BTO BBS Early Visit 04/04/21: Saunderton SU8197

Once again we are back in bird breeding season which, for a few thousand people in the UK, means the start of BTO's Breeding Bird Survey. I currently survey two squares, both of which are in Buckinghamshire closer to where I grew up. I managed to make the most of the long Easter weekend and visited my Saunderton square (SU8197). 

This square is located north west of High Wycombe in The Chilterns. It is a rather typical Chilterns landscape, with broadleaved woodland dominated by beech Fagus sylvatica at the tops of the hills, and arable farmland and pasture dominating the lowlands. There are two remnant areas of calcareous grassland, within Sections 2 and 5 of the transect in the image below. The survey square does not typically produce any particularly unusual species, but a there is a healthy total of 61 species recorded within the square over the 16 years it has been surveyed (I took over the square in 2018). Of these, a few notable species have been recorded, including barn owl Tyto alba, garden warbler Sylvia borin, tree pipit Anthus trivialis, and marsh tit Poecile palustris, although all of these except for the latter have only been recorded once.

Marsh tit is particularly notable considering the long term decline that that this species has undergone. They have been recorded in nine out of the sixteen survey years, most recently in 2019. They are however only present in low numbers, with a max count of two birds over the history of the survey square. 

Other common farmland species such as skylark Alauda arvensis and yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella are seen every year, and are always a welcome sight considering their respective long term declines. 

Saunderton BBS Square (SU8197)

As usual, I began my survey a little while (50 minutes in this case) after sunrise, to make the start of the survey a little more manageable. At sunrise itself, singing activity can sometimes be a little overwhelming, and because the sun is so low in the sky, the light can be a little low, especially in wooded areas. It was a beautifully sunny, albeit cold and frosty start to the day, with very little wind.

It was a busy start to the survey, with 14 species being recorded in the first section. A group of three flyover stock doves Columba oenas were seen in this section, as well as singing yellowhammer and song thrush Turdus philomelos. Stock dove is a regular species for this square, and is seemingly persisting well in the woodland at the top of the hill. The following survey section was fairly quiet by comparison, although it was nice to hear a singing mistle thrush Turdus viscivorus, of which I have only seen a few all year. The climb up the hill through the chalk grassland in Section 2 is always hard work, but the view from the top always makes it worthwhile. 

View from the top of the hill in Section 2.

 

The top of the hill is always a brilliant place to see red kites Milvus milvus in flight, with the topography allowing you to often get a side-on view, or even a view from above.  

Red kite, taken from Survey Section 2.

 

As always I stayed alert for any glimpse or snippet of marsh tit song as I headed into Sections 3 and 4 within the beech woodland, but no luck this year on that front. I do fear that the species will slowly disappear from woodlands like this, and the sad part is that when you see one, you never quite know if it will be your last sighting in the area. Hopefully one shows up in the late visit, or in next year's surveys. Sections 3 and 4 were fairly quiet in general, although a song thrush took the initiative and sang somewhere in the northern area of the woodland in Section 3. A distant green woodpecker Picus viridis was probably the highlight of this part of the survey. Nuthatch Sitta europaea and treecreeper Certhia familiaris were both absent from the woodland during this survey, though, as with marsh tit, both of these species can be fairly difficult to record if they are only present in low numbers.  

Section 5 produced the first singing blackcap Sylvia atricapilla of the day, as well as another singing song thrush in the distance. 

Sections 6 and 7 which are dominated by arable farmland are always a little tricky to survey, as the transect follows the pavement along a busy A-road (the A4010), with the traffic sometimes drowning out the sound of singing birds. Although these sections didn't produce any surprises, it was nice to hear skylark and yellowhammer singing away. 

Sections 8 and 9 are partially located within the village of Saunderton itself, and so often produce good numbers of house sparrow Passer domesticus and starling Sturnus vulgaris. Healthy numbers of house sparrow (18 and 4 in Sections 8 and 9 respectively) were seen, but only a couple of starlings were present in total. Hopefully I will see higher numbers of this species in the late visit. There is a small pond next to the junction between the A4010 and Slough Lane, and as always I checked this for any waterfowl. A single mallard Anas platyrhynchos was seen with the pond to itself! It was a nice surprise to also see a jay Garrulus glandarius in Section 8, flying between treetops along the A4010 near the Golden Cross pub. 

Robin atop a hedge in Survey Section 9

Section 10 was also quite productive, with a further two skylark, a distant singing greenfinch Chloris chloris, the only singing chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita of the survey, and a surprise singing coal tit Periparus ater.

All in all it was an enjoyable, if unremarkable survey, and a total of 31 species were recorded. I have listed these below, and have included the total count in brackets.

• Blackbird (8)
  
• Blackcap (2)
  
• Blue tit (15)
  
• Carrion crow (6)
  
• Chaffinch (5)
  
• Chiffchaff (1)
  
• Coal tit (1)
  
• Collared dove (1)
  
• Dunnock (5)
  
• Goldfinch (9)
  
• Great tit (3)
  
• Green woodpecker (1)
  
• Greenfinch (1)
  
• House sparrow (22)
  
• Jackdaw (4)
  
• Jay (1)
  
• Magpie (8)
  
• Mallard (1)
  
• Mistle thrush (1)
  
• Pheasant (11)
  
• Red kite (8)
  
• Red-legged partridge (2)
  
• Robin (13)
  
• Rook (1)
  
• Skylark (4)
  
• Song thrush (3)
  
• Starling (2)
  
• Stock dove (9)
  
• Woodpigeon (26)
  
• Wren (6)
  
• Yellowhammer (2)
  

As always I look forward to the late spring visit to see if I can see any of the absentees from the early visit.