Visit to Noak Bridge Nature Reserve – 11th March 2026

Date: 11th March 2026

Time: from 8 a.m.

Weather: dry, cloudy/bright, light/moderate wind, 9°C to 11°C

I had a relatively quiet visit this morning with only 12 species of birds recorded, although this did include a further addition to my 2026 site list: Chiffchaff

Having recorded my first 3 singing male Chiffchaffs of the year at my St. Nicholas Church local patch site on 3rd March 2026 and another singing male at Wat Tyler Country Park on 5th March 2026, I was fully expecting to record my first at the reserve this morning.

I was eventually successful, first hearing the distinctive song of a male Chiffchaff, then having distant and obscured views and then finally having closer views enabling me to get some photos ….

Photo: male Chiffchaff

Photo: male Chiffchaff

Photo: male Chiffchaff

Photo: male Chiffchaff

This year's first record of Chiffchaff for the reserve is slightly later than that last year (9th March 2025), although I suspect if I had visited during the previous week I would have heard and/or seen a singing male earlier, but earlier than the 2 years prior to that (20th March 2024 and 5th April 2023).

The notable bird records during my visit were as follows ….

Chiffchaff: 1 singing male heard distantly from the bench by Willow Pond and then located in the bushes opposite the storage shed and adjacent to the path up to the Eastfield Road gate

Mallard: male and female seen flying over the path between the storage shed and the Eastfield Road gate, possibly landing on Willow Pond

I also saw 2 Grey Squirrels: 1 in the wooded area near the Spanish Steps and 1 in the wooded area between Puckles Pond and East Meadow.

Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):

Chiffchaff

Mallard

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Robin

Wren

Song Thrush

Woodpigeon

Jay

Magpie

Carrion Crow

Grey Squirrel

Here are some other photos from my visit ….

Photo: Blue Tit

Photo: Blue Tit

Photo: Robin

Photo: Robin

Photo: Robin

Photo: Grey Squirrel

Site totals for 2026 to date (2025 and 2024 totals in brackets):

Birds = 17 (34) (39)

Mammals = 1 (3) (3)

Butterflies = 0 (17) (12)

Dragonflies and damselflies = 0 (7) (11)

Reptiles = 0 (1) (0)

Amphibians = 0 (1) (1)

Total species list for the site:

Birds = 50

Mammals = 5

Butterflies = 23

Dragonflies and damselflies = 15

Reptiles = 2

Amphibians = 3

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