End of March & Early April

In years gone by March would be a rather quiet month. If we were lucky we would maybe get an early Sand Martin but that would usually be about it. By contrast, this year has been full-on with loads of migrants coming through. There are probably two factors which are contributing to this. Firstly, global warming means that spring is starting earlier each year and the very early arrival dates certainly support this. However, there is another factor in that the floods are at the Goldilocks level this spring: not too large and not too small. Contrast this with last year when they were so full that there was no real shoreline to pull in waders. Indeed, the shoreline has been superb for much of the month and wader numbers have reflected this. 

Let us start with the first March arrival dates for various spring migrants. The first Little Ringed Plover was seen on the 10th, the same date as the first Sand Martins appeared. The first Swallow was on the 21st and the first House Martin on the 27th. We even had our first Willow Warbler on the 28th. All these dates are very early - I normally associated Willow Warbler with the second week of April and never in March. 

Little Ringed Plover courtesy of Thomas Miller

In terms of waders, we've been having good counts of these. In particular, it's been a good month for Redshank with a peak count of 15. This species didn't overwinter on the Meadow this year at all. Indeed over-wintering numbers have been declining steadily in recent years. We had our first Ruff recently. This species used to be a stalwart Meadow species though in recent years has become much harder to come by. Dunlin have been around in ones or twos only this month and Oystercatcher numbers have been rather low as they've been settling down to their various territories. It's been a good month for Little Ringed Plover with a peak count of 6 and birds present for much of the month. We also had our first Ringed Plovers come through as well - once again a bird I normally associate with later in the year. Black-tailed Godwit haven't really been seen much with just a couple of birds which didn't stay. We did have a couple of Green Sandpiper records when one dropped in briefly on the floods and another flew over (heard-only). This species is rather hard to get on the year list so to have two records already is quite an achievement. Finally there are a couple of game birds to record: firstly a couple of Jack Snipe were seen after dark using thermal imaging technology to track them down. Secondly, a Woodcock was flushed from Burgess Field one day.

Ruff courtesy of Thomas Miller

We are really past the gulling season but there have been quite a few Mediterranean Gulls passing through this month, all looking very smart in the full adult plumage. We've also had a smattering of Caspian Gulls in the roost of an evening.

A pair of Mediterranean Gulls courtesy of Steve Sansom

Onto ducks and the over-wintering duck numbers are noticeably down already with only modest counts remaining on the floods. As usual we are getting a spring gathering of Shelduck with up to 6 birds seen. We also had a couple of late Goosander to record this month. Gadwall numbers have been increasing as they often do in spring with a peak count of 29.

In terms of passerines, our orginal ringed Siberian Chiffchaff hasn't been seen but we were graced by a new unringed bird, looking very scruffy as it worked through it's moult. Towards the end it started to sing - it's been very interesting to hear the different song compared to our usual colybitta birds. We've had a couple of late fly-over Redpolls which were actually a year tick.

Siberian Chiffchaff courtesy of Thomas Miller

To round things off we had a Rock or Water Pipit (probably Rock) fly-over on the 10th March and a couple of Ring-neck Parakeet records, one in the Trap Grounds and a couple fly-over the Meadow. Unusually a Red-legged Partridge was seen in a Kingston Road back garden one morning. This is a rather rare bird for the Meadow - certainly less than annual.

Garden Red-legged Partridge

Yellow Wagtails have been gracing the floods with their striking splash of colour in the last week or so. Finally, one of the local Peregrines made its presence felt recently as it harrassed the ducks.

Peregrine being mobbed courtesy of Thomas Miller

Yellow Wagtail courtesy of Thomas Miller