Lamsdell Bird Ringing and Wildlife Blog: Noar Hill and Oaken Wood, Surrey

Friday 1 June 2012

Noar Hill and Oaken Wood, Surrey - 26 May 2012

The wind today was potentially too strong today for ringing, but with it being a warm bright day we decided to head off in the direction of Surrey, which alas was a direction a few others were also heading in, with the M25 at times dropping to 40/50 and the A3, a bit of a crawl on the five or so miles around Guildford. But, upon turning off the A3 brought the enjoyment of being in an old traditional English rural atmosphere.

We spent almost two hours walking around Noar Hill, were it was exposed to a bit of a strong breeze but we managed to locate up to six Duke of Burgundys, three Dingy Skippers and two green Hairstreaks, along with Orange Tip, Common Blue and Small Heaths.

Dingy Skipper

Duke of Burgundy

A visit to Gilbert Whites House tea room, was like a trip back to the 1950s - only for the 50/60s traffic volume and it would be bliss!

We then headed to Oaken Wood where up to 10 Wood Whites were found along with two Dingy Skippers and two Green Hairstreaks, together with Brimstone and Small Heaths, all the time accompanied by at least three singing Nightingales and Buzzards over head.

Wood White

Brimstone

Green Hairstreak

Wood White

About us

Chris and Denise Lamsdell

We have both been birders for about 40 years based in South Bucks near the West London reservoir complexes.

Since September 2021 we have been based in North Norfolk. We have done our bit of twitching in the past, but with other priorities this has become a much reduced activity with a preference for seeing new birds where ever our travels take us.

We both have been ringing since 2005. Our local group was the Runnymede RG while based in Buckinghamshire. Since moving to Norfolk we have started a new group called The Iceni Bird Monitoring Group, aimed at increasing public engagement through colour ringing projects on Black-headed Gull, Turnstone and Lapwing. We ring at several sites including Sculthorpe Moor, Sandringham Estate, Deepdale Farm and also monitor bird populations for the Norfolk Rivers Trust. We do ringing at home and support with foreign projects when opportunities allow. Chris also has an interest in Butterflies and Dragonflies and contains his limited photographic skill to them.