Trip reports

Bookham Common

Wednesday, 7 May 2008

It was a very warm evening for our stroll on Bookham Common in search of the nightingales. 6 members met at the car park and strolled through the woods listening to the bird song and attempting to see the birds through the developing foliage. A blackcap gave brief views, while a garden warbler and chiffchaff were completely hidden. A green woodpecker and a pair of mistle thrushes were feeding in a field and the presence of a jay caused a mistle thrush to become very vocal. On the small wooded ponds we found a little grebe, coot and moorhen. There were baby mallards and a baby coot keeping close to their parents. A grey heron was perched on the top of a tree adjacent to the largest pond and we watched as a determined carrion crow repeatedly mobbed the heron who eventually decided to move on for the crow to perch in the same place previously occupied by the heron. At length we came to the damp area favoured by the nightingales as the light was fading fast. We were treated to two birds calling from different sides of the path, with other songs coming from a whitethroat, blackbird, starling and a song thrush. There were many bats in flight and a calling cuckoo was also spotted silhouetted against the evening sky. A nice surprise was a brief call from a woodcock, whose presence in the area was later confirmed by the NT warden. The best surprise of the evening was the safe return of the group to the car park without getting lost as darkness fell.