Rye Meads Sightings Blog - April - Rye Meads - Rye Meads

7 May 2023

April on the Reserve

April is always a good month for some brief and unusual arrivals as birds stop over on migration, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. 23 bird species were seen here for the first time in 2023 (and one for the first time ever!). A fair few of these were flyovers, so its always worth making sure you’re looking in the sky as you walk between hides, and others were here for just a few hours so well done to some lucky people getting great photos.

Its also a good time of year to pay attention to pollinators – early emerging Brimstone and Peacock butterflies have been joined by at least 9 other species. Damselflies are beginning to emerge from the water, with plenty of Large Red seen around the Visitor Centre pond during our Easter pond dipping which saw an encouraging number of Smooth Newt sightings. Grass Snakes have also emerged from hibernation, and for macro photographers there are some good examples of insects too – it pays to look closely!

We’ve always got the Rye Meads Ringing Group to thank for some of the sightings and information each month, but they’ve been particularly instrumental in April, as you’ll read below. You can find out more about the group here: https://www.rmrg.org.uk/

The Rarities

The 1^st April was a sign of things to come, with a Kittiwake arriving in the early morning at Draper and hanging around for a few hours before joining another that happened to fly over – I believe that makes it a dozen Kittiwake recordings at Rye Meads since the Ringing Group’s records began over half a century ago. That was just an appetiser though, as a few days later eagle-eyed Alan from the Ringing Group spotted a Penduline Tit on the reedmace behind Draper – a first for the reserve and pretty rare in general with one record in Hertfordshire in 2018 the only one I can find. We were able to open the gate and carefully take a few lucky visitors down to view it for a few hours before it flew off again. Then in the middle of the month we had two separate flyovers of a White Stork! Late in the month a Yellow Wagtail also dropped in very briefly – Jan Martin is the person to ask for Lottery numbers.

Penduline Tit - David Hutchinson

White Stork - Steve Dimbleby

White Stork - Sue Holte-Smith

Yellow Wagtail - Jan Martin

Kittiwake - Andy Bartlett

Kittiwake - Matt Bartlett

Warblers

Cetti’s Warblers, Chiffchaff and Blackcaps have been around for a while, but April is the time for many more of them to arrive as well as summer migrant Warbler species. For me (and many others) the biggest challenge is telling them apart! There have been a lot Garden Warbler sightings (and hearings, if that’s the right word), particularly in the trees lining the Draper dipping pond, with roving volunteer Mel (he of the mutterings) seeing a male and female bonding, and also recording a Willow Warbler in that area. Reed and Sedge Warblers have also been spotted and heard around the reserve, and Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat both in the area around the Lapwing Hide and the Turnstile. Some lucky visitors were also treated to a Grasshopper Warbler, captured by the Ringing Group in the meadow.

Garden Warbler - Seb Birds

Willow Warbler - Allan Burrows

Grasshopper Warbler captured by RMRG - Andy Bartlett

Reed Warbler - Steve Knox

Sedge Warbler - Stuart Fox

Whitethroat - Stuart Fox

Chiffchaff - Robert Kitchen

Male Blackcap - Andre Griggs

Female Blackcap - Andre Griggs

Other Drop-ins and New Arrivals

The Draper Hide has often been the place to see random drop-ins, with Garganey, Dunlin and Greenshank all making brief appearances. At the Gadwall Hide we saw a first Common Sandpiper while there was also a Coal Tit near the turnstile and a Whinchat in the meadow from the Lapwing Hide.

Common Terns have re-terned (sorry) and are fighting for space on the newly floated rafts, as has the occasional Cuckoo, which have been heard both in the meadow, and around the reedbeds near Tern and Gadwall – I’ll be honest I think I’m the only lucky “visitor” to see one so far but could be wrong! Finally to the sky… House Martins, Sand Martins, Swifts and Swallows have all evaded the camera lenses but several Hobbies hawking over the meadow have been a welcome sign of the change of season.

Common Tern - David Bowron

Common Tern - Jan Martin

Common Tern - Steve Dimbleby

Common Tern - Steve Knox

Dunlin - Andy Bartlett

Dunlin + Little Ringed Plover - Dave Newbold

Garganey (behind a Shoveler) - Joan Chatterley

Garganey - Robert Kitchen

Greenshank - Jan Martin

Greenshank - Steve Dimbleby

Hobby - Steve Dimbleby

First Photos and Camera-Shy Species

I’ve quietly set a challenge of making sure we have a photo of as many of our sightings this year as possible – which thanks to our volunteers, and the Friends of RSPB Rye Meads Facebook group, is going pretty well! What has been interesting is some of the regular species on site that are often overlooked by cameras, as well as species that seem common in general but are rarely noted at Rye Meads. In April, it’s the first time I’ve seen photos of the likes of Collared Dove, Jackdaw, and Starling, all of which are generally common but its only the latter that has been reported every month so far in 2023!

Highlights of Mel’s Mutterings this month were a pair of Great Crested Grebe dancing together, and Mediterranean Gulls at the Draper Hide. Both were also reported in March but this is the first time I’ve seen photos this year as well.

The list of unphotographed sightings has of course got longer with the summer migrants arriving, but there are some interesting ones overlooked by cameras so far (or missed by me in my trawl through social media!). Pied Wagtails have been with us regularly for months, there are several Greylag Geese around, and the odd sightings of Peregrines and Ravens have yet to be papped (although I do have a Peregrine for you for May’s blog!). There’s a few challenges for you…

Mediterranean Gulls - Robert Kitchen

A good comparison between Mediterranean Gull (left) and Black Headed Gull (Right) - Joan Chatterley

Collared Dove - David Bowron

Great Crested Grebes - Jan Martin

Jackdaws - Steve Dimbleby

Starling - Jan Martin

Kingfishers

We’re at the time of year when many people’s focus turns to the photogenic kingfishers. Choosing from the hundreds of Kingfisher photos per month is an impossible task so excuse me if I don’t, and just give you the headlines! Compared to last year, we’re a bit slow to get going at the Kingfisher Hub. They did appear to be incubating at the end of March, but a few days into April the female disappeared. Fortunately another soon arrived. The jury is still deciding whether or not we have a new male – the Ringing Group caught and ringed a male on the 8^th of April, which coincides with photos of a ringed male being taken at the Hub, so potentially this is the same one. The changes led to some really interesting behaviour: Rose Newbold photographing the male flying out of the nest with what appears to be a whole egg, likely from the original pairing. The new pair soon sprung into action, and with signs of incubation in early may, we’re hopeful of a first brood hatching in May and fledging in June.

The new Kingfisher pair - Richard Stead

Male Kingfisher tidying up an abandoned egg - Rose Newbold

Other Fauna, and some Flora

I’m always keen to stress that just because we’re an RSPB reserve, it doesn’t mean we’re just about birds. Among our volunteers and visitors we have some very knowledgeable spotters and photographers of other species. April is a good month for first sightings of butterflies, and volunteers Mel, Barry and Nick have been instrumental in getting my sightings list going with the help of some of your photos. Peacock and Brimstone got us going, with Comma and Small Tortoiseshell appearing early in the month. Once Orange Tips arrived, they have been abundant around the reserve. Cameras have also picked up Speckled Wood, while we’ve also got confirmed sightings of Whites (Small, Large and Green Veined), Red Admiral, and late in the month Holly Blue.

It's early in the season for Odonata but our first sightings have come from Easter pond dipping, with Large Red Damselflies emerging from the pond in front of us and settling in a tree. It’s a good photo from John below, showing how they emerge pale in colour before quickly turning red. Elsewhere in the macro photography world, we have a Dark Edged Bee Fly, Longhorn Beetle and Nettle Weevil.

Mel has been busy, first with the moth trap, picking up Red-line Quaker, Hebrew Character and Pale Mottled Willow. His focus was then on flora, noting the quickly changing colours around the reserve with early spring flowers: Ground Ivy (purple) Marsh marigold (yellow) Field speedwell (blue) & the undoubted highlight was the Lady’s smock or sometimes called Cuckoo flower (pale pink) growing in profusion in the wet meadow seen from the boardwalk.

Brimstone Butterfly - Liz Knight

Comma Butterfly - Apaturailia15

Peacock Butterfly - Ann Wan

Peacock Butterfly - Sharon Woolcombe

Small Tortoiseshell - Ann Wan

Speckled Wood - Allan Burrows

Newly emerged Large Red Damselfly - John Lawrence

St Mark's Fly - Mel Shepherd-Wells

A Caddisfly Larvae in its self-made case - Lauren Kaliff

Smooth Newt - Lauren Kaliff

Marsh Marigold - Allan Burrows

Marsh Marigold - Stuart Fox

Longhorn Beetle - Caroline Leonard

Dark-edged Bee Fly - Sharon Woolcombe

Honey Bee - Mel Shepherd-Wells

Nettle Weevil - Caroline Leonard

Best of the Rest

At the Kingfisher Hub, there’s been plenty of other interesting goings-on, most importantly the return of kestrels to the nest box on the pylon. We’ve also had a very interesting hybrid duck on the reserve which has been studied by Alan (of the Ringing Group) as part of his keen interest in hybrids. Many hybrid ducks develop a green head irrespective of their origins so this can be a bit misleading – the duck here appears to be a cross of a Wigeon (beak, top of head and breast) and Pintail (body and tail).

A selection of the other characters around the reserve below!