Date: 5th April 2023
Time: from 7:45 a.m.
Weather: dry, bright/cloudy, light wind, 2°C to 8°C
My main targets on this early spring morning were the first Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps of the year having already recorded both species at my St. Nicholas Church local patch site.
I saw a singing male Chiffchaff as I walked between Asda and the A127 footbridge so my hopes were high of also connecting with this species at the reserve.
I was not disappointed: I saw 5 singing male Chiffchaffs, heard another singing male and saw 2 other calling birds.
Unfortunately, I did not hear or see any Blackcaps during my visit.
The other main highlights of my visit were a calling and “drumming” but unseen Great Spotted Woodpecker in the wooded area to the north of the track between the Spanish Steps and the storage shed and a pair of Mallards which had a chosen a small flooded area in the Thorny Wood area rather than their usual location on one of the ponds.
Chiffchaff and Great Spotted Woodpecker were both new site records for the year taking my total to 24 species.
I also saw 4 Grey Squirrels, 2 in the wooded area around Puckles Pond and another 2 in the wooded area around Fox Pond.
Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Grey Squirrel
Here are some photos from my visit:
Photo: male Chiffchaff
Photo: male Chiffchaff
Photo: male and female Mallard
Site totals for 2023 to date (2022 totals in brackets):
Birds = 24 (30)
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