, 14 Gadwall, 1 Pintail, 3 Goosander, 2 Red Kite, 2 Water Rail, 2 Stonechat, 2 Cetti’s Warbler, 2 Firecrest.

UMA Day39 Banstead + Malden Rushett, Surrey Morning pulses of Redwing west, in modest groups no larger than 25, totalling 370 early doors (B) plus a further 240 (MR), the latter site being where two WOODLARK S were the headliners. All birds low. A scatter of Chaffinch and Goldfinch W as well.

UMA Day38 Colley Hill, Surrey An early morning male RING OUZEL west with various other thrushes inc 46 Redwing & 9 Mistle. Chaffinches also on move (337 w). Hobby south. Clear out of Robin, Blackcap and Chiffchaff.

Farewell Pete northdownsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2026/10/pete...

UMA Day36 Colley Hill + Mogador, Surrey. MARSH HARRIER (1 imm from S at 15.00hrs), HAWFINCH (2e 08.45hrs) Light w passage first thing - Chaff, Song Th, Redwing, Mistle Th, Skylark. 80 Skylark & 50 Mipit on stubble. 90 Robin around. 10 Clouded Yellow (inc 1 helice), 2 Vestal. Above the fog…

UMA Day 34 Canons Farm, Surrey. High pressure, blue skies, unseasonal warmth. Empty fields, empty hedgerows and silent heavens. T-shirt and shorts. Sun hat and squinting eyes. Remembering the leaf fall, chill and bird-filled Octobers of my youth. Please come back! Not moaning, just reporting.

UMA Day 33 Colley Hill + Mogador, Surrey 1 Peregrine, 75 Skylark (on stubble), 30 Meadow Pipit, 7 Stonechat, 2 Redwing, 75 Robin, 79 Chaffinch (west to south in a late-morning movement). A lot of huff and puff for morsels of reward.

Chipstead, Surrey: SHEERWATER! Well, Sheerwater FC, away at Chipstead FC in the Combined Counties Premier League. I do love a bird-themed footy team. Even if misspelled. Kick off at 3. Teams warming up.

UMA Day 32 Epsom Stew Ponds + Malden Rushett, Surrey The farmland has been tidied up a bit but is still productive. 3 Red Kite, 50+ Skylark, 133 Meadow Pipit (mostly south), 1 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Stonechat, 50+ House Sparrow. Surrounding yourself with the burbling of cavorting Skylarks is restorative

UMA Day 31 Canons Farm & Dungeon Hill, Surrey Apart from 10 Stonechats really poor. We go again tomorrow.

Everyday is a school day. In 1967, 8-year-old me fell in love with ‘Itchycoo Park’ by the Small Faces. I cannot hear it without being catapulted back to that shimmering summer. Only today have a learnt that the word Itchycoo was referencing the Stinging Nettles that stung the songwriters legs.

Having just seen a Jimmy Hill meme it reminded me… Back in the 70s and 80s, whenever anybody claimed something that was far-fetched, we would stroke our chin repeatedly and say “Reckon” “Chin rub” or “Jimmy Hill” Just me? Was it just a ‘London’ thing?

One third done. School report in… northdownsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2026/09/uma2...

UMA Day 29 Westhumble to Leatherhead, Surrey: a walk along the River Mole and a check on Fetcham Pond was most productive with 4 Little Egret, a drake Pintail (Uberpatch gold!), 4 Goosander, 1 Water Rail, 3 Kingfisher, a very late Nightingale (possibly county latest ever) and a Cetti’s Warbler #UMA

Dungeness, Kent: 45 years ago today Ray Turley and myself found a flock of three Tawny Pipits close to the bird observatory. Just the one today would be big news such has their status changed.

Banstead Athletic 0 Stansfeld 1 Bone hard pitch. Rutted. Playing surface a thing of anti-beauty. Away team tamed it more efficiently. Red Kite did its best to drag my attention away from this lacklustre 90 minutes. And I thought this game might prop up a poor morning’s birding…

UMA Day 25 Denbies Hillside, Surrey 5 Red Kite, 1 Peregrine, 20 Skylark, 25 Meadow Pipit, 44 Stonechat, 245 Robin, 22 Blackcap, 1 Willow Warbler, 120 Chiffchaff, 1 Firecrest, 105 Great Tit, 80 Blue Tit, 3 Marsh Tit, 15 Raven. 11 hours of combing the slopes and hedgerows revealed the birds. #UMA

Vis-migging the North Downs northdownsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2026/09/fly-...

Banstead, Surrey: the garden’s second ever Clifden Nonpareil graced the MV last night - not the pristine moth that the first was (23/08/17) but welcome all the same #TeamMoth

UMA Day 22 Reigate Hill to Dawcombe, Surrey Undoubted highlight was the large number of Robins along the scarp slope with 190+ : 100 in the Colley Hill area alone. Wistful autumn song today’s soundtrack. Also: 12 Stonechat, 35 Blackcap, 50 Chiffchaff, 1 Marsh Tit + 18 Clouded Yellow, 2 Vestal #UMA

Colley Hill, Surrey: coffee break from birding the steep scrub. Love the plaque on the bench I’m sitting on

UMA Day 21 Denbies Hillside, Surrey 5 Red Kite, 40 Common Buzzard, 8 Kestrel, 1 Hobby, 90 Meadow Pipits, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 6 Stonechat, 9 Blackcap, 30 Chiffchaff, 28 Jay (inc 18 high movers W), 11 Raven + 11 Clouded Yellow (1 helice form), 1 Vestal, 1 Vernal Shieldbug #UMA

Come join us for the Big Kent Bird Migration Day at Dungeness Bird Observatory, it is only a week away! There will be plenty with a guided walk, migration watches, seawatching and bird ringing if the weather allows. Today is full of Meadow Pipits with hundreds overhead and 101 ringed #kentbirding

UMA Day 20 Epsom Downs, Surrey Watched a female Merlin arrive from the north, in over the grandstands and steadily come towards me, feet over my head as it departed south-eastwards; a good county bird. First show of Meadow Pipits (60+) and a single flock of 190 House Martins. #UMA

UMA Day 19 Little Woodcote, Surrey A morning that had been planned as a search of the paddocks and small holdings to the N and E of Banstead ended up as a sky watching session being mesmerised by pulses of migrating House Martins - 2440 SW in total. Also: Yellow Wagtail + Firecrest #UMA

UMA Day 16 After the feast of yesterday came the famine. Denbies (Surrey) from dawn provided hardly any vis-mig whilst the scrubby lower slopes on the southern side of Box Hill (Surrey) could only cough up a Lesser Whitethroat of note. “You remember your good days because of your bad ones” #UMA

Banstead, Surrey: an Hibiscus plant in the garden is now crawling with these - final instar Southern Green Shieldbugs.

UMA Day 15 Denbies Hillside Birds! A big hirundine push with a s-w passage of 4700 Swallow, 610 House Martin & 40 Sand Martin. Also, 15 Red Kite, 22 C Buzzard, 1 Hobby, 16 R-L Partridge, 80 Stock Dove, 3 Wheatear, 7 Stonechat, 2 Whitethroat, L White, Garden W, 16 Blackcap, 80 Chiff, 28 Raven #UMA

@markgolley.bsky.social