Date: 25th May 2026
Time: from 7:30 a.m.
Weather: sunny, light wind, 18°C to 25°C
On my walk over from Asda to the reserve, I heard a singing male Blackcap, a calling male Stock Dove and some Great Spotted Woodpecker chicks continuing to beg from inside their nest hole.
Here is a link to the sound file for the Great Spotted Woodpecker chicks ....
Great Spotted Woodpecker chicks
This was my first visit to the reserve since 13th April 2026 due to birding trips to Lesvos and Wales plus other personal commitments.
Given the very warm and sunny weather, I was expecting to see several butterfly, dragonfly and damselfly species (more on them follows).
However, my main target species was a singing male Nightingale which had first been reported to me on 12th May 2026 and then subsequently by other visitors to the reserve.
I had no difficulty at all in locating this Nightingale which I heard singing loudly shortly after entering the reserve and walking along the track from the Spanish Steps in the direction of the storage shed (just past Prewer’s Pond). Typically, however, it remained concealed in the dense vegetation. As I returned along the same track to exit the reserve, I heard the singing male Nightingale again but it had obviously relocated closer to the storage shed but even further into the dense vegetation.
This male Nightingale may continue to remain on the reserve for a few weeks in the vain hope of attracting a female or it may decide to move on before eventually migrating back to sub-Saharan Africa for the winter.
Essex remains a stronghold for the much-reduced UK breeding population of Nightingales but this is a very scarce species in the Basildon area.
I am informed that this is only the second record of Nightingale for the reserve after the first in 2016.
I
heard a male Nightingale singing distantly from somewhere to
the east of the path between the storage shed and the Eastfield Road
entrance on 30th April 2023. However,
frustratingly, this was outside the reserve boundary and therefore did not count
as a site record!
Here is a sound recording of this morning’s singing male Nightingale ….
Here
are some photos of singing male Nightingales that I took at RSPB Canvey Wick in Essex on 9th April 2026 and at NNR Westleton Heath in Suffolk on 19th April 2026.
Photo: singing male Nightingale at Westleton Heath, Suffolk
I also added Edible Frog to my 2026 site list with 2 calling males heard but unseen in Meadow Pond.
Apart from Nightingale, I was also able to record 2 further additions to my 2026 site list: Starling and Black-headed Gull
The notable bird records during my visit were as follows ….
Nightingale: 1 singing male as described above
Starling: 6 seen flying over the track between the Spanish Steps and the storage shed
Black-headed Gull: 3 seen flying high over Meadow Pond
Blackcap: at least 3 singing males heard but none seen
Chiffchaff: at least 3 singing males heard but none seen
Great Spotted Woodpecker: 1 heard calling in the woodland behind Willow Pond
Collared Dove: 2 seen flying over Meadow Pond (second record of the year after my first on my last visit)
Moorhen: 1 heard calling briefly from the back of Meadow Pond
Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Edible Frog
Here
are some photos from my visit ….
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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