Date: 25th February 2026
Time: from 8:15 a.m.
Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 10°C to 12°C
After weeks of poor weather, grey at best and rainy at worst, this morning was sunny and relatively warm for my visit.
I recorded 19 species of birds during my visit including another addition to my 2026 site list: Blackcap
My first site record of the year, and anywhere in the UK, of Blackcap was remarkable. I heard a weakly singing male in the wooded area very close to where I live but unfortunately failed to see it.
Given my first site records of the year for the last 3 years (29th March 2025, 27th March 2024 and 2nd April 2023), I was definitely not expecting to record Blackcap at the end of February! I think this bird was probably an over-wintering bird rather than a newly arrived spring/summer migrant.
Earlier during my visit, my Merlin app had already picked up Blackcap and Chiffchaff (which I am expecting to record for the first time this year in the next 2 weeks) but, even more bizarrely, it also picked up Waxwing, Bittern, Black Redstart and Little Ringed Plover, none of these species being remotely possible on my local patch!
The notable bird records during my visit were as follows ….
Blackcap: weakly singing male heard in the wooded area in the southern section of the site
Redwing: 1 seen along the access track from Larkins Tyres, a flock of c.15 seen in the northern section of the site and another flock of c.25 seen in the central/western section of the cemetery
Chaffinch: 1 seen briefly in flight in the northern section of the site
Great Spotted Woodpecker: 2 seen flying together in the northern section of the site
Green Woodpecker: 1 seen briefly in the south west corner of the site
Jackdaw: 1 seen flying over the northern section of the site
With regard to mammals, I saw a Red Fox in the northern section of the site and 2 Grey Squirrels in the wooded area along the access track from Larkins Tyres.
In addition, and another sign of the coming spring, I saw 3 individual bumblebees across the site, most likely Early Bumblebees.
Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Here
are some photos from my visit ….
Photo: Redwing
Photo: Redwing
Photo: Blue Tit
Total species list for the site
Love nature .... act now
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