Water’s Edge monthly report April 2006

There were few April showers but the month was still a very mixed bag of weather remaining mostly cool with below average temperatures until the last week when there were glimmers of summer in sunny spells. After an early flush of summer migrants there was a marked gap in further arrivals mid month before the floodgates opened and a stream of warblers and insectivores descended in the last week and particularly on the very last day of the month.

Wildfowl variety was enhanced by the appearance of a very exotic pair of antipodeans in the for of two Black Swans on the 3rd. Obvious escapees from a waterfowl collection these birds had joined up with the Mute Swan flock at New Holland and followed some non-breeding birds to Water’s Edge at high tide. More predictably the local Greylag production programme moved into gear with the first gosling appearing on the 17th. It remained a lone juvenile for most of the month with the next broods being seen on the 27th when a nine and a seven appeared simultaneously but a mass hatching over ensuing days saw a total of eight broods and 50 goslings on the loose on the 30th! Gadwall numbers increased markedly with 30 birds present on some days whereas Shoveler
faded away with just one pair remaining mid month before they also departed. Bubbling Ruddy Ducks moved in but in reduced numbers compared to recent years while a pair of Teal lingered to 24th showing hopeful signs of breeding behaviour before they also departed. There were variable numbers of Goldeneye on pond A north peaking at five on the 19th and the last being seen on the 24th and a pair of Shelduck were occasionally present on the northern ponds. The more established pair of Mute Swans on pond B were sitting by mid month when the second pair had only just started building; a third pair of immatures frequented pond A south but are clearly too young to breed. The first Coot chick was seen on the 18th and there were seven broods with at least 19 young by the 30th.
Raptors were in short supply this month but the usual male Sparrowhawk was seen on several dates in the favoured willow scrub and a male Kestrel hung on in the northern park; more unexpected a Short-eared Owl flew west on the evening of the 18th along the foreshore.

The general lack of open mud around the ponds discouraged wader presence but an Avocet flew west on the 5th and an Oystercatcher dropped in on the 20th while the first Common Sandpiper was present on pond A north on the 23rd and 24th. Up to 50 Redshank roosted occasionally in the first week but thereafter there were usually just 1-5 birds present until 13 arrived on the 28th accompanied by a reeve or female Ruff, the first record of this scarce passage migrant this year.

Two pairs of Kingfishers made themselves very obvious throughout while one of the male Great Spotted Woodpeckers took to drumming on the metal plate on the front of a tit box by the folly clearly showing an advanced understanding of sound wave technology. His previous efforts in the ash wood were appreciated by a pair of Starlings which adopted one of the old holes as their new breeding residence. On the northern meadows a pair of Skylarks were obvious in the first half of the month but seemed to disappear as human disturbance levels increased.

Departing winter visitors tend to cross over with arriving summer migrants in April hence the combination of a singing Goldcrest and four newly arrived Blackcaps on the 3rd and a late Redwing and eight Blackcaps on the 18th. Seven Lesser Redpolls lingered to mid month with one singing on the 24th; this species bred on the park area in the late 1970’s prior to the recent population crash. Lastly a male Brambling in brief song on the 27th in ash wood was no doubt dreaming of more typical birch forests in northern Scandinavia.

As April sees the real start of spring, birdwatchers look for the arrivals of summer migrants with great anticipation logging early arrivals and any changes in species abundance from previous years. Poor over-winter survival in Africa or a hazardous migration with bad weather in spring can give rise to marked fluctuations in migrant numbers from year to year. This far 2006 looks like a bumper year for many arriving migrants with Yellow Wagtails, Swallows, Sand Martins, Whitethroats, Reed and Sedge Warblers all in good numbers. On the park the first four Reed Warblers and two male Whitethroats appeared on the 24th while Willow Warblers had built up from two on the 2nd to 11 males by the 23rd; the first Cuckoo was singing from the trees by the Folly on the morning of the 27th when the first Sedge Warbler also arrived followed on the 28th by a Lesser Whitethroat. Sand Martins had reached 200 by the 2nd when the first Swallows also arrived building up to 20 by the 23rd but the first House Martin was later on the 17th and Swifts, although earlier than in the 1990’s were a little later than in recent years with eight appearing on the 28th when House Martins increased to ten in a cold northerly wind. A single Yellow Wagtail 18th was eclipsed by a flock of five the same evening and several more passed through in the last week. Not all migrants are doing so well though and Chiffchaffs remained scarce with just two territories being located on the park and very few around the clay pits in total. A pair of Common Terns made a brief visit on the 24th with a pair occupying the raft and five birds displaying 30th. Hopefully they will nest successfully again in 2006. The 30th also brought in a superb adult summer Little Gull which fed on insects over the northern ponds for an hour around midday.

As many days were affected by cool northerly winds insect activity was much reduced but some butterflies were on the wing; in addition to the over-wintered Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells the first Speckled Wood emerged in ash wood on the 27th. Good numbers of Pipistrelle bats were also to be found by the end of the month.

Graham Catley

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