This morning I visited RSPB Vange Marsh which is only 4 miles from home and easily reached by local buses.
RSPB Vange Marsh is a mosaic of wetland habitats with fresh and saltwater lagoons attracting many breeding birds in spring and summer, passage migrant waders especially in late summer and autumn and large numbers of ducks in winter. There are no specific facilities in the way of a visitor centre or hides but nature trails and public footpaths allow viewing over the wetland areas.
The principal issue at RSPB Vange Marsh is that the views are towards the south so bright sunny days are problematic. In addition, birds are always very distant requiring a telescope (which on warm and sunny days creates even worse problems with heat haze) and photography opportunities are extremely limited.
I decided to visit RSPB Vange Marsh this morning due primarily to recent reports of 1 to 3 Wood Sandpipers.
I successfully located 3 Wood Sandpipers but the views were not great for the reasons mentioned above. Nonetheless, Wood Sandpiper was a further addition to my 2023 UK year list taking it to 185 species.
The notable sightings from my visit with regard to birds were as follows (heard only records in italics): Wood Sandpiper (3), Green Sandpiper (1), Ruff (3), Common Redshank (at least 10), Black-tailed Godwit (at least 50), Lapwing (at least 50), Little Egret (3), Grey Heron (1), Mallard (at least 100), Shoveler (at least 10), Common Pochard (4), Mute Swan (4), Coot (at least 50), Canada Goose (at least 100), Greylag Goose (at least 100), Bearded Tit (at least 2 heard calling), Reed Warbler (3), Cettis Warbler (1 male heard singing), Blackcap (1 heard alarm calling), Chiffchaff (1 male heard singing and another heard contact calling)
In addition, I recorded the following butterflies and dragonflies and damselflies: Common Blue (4 males and 1 female), Holly Blue (1), Meadow Brown (at least 20), Small Heath (at least 10), unidentified “white” species (Large White and/or Small White) (at least 20), Common Darter (1 male), Ruddy Darter (2 males), Emperor Dragonfly (1)
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