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| Male Sparrowhawk |
What an exciting period of birding on the Meadow! Despite the continued anticyclonic conditions and northeasterlies, the floodgates finally opened and we've been getting some good wader passage at last. The highlights have been two different Bar-tailed Godwits (including a splendid male, which arrived with a Whimbrel and ten Greenshank) and a Wood Sandpiper that flew north without landing. In fact, the latter was a rather bizarre turn of events - we could hear its distinctive flight call from somewhere way up above us for several minutes, presumably as the bird circled the flood, before it finally came low enough for us to spot it and get some record photos before it continued on its migration. Bar-tailed Godwit and Wood Sandpiper are no longer guaranteed annual birds, so good to get these on the year list. Although its been a bit quieter over the last few days, there's a bit of unsettled weather forecast so hopefully the wader passage will continue despite the very limited water remaining - we've yet to have a Ringed Plover!
The other interesting event concerns the presence of a singing Nightingale within the patch boundaries, which was found on 23rd April. Whilst we initially considered not releasing news of a bird that's potentially on territory, it's been there for long enough now, is extremely obvious and lots of people know anyway, so there seems little point avoiding mention of it here. If you do stumble upon it, please give it the space it deserves and listen to the song only from footpaths - they are now a very rare bird in the county.
22/04/2026
Male Bar-tailed Godwit briefly then flew southeast (year tick), Whimbrel also flew southeast, 10 Greenshank (year tick), 2 Common Tern, Yellow Wagtail, 4 Shelduck
23/04/2026
Nightingale (year tick), Bar-tailed Godwit early morning only, 10 Greenshank, 2 Common Tern, 2 Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat (year tick), 2 Yellow Wagtail, Peregrine, 6 Shelduck
24/04/2026
Wood Sandpiper over north (year tick), 10 Greenshank early morning only, Oystercatcher, 2 adult Little Gull in afternoon, 3 Common Tern, 3 Swift (year tick), 4 Yellow Wagtail, Redpoll (late record), 4 Shelduck, 3 Cattle Egret flew north (year tick)
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| Wood Sandpiper |
25/04/2026
Little Ringed Plover, 5 Greenshank, 6 Shelduck
26/04/2026
Snipe, 2 Oystercatcher, Sedge Warbler trapped and ringed, Wheatear, 4 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Common Tern, Gadwall, 2 Shoveler, 2 Shelduck
29/04/2026
Oystercatcher, Cetti's Warbler (year tick), 2 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Shelduck
30/04/2026
4 Greenshank briefly, 2 Common Tern, 2 Shelduck
01/05/2026
Little Ringed Plover, Common Tern, Yellow Wagtail
02/05/2026
Common Tern, Yellow Wagtail
05/05/2026
Cetti's Warbler, Peregrine
