This morning on the way to Billericay on the bus, I saw a presumed pair of Common Buzzards perched on a pylon between Noak Bridge village and Barleylands.
Love nature .... act now
After my first spring record (heard only) of Blackcap on my St. Nicholas Church local patch site on the remarkably early date of 25th February 2026 and my first sighting of a male and female together during my visit on 16th March 2026, I had another record this morning.
As I left home at 7:20 a.m., I heard a male Blackcap singing briefly from a hedge immediately adjacent to the block of flats where I live. As with my first spring record, this was a "heard only" record and I failed to see the bird in the dense vegetation.
Love nature .... act now
WWT London Wetland Centre is a wetland reserve managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in the Barnes area of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south west London.
The site occupies more than 40 hectares of land which was formerly occupied by 4 disused Victorian reservoirs tucked into a loop in the Thames. These were converted into a wide range of wetland features and habitats before the site opened in May 2000. It was the first urban project of its kind in the UK. In 2002 an area of 29.9 hectares was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The site is important for resident, passage and wintering bird species, many of which can not be found anywhere else in London. In addition, there is a collection of captive wildfowl.
WWT
London Wetland Centre is a site that I visit at least once a year,
usually in winter to see 3 particularly elusive species: Bittern, Jack
Snipe and Water Pipit.
However, the main purpose of today's visit was to see the Sand Martins that had returned in recent days to breed at their artificial nesting bank. This proved to be very easy with c.30 birds at least seen flying around the wader scrape area, collecting nest material and entering the holes in the nesting bank. What wasn't easy was photographing these very quick flying birds although I did manage to get some record shots.
Sand Martin was a new addition to my 2026 UK year list taking it to 133 species
Photo: Sand Martins
Photo: Sand Martins
The most notable sightings from my visit were as follows (heard only records in italics): Sand Martin (c.30 at least), Chiffchaff (1 singing male seen and another heard), Cetti’s Warbler (3 singing males heard), Green Woodpecker (1), Great Spotted Woodpecker (1), Ring-necked Parakeet (at least 5), Lapwing (3), Grey Heron (3), Wigeon (6), Tufted Duck (c.20 at least), Common Pochard (1 male), Mallard (2), Gadwall (8), Teal (c.15 at least), Shoveler (4), Great Crested Grebe (3), Coot (c.20 at least), Moorhen (c.10 at least), Mute Swan (4), Egyptian Goose (1), Canada Goose (6), Cormorant (2), Herring Gull (c.10 at least), Lesser Black-backed Gull (2), Black-headed Gull (c.50 at least)
Here
are some other photos from my visit:
Photo: Ring-necked Parakeet
Photo: Ring-necked Parakeet
Photo: Ring-necked Parakeets
Photo: Ring-necked Parakeets
Photo: Ring-necked Parakeets
Photo: Ring-necked Parakeets
Photo: Robin
Photo: male Chiffchaff
Photo: Long-tailed Tit
Photo: Grey Heron
Photo: Grey Heron
RSPB Rye Meads in Hertfordshire is a site that is relatively easy for me to visit by public transport: bus to Billericay, train to London Liverpool Street followed by another train to Rye House and then a short walk to the reserve entrance.
Rye Meads is a 58.5 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) located in Rye House near Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire. It is one of series of wetlands and reservoirs situated along the River Lea to the north east of London. It is part of the Lea Valley RAMSAR site (a group of internationally important wetland sites) and a Special Protection Area (SPA).
Rye Meads is divided into several areas. North of Rye Road is the Rye Meads nature reserve: the western half of this nature reserve, next to the River Lea in the Lee Valley Regional Park, is managed by the RSPB and the eastern half is managed by the Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. It also includes a meadow and lagoons owned by Thames Water south of Rye Road which is not open to the public.
I visited the RSPB Rye Meads reserve which includes a visitor centre, trails and a number of hides. The seasonal flooding of a large ancient flood meadow combined with the rich soils has resulted in a mosaic of habitats, consisting of reedbeds, marshy grasslands and fen vegetation plus a number of small lakes and a scrape.
The main target species of my visit today was seeing and photographing a pair of Kingfishers. However, I did visit with some trepidation given the reports of the “Kingfisher Hub” (the dedicated viewing hide) being very busy and the totally unacceptable behaviour of some people, mainly photographers.
As it turned out, RSPB volunteers managed access to the “Kingfisher Hub” and monitored behaviour inside it very well.
Whilst I had excellent views of a single Kingfisher, I did not see the pair or any courtship or mating behaviour as has been seen in recent days.
Other than seeing and photographing a Kingfisher, my main highlight was seeing my first Grey Wagtail of the year, taking my UK year list to 132 species.
During the short walk down to RSPB Rye Meads from Rye House station, I heard 2 singing male Chiffchaffs and a single Cetti’s Warbler. Whilst waiting for my return train, I saw a Red Kite drifting over the station.
I had a very enjoyable visit to RSPB Rye Meads with the following highlights (heard only records in italics): Kingfisher (1), Gadwall (at least 20), Tufted Duck (at least 20), Shoveler (at least 20), Teal (at least 20), Mallard (5), Common Pochard (male), Lapwing (3), Grey Heron (1), Little Grebe (1), Coot (at least 50), Moorhen (at least 10), Canada Goose (12), Black-headed Gull (at least 200), Lesser Black-backed Gull (2), Red Kite (1), Sparrowhawk (1), Kestrel (1), Chiffchaff (4 singing males seen plus 2 others heard), Blackcap (1 singing male briefly heard), Cetti’s Warbler (5 singing males heard), Grey Wagtail (1), Reed Bunting (female)
Here
are some photos from my visit ….
Photo: Kingfisher
Photo: Kingfisher
Love nature .... act now
