April 2017 Summary
UK Species Year List to April: 129
Total UK Species in April: 92
New “Year Ticks” in April: 25
New “Life Ticks” in April: 0
Year ticks inc Golden Plover and Mediterranean Gull at Marshide on 5th
Barnacle Goose, Cetti’s Warbler, Reed Warbler, Linnet, Sand Martin, Swallow, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Sparrowhawk all at Burton Mere Wetlands on the 19th
Willow Warbler and Treecreeper at Moore Nature Reserve on 25th
Black-necked Grebe at Woolston Eyes on 25th
Black Tern, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Egyptian Goose, Grey Plover, Nightingale, Osprey, Red-legged Partridge, Ringed Plover, Sedge Warbler, Tree Sparrow and Whimbrel, all at Rutland Water on the 30th April
Our first birding group day out in April was on the 4th to Marshside and Mere Sands Woods. At the former we got year ticks of Golden Plover, looking glorious approaching their breeding plumage and a nice pair of Mediterranean Gulls. It was a nice sunny day but, as ever at Marshide, also quite windy !
We had a visitor staying with us for a week and that precluded any birding so our next day out wasn’t until the 19th at Burton Mere Wetlands where we had a good day with seven year ticks including really good views of a Cetti’s Warbler.
On the 25th the Birding group went to Moore Nature Reserve where the woods and scrubby areas were full of singing. “Year ticks” included Willow Warbler and Treecreeper but the overall atmosphere was of a lovely Spring morning. We also learned of some of the recent events on the site that have altered a lot of things.
We went for lunch at a local pub and then on to Woolston Eyes Nature Reserve where we got our Black-necked Grebes for the year but not much else.
The last day of April marked the start of our holiday to Suffolk and Norfolk. We stopped over a day at each end at Rutland Water where we got a rather special set of birds that added up to fifty-three species and included twelve year ticks. Hightlights were Osprey and Nightingale but there were lots of other great birds.