Date: 3rd March 2026
Time: from 8:15 a.m.
Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, 7°C to 9°C
Spring is now officially here! …. Chiffchaffs have returned!
I recorded 20 species of birds during my visit this morning including 2 additions to my 2026 site list: Chiffchaff and Cormorant
After unexpectedly recording my first Blackcap of the year during my visit on 25th February 2026, I was confident of recording my first Chiffchaff of the year on this visit. This proved to be the case with a singing male seen and photographed and 2 other singing males heard.
This is the earliest spring Chiffchaff since I started recording, previous first dates being 8th March 2025, 14th March 2024 and 20th March 2023.
My other new site record was that of 3 Cormorants flying high over the northern section of the site in an easterly direction. This is a species that I have seen every year since 2021 but always as a rare fly-over record.
The notable bird records during my visit were as follows ….
Chiffchaff: 1 singing male seen and 2 other singing males heard, all in the northern section of the site
Redwing: c.5 individuals seen in the northern section of the site
Chaffinch: 1 heard calling from bushes along the access track from Larkins Tyres plus 1 also heard calling and a male seen briefly in flight in the northern section of the site
Great Spotted Woodpecker: 2 (presumably a pair) seen flying together several times in the northern section of the site and possibly the male of this pair heard “drumming” plus 1 heard calling in close proximity to the church
Jackdaw: 4 seen flying over the northern section of the site
Black-headed Gull: summer-plumaged individual seen flying over the northern section of the site
With regard to mammals, I saw a single Grey Squirrel in the tall trees at the far end of the northern section of the site
In addition, I again saw several individual bumblebees across the site, most likely Early Bumblebees.
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
Site totals for 2026 to date (2025 and 2024 totals in brackets):
Total species list for the site
Love nature .... act now
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