Bird Walk on Esher Common, 9 May 2010

This year's New Year bird walk had to be postponed due to heavy snow and ice.  Esher Common was chosen as a substitute venue because it has been subject to a lot of quite drastic management over the last five years, to open it up and improve the heathland habitat.  We hoped to see whether the changes had brought in additional numbers and species.

Ten members gathered in the Horseshoe Clump car park.  It was a cool, rather dull day but with occasional brighter spells. Our first stop was at Black Pond.  This has been completely redeveloped.  It was drained down and about nine hundred pounds of fish removed.  The causeway has been strengthened and the pond has been deepened in places.  Some of the encroaching reeds have been cut back and laid with the dredged mud into raised banks in which some reeds have been replanted. In places ditches have been left adjacent to the land and one island has been constructed. The pond has now been refilled and a hundred pounds of fish returned, mainly two species of carp, rudd, perch and gudgeon.  Opposite the pond the ground has been cleared and two scrapes have been made. Rubble from the old bathing huts has been made into a pile and covered, leaving voids, which it is hoped will encourage burrowing animals and reptiles.  At the moment it all looks rather stark and the only birds we saw were mallards and a Canada goose, but at least three reed warblers were singing in the reed beds. Reed buntings are present and a water rail has also been reported at the pond.

We continued eastwards along the southern side of the pond hearing but not seeing many birds but we did identify whitethroat, blackcap and chiffchaff.  At the eastern end of the common there are two areas that have been cleared of conifers so that they can be returned to heathland.  One was cleared two years ago and heather (mainly Calluna vulgaris) is successfully regenerating from long dormant seeds.  The second area was cleared a year ago and still looks rather barren.  In both areas silver birch, brambles, and pine seedlings are regenerating and it will be a continuous task to keep them at bay.  We did not see them but the clearance has brought in stonechats, wheatears on migration and woodcock.  On the south-facing hillside below Longy Down there is an area where there are small black ants (Lasius niger).  The restoration team has scattered bell heather (Erica cinerea) seeds in hope that they can attract the silver-studded blue butterfly, which has a special relationship with the ants, to colonise the area.  There is a thriving colony not far away on Fairmile Common.

We walked back along Longy Down ridge.  The birds were not abundant but it was interesting to see the restoration work, which hopefully will have beneficial effects in the future.

We saw the following birds:

Chris Brading